The Los Angeles Chargers are 0-5 after dropping another game that felt winnable to the Denver Broncos by a final score of 23-17.
Here's what to take away from LA's fifth straight loss.
Skeleton crew
The Chargers were without wide receivers Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Brenen Thompson, and watched Tre' Harris leave early with a hamstring injury. Offensive linemen Rashawn Slater, Joe Alt, Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning were all out for this game and Los Angeles still has Trey Pipkins III and Tyler Biadasz on injured reserve. Nickel Derwin James Jr. and cornerback Donte Jackson did not play. All in all, Los Angeles was down 16 players that would have been on the initial 53-man roster, over 30 percent of the team. The Chargers were down to three healthy
wide receivers after Harris went down - Derius Davis, Marquez Valdes-Scantling (signed September 16), and Theo Wease Jr. (signed September 2) - and started four rookies - left tackle Travis Burke, left guard Logan Taylor, center Jake Slaughter, and right tackle Alex Harkey - on the offensive line. So in some ways, losing by one possession to a Broncos team with Super Bowl aspirations is a miracle.
Justin Herbert stays in rut
Herbert completed 14 of 24 passes for 121 yards, threw a touchdown to tight end Hayden Rucci, threw one interception, and fumbled twice while being sacked five times. That came against a Denver squad missing top corners Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss due to injury, so even accounting for the missing pieces on the Chargers offense, Herbert and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel still had an inexcusably poor showing. The interception was particularly grisly: Los Angeles was in desperation mode facing a 4th-and-6, down 3 points in their own territory, but Herbert threw a pass directly to Broncos safety Brandon Jones, which allowed Denver to run the clock down to about a minute remaining before kicking another field goal to go up 6 and force LA to score a touchdown to stay in it.
Run defense remains stout
Denver's run game has not found much room all season, entering this game ranked 4th-worst in yards per game on the ground, and Los Angeles was able to keep them contained even with Sean Payton taking playcalling back over from offensive coordinator Davis Webb and sticking with the run game much more than Webb had this season. The Chargers held Denver to 3.7 yards per carry, which drops to 3.4 if you remove a toss to wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. and an end-around to wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. That kept the Broncos behind the sticks and forced Denver to punt 5 times and settle for 4 field-goal attempts, keeping the Chargers in the game even as the offense sputtered for a fifth straight week.
Sudden change
If there's any criticism to be had about the Chargers' defense, it's the way they've responded in sudden-change situations when they have a short field. Granted, you can also argue that LA shouldn't expect its defense to bail them out of the far-too-many situations that apply to that description, but the Chargers gave up 13 of their 23 points off of turnovers and allowed a 41-yard touchdown drive after LA turned the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter. That touchdown was particularly frustrating, as safety Genesis Smith seemed to blow the coverage and leave Courtland Sutton wide open in the end zone on a slant. It's hard to ask the defense for much more considering how they have played, but the Chargers too often seem to be on the back foot when put into sudden-change situations.
Fourth quarter woes
The Chargers have now been outscored 46-13 in the fourth quarter this season, including allowing Denver to score 13 points in the final frame this week. 10 of their 13 points came last week against Seattle in a game that was essentially decided entering the quarter as well, so it's hard to point to that and say it was an extremely successful frame for LA's offense. It's become a microcosm of the Chargers' problems, as Herbert turned the ball over twice and had to recover his own fumble to avoid a third in the quarter as he desperately tried to drag the unit to anything resembling a positive outcome. Los Angeles has now lost three consecutive one-score games, largely because their offense has hindered them in the final minutes.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Chargers vs. Broncos: 5 takeaways from LA's loss in Week 5
