Chargers Confident in Themselves in Final Stretch of Season
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It has been over a week since the Chargers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in an overtime thriller. Los Angeles has shifted their focus on the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The Chargers have learned something in their two matchups with Kansas City, and that is they can hang with the top AFC seed. Not only can they hang, but they can beat them.
"We got full confidence in our team, and we know we got to see him again. We expect to play them three times this year," Chargers cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said.
Right now, Kansas City is the top seed in the AFC. They face the Steelers, go to Cincinnati, and finish in Denver. They are playing outstanding football right now and will probably finish with a first-round bye.
The Chargers have a clear vision as the season is beginning to wind down, and that is they control their own destiny. If they beat the Texans, Broncos, and Raiders, they will be 8-4 in the AFC conference, plus they will be headed to the postseason for the first time in the Justin Herbert era.
“More positive, just confident,” Chargers receiver Keenan Allen said. “We should have won the game. Usually, I’m mad in those moments. I don’t know why, I just felt good about it. The offense played pretty good. I felt like we could have made those plays on the fourth downs, and on third down. We should have made those plays. It’s just a lot to build on.”
They need to cut down the mistakes.
The Chargers offense needs to cut down on the dropped passes. It has hurt them this season and hurt them last Thursday. They had two drops in the red zone to start the game and had one late before halftime. That is 14 points that were left on the table.
"It's just us playing together because all of those guys are quality players," Chargers head coach Brandon Staley explained after the game. "It's not a lack of concentration. It's definitely not a lack of talent. I truly believe that that's what the storyline is. It's nothing more, nothing less than that. We have one of the best passers in the history of the NFL playing, and we have an outstanding skill group who have good hands, who have history of good hands. We just need to continue to stay together, which is what we're going to do."
On defense, the Chargers had limited big plays down the field for most of the season, and as of late, they have begun to get beat down field. They gave up a 60-yard reception to Kyle Rudolph, a 40-yarder to Tyreek Hill, plus a 69-yard and 34-yard game-winning touchdown to Travis Kelce.
They are missing key players that are close to returning.
"Obviously, we got to guys banged up Derwin and get those guys back on the field and see we can do," Allen said.
Their safety Derwin James has been dealing with a hamstring injury that stopped him from continuing on Thursday. The team has been patient with injuries, so expect James to take his time nursing this one. He is questionable heading into Sunday’s game and will test it pregame. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the team let him have one more week to rest.
They also have cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. who hasn't played since the Sunday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He sustained his second concussion. Samuel will be back in the starting lineup.
The last one is edge rusher Kyler Fackrell, who had a procedure done on his knee. He was placed on IR before the Giants game. He worked out during the week with the trainers and could be back soon. He is eligible to be activated after the Texans game.
Chargers also await the return of 13 players that are currently on the COVID list. The list features edge rusher Joey Bosa, receiver Mike Williams, and running back Austin Ekeler.
"We're awfully close, and I think that's the toughest part," Herbert said. "We played with those guys, and I was really proud of the way the defense, the offense, and special teams played. Defense came up with some big stops we came up short on a couple of fourth downs. Everyone is going to ride with us, and we're going to trust each other."
The Chargers have some big wins this season. They have a young team with a young first-year head coach, but some playoff experience will do them well.
Their loss to the Chiefs showed that they could compete with any team in the NFL, but they first need to stop tripping over their own feet.
"I know that, right now, no one is saying that the Chargers lost anything," Staley explained. "They're not saying that we gave anything away last night. That's not what they're saying. What they're saying is that the Chargers went for it against a championship-caliber team and that they lost in overtime, in a really, really, big-time, big-time environment. And that they went nose-to-nose. Hopefully, our fans know that we beat that team once at the beginning, and they beat us once. Hopefully, everyone knows that we're here to fight. I'm excited for our fans that keep joining up with us because I think they're going to like what they see."
