A key to beating the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 will be limiting their playmaking Melvins on either side of the ball. The Denver Broncos didn’t stop Gordon and Ingram completely in a 24-21 nail-biting finish to cap Week 1 of the NFL season on Monday night, but they did just enough to survive them.
Melvin Gordon didn’t rush for 1,000 yards in 2016 (he was three yards shy of that mark), but he did earn a Pro Bowl nomination thanks to his nose for the end zone and versatility out of the backfield. He recorded 12 touchdowns and 1,416 yards from scrimmage last year for San Diego, including 249 total yards against Denver in their two meetings.
Gordon was the first of three Los Angeles pass catchers to find the end zone against Denver on Monday night, beating linebacker Todd Davis in coverage and performing an acrobatic flip over safety Justin Simmons into the end zone to level the score in the first quarter. It was his longest catch-and-run of the night. His longest pure run of the night came on his very first touch. After the Denver faithful forced a false start on the Chargers’ first time to the line, Gordon ripped off a 21-yard rush directly through the heart of the Denver defense for an early first down.
His second touch went for five yards, but things would mostly decline from there in the ground game. He had one additional rush for 10 yards in the first quarter, but ended his night with just 54 yards on 18 carries. After his touchdown, perhaps his most noteworthy touch of the night came on fourth-and-one early in the fourth quarter when Todd Davis met him behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of two yards and the ball on downs.
On the other side of the ball Melvin Ingram proved why he and Joey Bosa will be a dominant edge rush duo throughout the season. Ingram recorded 1.5 sacks on Trevor Siemian, four quarterback hurries and four tackles. His 3.0 combined sacks with Bosa dinged Denver for 28 yards, all in the second half.
After being flagged for a roughing the passer penalty on the first Broncos play from scrimmage after Los Angeles pulled within three in the fourth quarter, Ingram responded two plays later with a split sack with Bosa. On the following play he dropped Simian for a loss of 13 on his own, moving Brandon McManus out of comfortable field-goal range. McManus went on to miss the 50-yard attempt and the Chargers stayed in the game until missing their own field goal in the closing seconds.
Ingram overmatched both Garett Bolles and Menelik Watson at various points on the night. Denver did a good job offering protection help from Jamaal Charles and C.J. Anderson, but with Bosa coming from the opposite side there is only so much help to be doled out on passing downs. Ingram was one of the dominant forces in the game late, but he didn’t completely take it over, and his quiet first half allowed Denver to build up enough of a lead to hang on.
Denver certainly dodged a bullet on Monday night, getting a late field goal block by Shelby Harris to preserve the win, but a big part of their game plan was to contain the Melvins. They did just enough of that to earn a season-opening win.
