The Chargers are now 8-4 after a thrilling 17-13 win in Atlanta.
Here are five takeaways from Week 13.
1. James, Chargers clutch on final drive
With the game on the line, Derwin James, Jr. wanted to be on the field.
Turns out he was in the perfect spot, too.
With the Chargers holding a slim lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter, James capped off a statement game by the Bolts defense with a game-sealing interception off Kirk Cousins.
Ballgame. And a 17-13 Chargers win in Week 13.
“You always want the challenge,” James said. “As a defense, any great defense wants to be on the field.
“I feel like we had that challenge today and we finished how we wanted to finish as a defense,” James added.
James’ interception was the fourth of the day against Cousins, tying a career high for the veteran quarterback.
Tarheeb Still had two of them, including a game-changing pick-6 you can read about here. James and Marcus Maye had the other two.
“Made a lot of plays,” James said. “The last two weeks, we haven’t had any turnovers. Finally got some today and they were just coming in bunches.”
The box score is going to show the Chargers gave up 350 yards on Sunday.
But the unit also held Atlanta to three third-down conversions on 14 tries and gave up just one touchdown on four trips inside the red zone.
“To have a defense that’s playing like that, it’s great for a team. We won because of the defense today,” Justin Herbert said.
Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh added: “The defense played incredible.”
Now, a gritty victory — Harbaugh called it a “tough ass win” — has the Bolts sitting at 8-4 with five games to go.
The Chargers still sit in a playoff spot and took another big step toward securing a postseason berth with Sunday’s win.
“What a beautiful thing we are all witnessing,” Harbaugh said. “It’s players, coaches, personnel department, ownership. It’s an entire organization coming together playing complementary winning football.”
The Chargers are on Sunday Night Football in Week 14 against the Chiefs in Kansas City.
“You win in December, November, you get remembered,” James said. “These games count as plus two, especially in the situation we’re in, being 8-4 and everybody chasing us.
“Just to get another game ahead of them, it’s only going to help us to get to where we want to be,” James added.
Tony Jefferson said: “A lot of the games this time of year are going to pretty much be like that. The fact that we were able to win, I think it’s good for us.”
