We’ll find out in no uncertain terms this Sunday night in Foxborough, Massachusetts, whether Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh’s plan to rest so many key players for their final regular-season game pays dividends in their AFC wild-card game against the New England Patriots.
The Chargers’ 19-3 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday was an all-too-predictable result considering how many of their top players didn’t play or played very limited roles. Was that the plan all along? Did Harbaugh really want to drop to the seventh seed and face the second-seeded Patriots?
Here’s what we learned, what we heard and what comes next after the Chargers’ second consecutive 11-win season and playoff berth in Harbaugh’s two seasons as their coach, a reason to believe they have set a new standard for a franchise that frequently has meandered from here to there and back again:
DEFENSIVE DEPTH
The Broncos’ offense didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard against a Chargers defense made up of backups and special teams players. Was that by design? Were the Broncos determined to play without revealing too much of their offensive game plan for upcoming playoff opponents?
Or were the Chargers simply that good in holding them to four field goals?
Denver’s only touchdown came via an interception return in the first quarter.
Otherwise, the Chargers clamped down on quarterback Bo Nix, who was about as unimpressive as a QB for a top-seeded team possibly could be while completing 14 of 23 passes for 141 yards and also scrambling for another 49 yards, with backups like linebackers Del’Shawn Phillips and Marlowe Wax chasing him.
Phillips and Wax were excellent as were defensive linemen Jamaree Caldwell, Justin Eboigbe and Otito Ogbonnia and defensive backs Tony Jefferson and Marcus Maye. Phillips had one sack, Eboigbe had two and Ogbonnia and Odafe Oweh each split one. Jefferson had a team-leading eight tackles.
The Chargers limited the Broncos to 240 total net yards.
“Really good,” Harbaugh said of the play of the defense before going on to name a long string of names who excelled in a rare opportunity to start and/or play enhanced roles Sunday. “The red-zone defense was really good. I’m really pleased by that, and with how the defense played.”
So, what does it mean for the wild-card game?
It means the Chargers have a great deal of depth, which could serve them well.
“Going up against a top-ranked Denver team at home, the standard is the standard, and we want to keep that standard going into the postseason,” said outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who was one of 14 starters who didn’t play Sunday. “That’s the thing about the leadership group, they put guys in positions where they understand you’ve got to be the guy just in case this happens. Everybody knows it, so you see guys like Marlowe Wax and Troy Dye, and guys all over the place, Otito, stepped up and stepped in and played at a high level.”
FAVORABLE MATCHUP?
The Patriots won 14 games in Mike Vrabel’s first season as their coach and Drake Maye’s second as their quarterback. But a closer look reveals a soft run to the AFC East title and the No. 2 seed. Their only wins over playoff teams were over the Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills in Weeks 4 and 5.
Conventional wisdom suggested the Chargers favored this matchup over other opponents, especially the Jacksonville Jaguars, who thumped them, 35-6, in a Week 11 game that cast doubts on their playoff prospects. On the other hand, the Chargers thumped the Pittsburgh Steelers, 25-10, in Week 10.
So, what type of challenge will the Chargers face Sunday?
“Getting ready for an MVP-caliber QB coming up this week,” Mack said.
Maye was fourth in the NFL in passing with 4,394 yards, completing 72% of his throws with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Patriots led the AFC with 490 points and were second in the NFL behind the Rams, who scored 518. They were 6-3 at home, but won all eight road games.
In their only previous meeting with Maye, the Chargers limited him to 12-of-22 passing for 117 yards, sacking him four times in a 40-7 beatdown in Week 17 last season. Expect defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to look closely at what worked so well last season and adjust for Maye’s rapid rise this season.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
“That’s the kind of game that defines your season,” Harbaugh said, looking ahead to facing the Patriots.
It’s a line he admitted he swiped from offensive lineman Bobby Hart, tweaking the exact wording slightly.
