The Los Angeles Chargers walked away with an impressive 41-22 win in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals. This was a must-win game for the Chargers as they are now 7-5 on the season and only a half a game behind the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
The Chargers have been playing some disappointing football as late as they lost two out of their last three before this game against teams that they should have beat. In two of the last three weeks, they have losses to the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings, two teams that the Chargers are significantly better than.
They knew that they had to get back on track against a very tough Cincinnati Bengals team and they did exactly that. If they lost this game, the conference would have been tough to win as it doesn't look like the Kansas City Chiefs are going to slow down anytime soon.
Let's take a look at some takeaways from the Chargers-Bengals Week 13 contest.
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Chargers Week 13 Takeaways
3. The team stepped up when it mattered
This is something that the Chargers have not been able to do this season, but they finally did so on Sunday. The Bengals are one of the better teams in football and they knew that they had to play their best if they wanted to walk away with a victory.
This was an impressive win for the Chargers and they knew that they needed to win because if they didn't, the AFC West would almost be out of reach. They only have five more games remaining on the schedule and it doesn't look like the Kansas City Chiefs are going to lose much, if any at all, during the remaining part of the season.
Los Angeles stepped up when it mattered and that's the most important part of being a good football team. If they can continue playing as they did on Sunday for the rest of the season, they're going to be a tough team to beat come playoff time.
2. Herbert plays well, the team plays well
The Chargers are going to be good when Justin Herbert plays well. Herbert on Sunday went 26-35 for 317 yards and three touchdowns. If he gets any help from his defense as he did on Sunday, the Chargers are going to be nearly impossible to beat. He has so many weapons including Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen, and even Mike Williams who had 110 yards on five receptions on Sunday.
He was playing at an MVP level for most of the season, and there's still a chance that he could walk away with the award. If the Chargers want to make a deep run in the playoffs, they need Justin Herbert to play at the level that he is capable of playing at.
1. The defense stepped up
There have been too many weeks during the season that the Chargers gave up too many points. If they can keep their opponents to under 25 points each game, the Chargers are going to be nearly impossible to beat. That's exactly what they did on Sunday against one of the best offenses in the NFL. If they can continue to do this throughout the season, they have a great chance to win a Super Bowl. They stepped up and only allowed 22 points on Sunday and only gave up nine points in the whole second half.
This was an impressive win for the Chargers who needed a big victory. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the seasons plays out for them.
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