Chargers Defense Must Use Bengals Performance as a Launching Point
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Brandon Staley’s defense started the season playing at a high level. They held opponents to low-scoring outcomes and allowed a vast number of rushing yards, but games never got away from them.
It wasn’t until they faced the Baltimore Ravens in week six that the rushing attack from three veteran running backs got out of hand, and they had 34 points scored on them. Their following three losses would feature penalties, no way to stop the run, and no turnovers created.
Staley, defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill, and the players kept saying it was coming. Their team leader Derwin James said that it might start happening regularly once they got one.
There have been glimpses of stopping the run, like when they missed three defensive linemen in Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery, and Christian Covington against the Steelers. Their reinforcements stepped up and showed out by holding running back Najee Harris to 55 rushing yards.
“Like I mentioned before, if you are stopping the run on early downs, it is going to allow those rushers to express themselves -- the sack-fumbles, all of those things will happen if we do those things on the early downs,” Hill said.
Last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals could be a turning point for the defense.
For starters, the Chargers defense had six sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and one returned for a crucial touchdown.
“I think it featured some of our premium guys in getting them doing those jobs, which is always a goal of ours,” Staley explained. “But, I think that when you have that element when you’ve shown that element, now there’s that preparation for it, which is a good thing for you. Then, now you’re trying to play that chess match moving forward. I like the way that we executed because I felt like, yesterday, we played with a type of variety.”
Staley was right, their featured guys stepped up. Edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu was a perfect piece for this Staley defensive puzzle. Since the bye week, the former USC product has come in determined to prove himself.
He will be a free agent after this season, but lately, he has shown why he may be a fit in this system. Against the Bengals high-powered offense, Nwosu had a strip-sack of quarterback Joe Burrow on the opening drive that got the ball back on Cincy’s 35-yard line. Later in the 4th quarter, he was sacked a second time by Nwosu, who suddenly has three sacks in the last three games.
Cornerback Michael Davis was given a three-year deal in the offseason with the belief that he will continue his growth under Staley, Hill, and secondaries coach Derrick Ansley. On the Bengals second possession, receiver Ja’Marr Chase had beaten Davis but ended up playing hot potato with the ball, which fell into the hands of the Chargers cornerback. Second turnover on the second offensive drive by the Bengals.
“I think that what we were able to do yesterday is play a lot of different types of coverage systems behind that pressure, whether it’s zone pressure, man-to-man, simulated pressure. I think that that’s the other key element to pressuring, the covered system behind it,” Staley said.
The Chargers 24-point lead had dwindled to a two-point lead in the fourth quarter. The defense had to hold it down yet again. The Bengals got the ball down to the 34-yard line of the visiting team when running back Joe Mixon took a handoff, then Covington yanked the ball out of his hand when cornerback Tevaughn Campbell took it back for a 61-yard touchdown. That is when they put the game away.
“They start coming in bunches,” Hill said. “That was just a good example of that. It’s a tribute to how those guys prepare in practice each week.”
One of the reasons why the Chargers defense was able to cause so much havoc was because of the play from the front seven. Mixon is one of the most dangerous running backs in the NFL, and the front seven was able to hold him down to 54 yards on 19 carries.
“What we did yesterday was we rushed the quarterback at a high level because of how we were playing on first and second down against the run,” Staley explained. “We were able to affect the quarterback, and then that led to the takeaways. Then when you score on defense because of a very well-executed play and you finished with a touchdown, and then you have a red-area takeaway on a very well-executed covered system, as a coach, that means that you know that your players are improving.”
It was the kind of complete performance that Staley had wanted from his defense. It can’t be a one-off, though.
“I feel like we’re in a good spot to take that next step,” James said. “The team that we have, I feel like we’re right in the right spot. We’re going through it as a team.”
It is now the month of December, and the Chargers have already started the most important month in the season with a big defensive victory. This could be a sign that the defense could be improving at the right time, especially with what they face soon.
Next Thursday night, they will face off against division rival Kansas City Chiefs, but before that, they face the New York Giants this Sunday. Their record might be 4-8, but they have some firepower on offense.
“All you have to do is watch [Giants RB] Saquon Barkley’s NFL highlight film, his college highlight reel,” Staley said. “Go watch [Giants WR] Kenny Golladay. Go watch [Giants WR] Darius Slayton, who I played against last year, [Giants TE] Evan Engram. Go watch [Giants QB] Daniel Jones run the football for 90 yards against Philly last year. All you have to do is watch the film and the respect that you have to have.”
The Chargers defense, regardless of the opposing quarterback, need to go into Sunday ready to make an example of the Giants. They need to pressure the quarterback, create sacks, and get turnovers.
This is the crucial part of the NFL season, and if this team wants to compete against the best, they will need their defense to step it up as they did in Cincinnati. Their first test will be against New York.
“We definitely want to win consistently,” James explained. “We definitely talked about it. We feel like we have everything we need to make that happen. We just need to focus on one week at a time, focus on the Giants this week, and it will take care of itself.”
Nuts N’ Bolts
· Injury report. OUT: OLB Kyler Fackrell (knee), CB Asante Samuel Jr. (concussion), S Alohi Gilman (quad). Questionable: DT Justin Jones (ankle).
