THIS defense is what we saw at the beginning of the season when they looked like World Beaters. The bye week was key for the guys to get back to playing loose, fast, and physical. We know the floor, what’s the ceiling for the defense? (JT via Twitter)
The ceiling is that the Chargers defense can lead this team to the Super Bowl.
Derwin James, Jr. isn’t either. Here’s what he said postgame Sunday when asked about the defense.
“When I was a kid, they always said defense wins championships. That’s my motto,” James said. “I believe in this defense.”
With the way the Bolts defense played Sunday against the Chiefs — coupled with how the group has looked since the bye week — that above statement is becoming more and more a potential.
Especially because Jesse Minter’s unit is thriving against both the run and the pass of late.
Over the past three games, the Chargers run defense ranks first in EPA per rush (-0.292) and first in rushing success rate (30.6 percent).
Add that in with a back seven that currently ranks fourth in Pro Football Focus coverage grade (76.7) and the Chargers have the making of a complete defense.
They have veteran leaders such as Khalil Mack, James, Donte Jackson and Tony Jefferson. They have young stars such as Tuli Tuipulotu and Daiyan Henley.
And they have plenty of guys that may not be household names — Teair Tart, Da’Shawn Hand, Troy Dye, Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still — but help put together a defense that isn’t afraid to be physical and hit you.
The Chargers were simply thumping people Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium when the temperatures were in the teens.
“I think when it comes to December, it’s kind of mandatory,” Jefferson said. “I’ve been in the league for a while and I know once it gets to this time of the year, physicality, the most physical team usually wins in this time.
“It’s cold, it’s brisk. I was in the AFC North, so I’ve had a lot of experience with this type of weather, what games be like,” Jefferson added. “It kind of had that feel today, rivals going at it. Physicality, I think is on the forefront of everybody’s mind, especially December.”
To me, Week 15 in Kansas City felt like a playoff game: low scoring, gritty and cold.
And the Bolts defense delivered when it mattered most, including a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions.
Leading by three points, the Chargers needed to make one final stand. It was a scenario they could very well be in if they find themselves in the postseason.
The Bolts rose to the challenge.
“These past few weeks we’ve been trying to prove to ourselves more than anybody else outside the building who we are, what our identity is. And that identity that we’re chasing is a playoff defense,” Henley said. “And so we have to be in moments like this to prove that to ourselves that we can be a playoff defense.
“And so week-in and week-out, we try to consistently show that. And that’s what you see out there as a team that’s preparing for the playoffs and playing like it’s the playoffs,” Henley added.
And a team that can also go far in the playoffs.