Jesse Minter has seen the good, the bad and the so-so during his second season as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator. He has coached a defense that was every bit as stingy as it was in leading the NFL last season. He has coached a defense that’s been vulnerable, too.
“Right now, I would say we’re chasing a lot of things,” Minter said recently.
Nothing has been as elusive as a sound defense against the run for the Chargers in the past two games. It wasn’t only that the Chargers gave up a great deal of ground during a victory this past Sunday over the Miami Dolphins and during a loss a week earlier to the Washington Commanders.
It wasn’t only that the Chargers gave up 128 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries by the Dolphins’ De’Von Achane and 111 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries by the Commanders’ Jacory Croskey-Merritt. It was that Achane had a 49-yard touchdown run and Croskey-Merritt had a 27-yard gain.
Too many big gains proved worrisome, as far as Minter was concerned.
“It’s been an Achilles heel the last few games,” he said.
Now, here come the Indianapolis Colts, the NFL’s highest-scoring team, averaging 32.3 points per game with one of the league’s top rushing attacks, led by Jonathan Taylor, averaging more than 100 yards per game. He’s rushed for a league-high seven touchdowns, too.
“Certainly, there are things in the run game that we want to be better at,” Minter said. “I would say in the run game, overall, it’s the 15-plus yard runs. I think there were three in this game (against the Dolphins) and three or four in the previous game (against the Commanders).
“A 6-yard run isn’t going to kill you, but when you give up the long runs and they become 15-plus yards, those things add up and it changes the course of the game. So, there are a lot of things we’re chasing, things we’re trying to get better at, and certainly in that area, trying to improve that.”
The absences of pass rusher Khalil Mack and linebacker Denzel Perryman have contributed to the Chargers’ lackluster play against the run. Mack, in particular, is renowned as a wrecker of plays at the line of scrimmage, although he is best known for his relentless pursuit of quarterbacks.
Mack and Perryman are eligible to return from injured reserve Sunday.
It would be almost akin to acquiring two defensive standouts through a trade in Week 7 if they were able to play Sunday against the Colts. Mack has been sidelined for the past four games by a dislocated left elbow and Perryman has played only once this season because of an ankle injury.
Mack, for one, couldn’t wait this past week to play again after spending the required four games on the sideline. He said he’s grown tired of watching instead of playing, listening to Minter’s play calls on a headset he wore during games in order to gain all the insight he could gather.
“That (expletive), I hate that,” Mack said. “I can’t wait to take that headset off.”
One play or one player hasn’t been the issue, according to Minter. Consistency has been absent in recent games, but especially against Miami and especially during the Dolphins’ fourth-quarter rally, when they erased a 26-13 deficit to take a 27-26 lead with 46 seconds remaining.
Cameron Dicker’s field goal with five seconds left enabled the Chargers to pull out a 29-27 victory, ending a two-game losing streak and restoring some much-needed confidence and momentum. It was not a game that left the Chargers’ defense feeling proud or pleased, though.
According to safety Derwin James Jr., it made for some serious postgame soul-searching, particularly after the Chargers’ loss to the Commanders one week earlier. Many members of the Chargers’ defense sat quietly in front of their lockers while their teammates celebrated after beating Miami.
“It’s disappointing, bro,” James said several days later. “The way we didn’t finish last week, we love our offense, but as a defense we like to hold our own. We like to make plays. It’s complementary football. They had our back last weekend. We’ll make sure we hold our own this weekend. Yes, sir.”
It could be a tall order, given the way Taylor has run this season.
“One of the top O-lines,” James said. “They’ve got great skill players and one of the best backs (Taylor). So, it’s a great team overall. MVP-caliber running back that we’re going against. One of the top backs. We’ve got a lot of respect for him. I can’t wait to compete against him, honestly.”
CHARGERS (4-2) vs. COLTS (5-1)
When: 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: Ch. 2/640 AM; 94.3 FM (Spanish)