The Los Angeles Chargers won their home game in Week 6 against the Denver Broncos 19-16 in overtime. The hero of the evening was kicker Dustin Hopkins, who made the decision despite a thigh injury. On the other hand, the opponent got angry after a good start with a frightened football.

Chargers vs. Broncos: At a Glance

• The Broncos started well and Russell Wilson moved well in and out of the jeep. Finally he brought in deep shots with decent frequency again and took advantage of the massive mistakes made by the sub-charger in the first half.
• However, the Charger stepped up and took their weakest link in the game, cornerback JC Jackson, off the field at the break. Things improved after that, and the Broncos returned to their familiar, uninspiring rut.
• Although the Chargers had massive problems up front, which led to a constant shooting from Justin Herbert, they often gave their hard-hit Dustin Hopkins a chance to score the necessary points. In overtime, a gift from the guests gave them a chance to win.

Los Angeles Chargers vs Denver Broncos: Analysis

The story of the first half of this match was full of penalties. The first three offensive lines in the game started with a flag. And the interference of a pass from Chargers Cornerback JC Jackson kept the Broncos’ first drive alive. A sack on 3 by Khalil Mack against Russell Wilson on a 3 down, however, blocked worse, so the visitors settled on a 51-Yard field goal.

The key here was Wilson missing a tight wide-open finish by Greg Dolch, making his first appearance in the NFL, down the middle before the sack. However, late in the first quarter, Wilson did better and found Dulcich for a 39-yard touchdown pass. It was the result of a breakdown in the coverage of chargers. Dulcich “in the line” and wide receiver KJ Hamler On the outside vertical cross roads, Jackson took Hamler and the safety of Derwin James, who in theory would be Dulcich’s only possible cover player in the situation, preferred coverage against a potential swing pass to a run back. Dulcich has been quite open about it.

Chargers responded afterwards and were fortunate that the third downshift was mistakenly counted as the first down, even though the receiver was turned off just off the mark. Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett declined to take on a deep challenge in his own half, so the hosts continued to lead. With a noteworthy touchdown, Ekeler ran from over 6 yards, although several defenders hung on him. On the next pat, Dustin Hopkins Chargers kicker injured his thigh and later came back.

Two more field goals followed, putting Denver at 13:10 into the break. After the break, Jackson was disqualified in favor of Michael Davis and appears to have been substituted for performance reasons.

Chargers vs. Broncos: Defenses took over after the break

Then, the home side tied with a 31-yard field goal six minutes into the second half. Early in the last quarter – both defenses largely dominated the third quarter – the Charger was then stopped at 4th Down when rising linebacker Damarri Mathis, starting with Ronald Darby, aborted a pass to DeAndre Carter. For Mathis, it was like making a payback after he had previously been hit multiple times in coverage and received three PI penalties in particular.

Broncos ignored the attack and chased after them. Then the defense took charge and made a big, fast play: Edge breaker Baron Browning managed to capture a skewed pass down the middle from Herbert for his first interception in the NFL. The Broncos tapped again afterward, but reclaimed the lead with a 48-yard field goal from Brandon McManus eight minutes before time.

As a result, the Charger walked into the red again thanks to a fourth PI penalty against Mattis and they were stopped again. Painfully, Hopkins tied again from 35 yards.

The hosts got the ball back straight after the two-minute warning thanks to linebacker Drue Tranquill, whose struggle through the middle for third led to the second sack. But they didn’t do anything about it either, because instead of getting 1 back in third near midfield shortly before the end, which was possible with so many open receivers, Herbert preferred to throw a short pass to Tamm. Stop tight end in front of the tag. Then the charger set the clock to finally get hi Maryam, and that failed. over time!

What followed was a variety of bad playing calls and cowardly conservative football. Fortunately for the Chargers, returning Montrell awarded Washington a muffled kick, which the Chargers conquered at opponent 28. Herbert then pressured his team to net Hopkins’ 39-yard goal for the win.

Hackett then explained to reporters that Wilson injured his hamstring during the match. The severity of the injury remains unclear.

Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) – Denver Broncos (2-4)

Score: 10:16 (0:10, 10:3, 3:0, 3:3, 3:0) Result square

Chargers vs Broncos – Top stats

• Wilson has moved better than the last and has gotten out of the pocket a few times. One result of this was that he bought himself time to play with bullets. And that paid off: Already in the break, he had 3 completions at least 20 aerobic yards. With that, he achieved his top season early in the game.

• The Chargers’ numerous coverage malfunctions also meant that Wilson was particularly effective with out-of-the-number passes. In the first quarter alone, he completed 6/6 passes for 102 yards and touchdowns. Previously, Wilson had amassed a whopping 77 total yards in such passes in the first quarters.

• Chargers flash with extreme caution. But James’s lightning attack in the second half went down and Wilson was sent off. This was his second sack of the season and his fourth QB press – a third under-safety in the NFL.
• In a total of five series of attacks, there was not a single pause in overtime. Besides, the Broncos were 4-14 in third and Wilson had completed 3 times in third.
• Charger offensive line is still a big problem! Justin Herbert experienced 23 stresses in play (39 percent of his dropouts) and was only attacked in 30 percent of his dropouts. This is too much.
• Meanwhile, penalty kicks played a huge role in the match. The Broncos finished with 10 penalties for 151 yards and the Chargers with 9 for 89 yards. Particularly striking: Denver gave the Charger 7 initial landings through penalties (Chargers 2).

Game star: Dustin Hopkins (Kicker, Chargers)

In an overall tough match, the kick was reliable. And that’s despite the fact that Hopkins visibly injured his hind thigh with an extra point, his first kick of the game. He gritted his teeth and eventually drowned out all four field shots. Additionally, one can emphasize Drue Tranquill. He led the team with 3 presses and 2 sacks.

Match Fail: Nathaniel Hackett (Head Coach, Broncos)

Damari Matisse could also be here with a massive 4 PI shootout. Or Russell Wilson, who collapsed after a decent first half and utterly failed in terms of recognizing blitzes – the four sacks being basically his fault. But you can do it all in the back and look at the coach again! Hackett is responsible for this offense and appears to have decided in overtime that playing to win was not desirable. Instead, there was more early training, which brought nothing and put the poor passing offense under a lot of pressure. How you ended up losing was bad luck. But with a better approach, one probably wouldn’t have to get into that position.

Analysis: Chargers vs. Broncos – Tactics Board

• Cornerback team played an important role in this game. For example, the Charger increasingly tried to attack rising cornerback Damary Mathis and most of them were successful. Matisse received 3 pass penalties at the break, 4 in total.

• On the other hand, however, it was Patrick Sartain is rock solid as always Mike Williams was largely taken out of the game, mostly in press coverage. Two secrets did not allow one reception.

• Minor Chargers were often played only with deep safety, while Derwin James continued to play close to the line, mostly to aid escape and attack.

• Both defenses refrained from over-attack, but the Broncos often succeeded in hinting at a blitzkrieg, misleading the offensive line and creating loopholes.