The Los Angeles Chargers were able to keep the divisional matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs close because of defensive coordinator Jesse Minter's unit. The consistency of the defense has uncovered the defects of the offense.
Although the unit was missing Joey Bosa, Bud Dupree tallied a pair of sacks while Tarheeb Still and Troy Dye split a sack. Kristian Fulton also had an interception. Elijah Molden recovered a fumble.
The Kansas City offense had 335 yards of offense but managed to score only 17 points on 11 offensive drives.
Khalil Mack wasn't satisfied with the performance of the defense since the Chargers still came up short.
"Wasn't good enough down the stretch," Mack said via the team transcript. "We've got to go out as players and hold ourselves to a higher standard."
Mack admitted there was a different energy in this matchup where the Chiefs offense was forced to work a little harder than previous games. However, the end result stayed the same.
"They did better playing situational football,” Mack said. “In other years, it was kind of like a breakdown here, breakdown there and they were able to put up 20-plus points. Today, it seemed like it was a little tougher for them."
"We all just wish we would have made a couple more [plays]," Morgan Fox added.
The Chargers lost a 10-7 halftime lead for the second consecutive game. It's almost as if the offense is burnt out by the second half, something offensive coordinator Greg Roman will have to address.
One of the main contributors to the struggles of the unit was a decimated offensive line. Left tackle Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt missed the divisional matchup because of injuries.
The offensive line allowed two sacks and 10 quarterback hits. The run game wasn't explosive, rushing for just 55 yards.
The offense racked up seven penalties, five of which were called on offensive linemen. Heading into the matchup, the Chargers preached the "next man up" mentality.
But against the best of the AFC West, the backups couldn't hold down Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.
The Chargers were shut out through the last three quarters of their 17-10 loss. It was also the second week the squad entered the fourth quarter with the score tied.
Last week, the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was mainly attributed to the absence of Justin Herbert in the final frame.
This week, Herbert was on the field to close the game. But it still wasn't good enough.
The Chargers will have to reassess an offensive unit that goes quiet after halftime, an alarming trend in recent weeks.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/chargers/ as Chargers Strong Defense Continues to Expose Struggling Offense.