The Los Angeles Chargers made it to the playoffs early with a 20-3 win over the Indianapolis Colts. They were once more led by running back Austin Ekeler (79 scrimmage yards), who scored the only two touchdowns.
As in the previous year, Ekeler now leads the NFL with 16 total touchdowns. With his 2 rushing touchdowns in the game, he has now had at least 10 rushing and at least 5 receiving touchdowns in two straight seasons, a feat only Hall-of-Famer Marshall Faulk (2000-2001) had before him. If he now maintains his NFL lead in touchdowns, he would be the first player since Todd Gurley (2017-18) to do so twice in a row.
The key to the game, however, was the Chargers’ defensive performance. And here the pass rush of the team is particularly noteworthy. On the surface, LA had 7 sacks and 9 QB hits once morest a completely overwhelmed quarterback Nick Foles (17/29, 143 YDS, 3 INT). According to Next Gen Stats the Chargers even managed a sack rate of 19.4 percent, which was a season high. They also had a pressure rate of 44.4 percent (second best this season). Seven defenders had multiple pressures, six at least one sack. They were led by Kyle Van Noy (5 pressures).
But Chargers QB Justin Herbert didn’t have an easy day either. He only threw for 235 yards (24/31, INT) and conceded 4 sacks and 7 QB hits. He was under pressure in 45.7 percent of his dropbacks, a season-high, but that didn’t matter as much as he still managed a +10.2 percent completion percentage over expected, which was the fifth-highest of his career.
The Chargers made the playoffs for the second time since 2013. They last managed to do this in 2018, when the divisional game ended. They will also only end a season on a positive note for the second time since 2018. Last year (9-8) they squandered their postseason opportunity with a last-second loss in overtime in Las Vegas in week 18.
