EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers have an improved defense this season. In a Week 8 win, the Chargers gave up 6 points to the New Orleans Saints offense. They have surrendered 20 points only one time this season, and that came in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Through Sunday, the Chargers led the NFL in scoring defense, allowing 12.7 points per game on that side of the ball.
“Been outstanding,” coach Jim Harbaugh said of his defense Monday. “It’s not just one of the best, it’s like the best scoring defense, which matters the most.”
All true. Coordinator Jesse Minter has done a fantastic job. The Chargers are more physical against the run. They are more connected on the back end. They are better on third down. They are better in the red zone. They have maintained a level of performance amid injuries — particularly at cornerback — which is a testament to the coaching staff.
Still, it is difficult at this stage to nail down exactly how good the Chargers defense is. Context matters. And the Chargers have benefited from a last-place schedule through eight weeks.
In all four of their wins, the Chargers have faced offenses currently ranked in the bottom 10 in expected points added per play, according to TruMedia: the Las Vegas Raiders (29th), Carolina Panthers (28th), Denver Broncos (25th) and Saints (23rd). The quarterbacks in those four games: Gardner Minshew II, Bryce Young, Bo Nix, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener.
A team can only play the opponent on the schedule. The Chargers have taken advantage of these opportunities to beat up on bad offenses and middling/young quarterbacks. But they have not been nearly the same unit against better offenses and quarterbacks. In losses to the Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals, the Chargers accrued 0.01 EPA per play, according to TruMedia. That is equivalent to how the Seattle Seahawks have performed this season. Through Sunday, Seattle ranked 21st in EPA per play. In wins, the Chargers defense has averaged 0.26 EPA per play.
The Chargers played well against the Chiefs in Week 4, and that could be a performance to point to as a more tangible sign of what this defense is. How much stock can be put into one game?
Sunday, how the Chargers played defensively down to down did not really align with the point total they allowed.
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They let Saints running back Alvin Kamara get loose on multiple occasions. He took a pitch 23 yards on the Chargers’ first defensive play. In the second quarter, the Chargers failed to contain Kamara on a screen to the left side. Kamara took that pass 37 yards, the Saints’ longest play of the game. In the third quarter, Kamara broke free from edge rusher Bud Dupree on a 24-yard run. Dupree was trying to strip the ball and failed to secure the tackle. After the game, edge rusher Khalil Mack acknowledged that play “looked a little sloppy.”
Receiver Chris Olave finished with eight catches for 107 yards. Olave’s longest reception, a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter, came on a busted coverage along the right sideline.
The Saints led a successful two-minute drive before the half, cutting the score to 9-5 despite facing a second-and-16 early in the possession. They amassed 366 yards of offense in a game in which they benched their starting quarterback.
The Chargers buckled down when they had to. After the Kamara run on the opening possession helped move the Saints into plus territory, the Chargers stonewalled back-to-back short-yardage plays to force a punt. Later in the first quarter, Mack beat a double-team on a second-and-9 to force a sack, derailing that possession. On the next possession, Derwin James Jr. blew up a first-down run to set the Saints behind the sticks.
After Kamara’s explosive screen reception on the ensuing drive, the Saints again moved into Chargers territory. Defensive lineman Teair Tart forced his second offensive holding penalty of the game on a second down from the plus-44 to stymie that drive.
Rookie cornerback Tarheeb Still had a stout form tackle on a third down on the opening possession of the second half. Linebacker Daiyan Henley got home on a delayed third-down blitz on the next possession, forcing an incompletion. Edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu had a third-down pass breakup after dropping into coverage on the next possession.
Plenty of good plays. The Chargers held the Saints to 2-for-16 on third down.
But even that statistic is slightly misleading. With a rookie quarterback in Rattler and two young tackles in Trevor Penning and Taliese Fuaga, the Saints played it safe on their third downs early in the game. They ran a sprint out on a third-and-5. They ran two draws on third-and-15-plus. They ran screens on a third-and-12 and a third-and-20 in the first half.
“It was on them, man,” Mack said of Sunday’s third-down defense. “I feel like they was trying to get the ball out quick, run screens and draws. I feel like they stuck to protect their tackles from the pass rush.”
The Chargers mitigated their defensive mistakes with key situational plays. That can be a successful recipe against bad offenses. Better offenses and better quarterbacks will more often capitalize on those mistakes.
“We’re playing good defense, and the competition has been good,” Harbaugh said.
The Chargers play on the road against the Cleveland Browns this weekend. They then host the Tennessee Titans in Week 10. The Browns rank 31st in offensive EPA per play, according to TruMedia, although they have a new starting quarterback in Jameis Winston after Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. The Titans rank 32nd in EPA per play.
Starting in Week 11, the level of competition heats up. Over a five-week span, the Chargers face the Cincinnati Bengals (eighth in EPA per play), Baltimore Ravens (second), Atlanta Falcons (seventh), Chiefs (ninth) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (fifth).
There will be no hiding during that stretch.
“There’s no sense of satisfaction,” Harbaugh said.
(Top photo of Khalil Mack pressuring Jake Haener: Harry How / Getty Images)
