Chargers took advantage of Sean Payton’s cowardly punt to complete season sweep

The culture of the Jim Harbaugh Los Angeles Chargers is great. That much the team showed by responding a few days after a blowout loss with a 34-27 win over the Denver Broncos.

But some coward ball from Broncos head coach Sean Payton sure didn’t hurt.

While the Chargers were up 27-24 in the fourth quarter with a little more than four minutes left in the game, Payton elected to punt from the 49-yard line on a fourth-and-six.

It was a stunning gaffe by most metrics and the Chargers took full advantage.

First, Justin Herbert dug the Chargers out of their own territory with a gutsy third-down scramble. Then Gus Edgward popped off his longest run in five seasons by going for more than 40 yards. Then Hassan Haskins took a Herbert flip 34 yards for a score that put the Chargers up 34-24.

Combined with the Broncos mistakes that led to the rare fair catch kick that made history, Thursday night was Harbaugh showcasing the gulf in coaching between himself and Payton—while completing the season sweep, no less.

DEN decided to punt to LAC from the DEN 49 on 4th & 6 with 4:35 remaining in the 4th while losing 24 to 27.

With a Surrender Index of 25.73, this punt ranks at the 99.7th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2024 season, and the 97th percentile of all punts since 1999.
— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) December 20, 2024