5 takeaways from Los Angeles’ Week 16 win

For a quarter and a half, the Chargers defense seemed on the verge of giving in the same way Tampa Bay did on Sunday. LA trailed 21-10 with 6:22 left in the second quarter after allowing three straight touchdowns to the Broncos.

From there, Denver’s remaining drives were punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt. Jesse Minter made some crucial adjustments, turning up the pressure to hide Los Angeles’ weak rotation in the secondary after Marcus Maye left the game with an injury. With Tony Jefferson and Kendall Williamson at safety while Derwin James played the supporting role, the Chargers locked down Denver’s offense, forcing Nix to control the ball on several occasions. The rookie’s 3.3 air yards per attempt were the second lowest of any quarterback this season, higher only than Bryce Young’s 3.0 air yards per attempt in Week 2 against this same Chargers defense.