Chargers dispatch Denver with defense

INGLEWOOD (News4usonline) – For the first quarter, things looked like it might be a good night for quarterback Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos during their Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Wilson and the Broncos looked sharp early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead against the Chargers in an AFC West Division contest. 

A field goal and a touchdown throw by Wilson helped give Denver an early cushion. After that lead evaporated, Denver found itself locked in a battle. The defense of the Chargers played lights out the rest of the way, tightening the space around Wilson and his buddies. 

As a result, the Chargers kept Wilson and the Broncos out of the endzone for the next three quarters and in overtime to come away with a hard-fought 19-16 win at SoFi Stadium.    

“Where to begin? This is a complete team win. It was a tough, rugged game,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said. “They have an outstanding defense over there. It was tough shedding in every way for all four quarters and overtime. It was just a tough and rugged game. It took everybody in Powder Blue to win it.”

This would be the third division game that the Chargers have already played this season, so going into this ballgame they knew that this was going to be a grinder, one that figures to go down to the wire. Through the team’s first six games, the Chargers have played the Las Vegas Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Broncos.

a moment for the defense pic.twitter.com/KpoGiX7G8A

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 18, 2022

Against those three opponents, the Chargers have a 2-1 mark thus far. At 4-2, the Chargers have the same identical record as Kansas City does, despite the numerous injuries that have kind of riddled the team’s roster. Staley says that comes with the territory. 

“It’s just part of the NFL,” Staley said. “I think you just need to be ready for it. You don’t need to make too big of a deal about it. This is why you build a team, for times like this. Like I said, we needed everybody in order to win this game. That’s a good team over there. Every one of their games this season has been down to the wire, all of them, and that’s what it was today.”

With the way that both teams were playing, this game almost seemed destined to end in a tie. However, in the NFL when one team blinks the opponent pounces. In this case, the Chargers received a momentous gift late in the overtime period when Denver’s P.J. Locke unwittingly backed into punt returner Montrell Washington as he was administering a block. 

“It was a short punt from what it looked like,” Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett said. “I need to see the tape to be able to get a clear picture. It was a short punt and we, obviously, need to make a call to be able to let P.J. [Locke] know that he has to move. P.J. [Locke] went to engage into a block, and then, unfortunately, got pushed back into Montrell [Washington].”

Three down, one to go.#DENvsLAC x #MNF pic.twitter.com/uZ7OSCherj

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 18, 2022

Locke’s backing into Washington caused the Denver punt returner to fumble. The Chargers recovered the football. A couple of plays later, placekicker Dustin Hopkins booted a 39-yard field goal to win the game for the Chargers. Hopkins made the game-winning field despite dealing with an injury.   

“We have so much respect for him,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said. “We know that he is hurting. That’s the great part about the NFL is those guys, they are committed to our team. He’s tough. That’s all you can say about him. For him to go out there and play and put up with some pain like that, it’s great to see from him.”

Aside from Hopkins being the hero of the evening, the defense of the Chargers was pivotal in the team’s win. Outside of the early 10 points Denver put up, Los Angeles went into lockdown mode, making Wilson’s life in the pocket miserable and containing the Broncos’ speedy wideouts. 

The Chargers got to Wilson four times for sacks and forced the Denver quarterback into completing just 53 percent of his passes (15 of 28) for 188 yards and one touchdown. 

“We just have to find ways,” Wilson said. “I thought, in the first quarter, in particular, we have the ball out. We had some quick things. I thought the ball was diversified across the board, and guys were making plays. I scrambled a few times, and they played a better game than we did in the second half. It was still a close game, I thought they were struggling a little bit, too, and I thought we should have won that game.”