Harbaugh knows how to coach.
Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers did not lock up a playoff spot, however, they got one step closer with a come from behind 34-27 victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. They are going to need some help on Sunday to do so in Week 16. But it is getting so close, they can taste it. The Chargers got off to a rocky start and found themselves trailing 21-10 to the Broncos, who have an 87% chance of also making the playoffs, but did not give up and kept fighting. Harbaugh, who still has the mentality of a player, helped his team by getting a fair catch free kick, putting into effect a seldom-used rule at the end of the first half. The defense became suffocating, the offense started methodically moving the rock down the field and the Chargers came back for the victory.
“It was a total team effort by everyone. It was phenomenal,” coach Harbaugh said. “The test and challenge is how you are going to respond. They went back to work and stayed the course.”
Harbaugh made his way back to the NFL after a nine-year hiatus and winning a national championship at his alma matta Michigan and took over a Chargers team and organization that featured an abundance of talent but plenty of holes like Swiss cheese and seemed like a less-than-perfect fit for his bruising and physical style. They have a 9-6 record with two games left to go in the regular-season and likely at least one more in the playoffs. The moral of the story is Harbaugh is one of the elite coaches in football, no matter what level.
The Chargers struggled last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, surrendering 40 points, and the remnants of that spilled over to start Thursday night’s game.
The Broncos found the end zone scoring three touchdowns in the first half. Denver’s rookie quarterback Bo Nix had two passing touchdowns and Audric Estime ran for another. When Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who came into the game with an ankle injury, threw an interception in Broncos territory in the final minute of the second quarter, it appeared that the Broncos would go into the locker room with a healthy 21-10 advantage. But the Broncos were not able to run out the rest of the clock and punted in the final seconds. They were flagged for a fair catch interference penalty call, and the 15 yards from it led to Harbaugh utilizing a rarely used rule. He had place kicker Cameron Dicker try a fair catch free kick with time expired in the half, and Dicker nailed it from 57 yards out. It was the first made fair catch free kick in the NFL since way back in 1976. The last time a team even attempted one was 2019.
Embed from Getty Images“First three drives, 21 points, and then just kind of stalled,” said Nix, who completed 29 of 40 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns. “We got the same defense (in the second half). Just for whatever reason, we couldn’t get going.”
That trimmed the Broncos’ lead to eight, 21-13, going into halftime. The Broncos should not have been anywhere near the returner to get a penalty, and punting it out of bounds would have been a smarter strategy. It cost Denver severely. It is difficult to say or pinpoint that momentum for the Chargers carried over right to the second half, because the Broncos got a field goal on their first possession after halftime, but the extra three points certainly helped the Chargers stay within striking distance. And then they started playing defense like the Chargers have for most of Harbaugh’s first year at the helm.
The Chargers started to warm to the task in the second half. They scored on Gus Edwards’ second touchdown run of the night, then Herbert followed that up with a great throw rolling to his left as he fell down, hitting a strike to Derius Davis for a 19-yard score. Josh Palmer made a fantastic juggling catch for the two-point conversion and the Chargers led by a field goal, 27-24.
The defense that was shredded by Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers on Sunday in a blowout loss and in the first half by Denver out of nowhere found some much-needed answers to the test. The Broncos had three touchdowns before halftime and did not get a touchdown after it. Nix went from a comfortable quarterback to looking more like an inconsistent rookie.
Denver coach Sean Payton did not have his finest hour in the second half either, punting twice near the 50-yardline, including once with less than five minutes left on a fourth-and-5. After that questionable decision to punt, Herbert had a first-down run on third-and-10, Edwards broke a 43-yard run and then Herbert shoveled a check-down pass to Hassan Haskins, who ran for a 34-yard score. That explains why punting was the wrong move.
“Obviously, a disappointing loss. There was a lot at stake, and we know that,” Payton said. “We had a fast start, and then uncharacteristically this season, we didn’t finish or play nearly well enough in the second half, both offensively and defensively.”
The Chargers can clinch a playoff spot on Sunday with a Dolphins loss or tie along with a Colts loss or tie. It probably does not matter. At some point in the next couple weeks, the Chargers should clinch a wild-card berth. And it seems like just the start of good things to come for Harbaugh and the Chargers.
The Broncos go on the road to face Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, December 28.
The Chargers travel Foxborough to take on Drake Maye and the New England Patriots on December 28.
