The next step for the Chargers

Despite an electrifying victory for the Chargers on Thursday Night Football, the job is still not done. The Chargers came out strong against Denver and took it to them. When they characteristically would have collapsed, the Bolts finally held in there and got the job done to beat the Broncos.

Hunter Henry and the rookie class had all-star performances and all directly contributed to the Chargers’ victory.  After you defeat the Broncos, what is the next step the Chargers need to take?

The Chargers’ offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders as it had been the last five weeks, and Melvin Gordon lost his streak of games with a touchdown. But when it mattered, Henry made the big catch in the end zone in tight coverage. The Chargers’ offense scored when it had to and took its time doing it, which kept our defense fresh and their defense tired and confused.

The Chargers really went out and attacked Denver and did so aggressively for most of the game. The defense did a phenomenal job holding Denver to only 13 points in the entire a game. Joey Bosa and Jatavis Brown were forces to be reckoned with. Brown reeled in 14 tackles, one sack and forced a fumble; Bosa got a couple of QB hits but was regularly pressuring the Broncos’ O-line. Casey Hayward did a phenomenal job handling big-play receiver Demaryius Thomas, and overall the defensive players stepped up and did their jobs.

The best thing the Chargers did differently on Thursday was make plays when they really counted. Brown got a huge sack then forced a fumble on consecutive plays to get the ball back in the hands of the offense with less than four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The offense scored five times, and even though four were field goals, it doesn’t matter when your opponent can’t get more than three on the board themselves. The Chargers had to step up big and show the nation that we were a good team and could win close games against other good teams–and we absolutely did that.

The next step for the Bolts is to keep it up. We haven’t gone on a win streak since 2014, and if we have any playoff hopes this season we have to string some wins together. We have a talented Atlanta offense hosting us this Sunday, and then after we head to Denver to see if we can get our first divisional sweep of the season. After this, the schedule isn’t very daunting as we face Tennessee, Miami, have our bye and close out with games against Houston, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Oakland, Cleveland and Kansas City.

Realistically, a win streak is very possible and even likely, but only if the Chargers can play their game for 60 minutes. This is still only one win and we have to keep making plays when it counts if we want to find ourselves in the playoff hunt come December.