It wasn’t as pretty as it was against the Buffalo Bills or Dallas Cowboys, but the Los Angeles Chargers won their third game in a row on Sunday.
The Chargers got four field goals from their new kicker Travis Coons, who actually missed his first attempt of the day, en route to a 19-10 victory over the Browns, sending them to 0-12 on the year.
Keenan Allen had another big game, catching 10 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Henry was also a factor in the passing game, catching seven passes for 81 yards. He did seem to get injured on a catch in the fourth quarter, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power.
The win puts the Chargers in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC West with the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. After an 0-4 start, that’s pretty remarkable.
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But this win didn’t come easily. The Browns had their chances in the fourth quarter. Trailing 19-10, DeShone Kizer took the Browns on a 13-play, 76-yard drive. They were in field goal range, but on 3rd-and-goal from the Chargers’ 15-yard line, Kizer was hit from behind from Joey Bosa and the ball came out. Just before it went out of bounds, Denzel Perryman fell on it for a huge turnover.
The Browns got the ball back with just over two minutes to play and were able to get the ball to the Chargers’ 31-yard line before Kizer was picked off by Adrian Phillips to put the game away.
With the Chiefs losing to the New York Jets on Sunday, it seems like everything is starting to trend in the Chargers’ favor. The Chargers will next host the Washington Redskins (5-7), a team with dwindling playoff hopes.
It will be the first meeting between those teams since November 2013. Two of the last three games between the Chargers and Redskins have gone to overtime, with each team winning one.