EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — After following up their worst performance of the season against Tampa Bay by allowing an easy opening touchdown drive to Denver, even Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter found himself questioning the top unit in the NFL in points allowed.
But the defense got back on track to rally for a 34-27 win that puts the Chargers one victory away from clinching a AFC wild-card berth, a performance that has Minter seeing a group getting back to its best at the most important time of the season.
“I do think that momentum is real, and so to sort of feel us as a defensive unit get our momentum back, yeah, it’s huge,” Minter said Tuesday. “Hopefully it’s something we can carry into preparation this week, which I think the guys have.”
The Chargers (9-6) struggled early as the Broncos moved the ball 72 yards in 10 plays to get that first score. They forced one third down, a third-and-2 near midfield, and promptly gave up a 15-yard run.
Things didn’t seem any better as Los Angeles fell behind 21-10 midway through the second quarter, but Denver needed to convert a third-and-long on each of the next two touchdown drives. Getting into those situations represented progress to Minter.
“I felt like we started to play better even though they moved the ball,” he said. “We let them off the hook a couple times.”
The breakthrough came when Joey Bosa had a sack on third down to force Denver’s first punt. From that point on, the defense allowed six points.
“I think when you go through a season, you almost expect to have to win games in a lot of different ways,” Minter said. “It was the first time it was like where we started off, didn’t look great, and just kind of stayed with it, stuck with it.”
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack believed it was a matter of time before that first stop came.
“It was known that we were gonna bounce back and kind of get the rhythm going,” he said.
The turnaround came at the end of a six-game stretch where the Chargers faced teams all contending for or in a playoff spot. The defense gave up at least 27 points in four of those games; opponents hadn’t topped 20 through the first nine games of the season. Los Angeles went 3-3, beating Cincinnati, Atlanta and Denver and losing to Baltimore, Kansas City and the Buccaneers.
Still, the resolve on display versus the Broncos gives Minter confidence his group is ready for what comes next.
“I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves over that stretch, and really look forward to trying to be at our best now,” Minter said. “It’s end of the season. You’re into, hopefully, December, January, February football where it’s just can you be at your best when your best is needed. So I look forward to attacking these last two regular-season games, and then hopefully more to follow."
The Chargers can clinch a playoff spot by beating New England (3-12) on Saturday, which would mean limiting rookie quarterback Drake Maye.
The third overall pick has Minter’s attention, particularly after Maye’s strong showing in a 24-21 loss to Buffalo on Sunday when he threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think you see the talent,” Minter said. “I think he’s another one of these young quarterbacks that’s a playmaker. Has the ability to make plays inside the pocket, outside the pocket, can run, can scramble. They had a couple designed runs for him against Buffalo this week.”
Mack also expressed appreciation for what Maye has shown, but that doesn’t change his approach to the most important game yet for the Chargers.
“It’s a playoff game, no different than the last one, man,” Mack said. “By any means necessary. We got to do everything we can to win the game.”
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Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime (23) scores a rushing touchdown during the first half an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) slides after gaining yards during the first half an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashed Wednesday near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, leaving at least 32 survivors, according to officials. More than 30 people may be dead.
The plane was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus.
Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry said in a Telegram statement that those on board included five crew. A total of 29 survivors, including two children, have been hospitalized, the ministry told Russia's state news agency, RIA Novosti.
Another Russian news agency, Interfax quoted medical workers as saying that four bodies have been recovered and emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died in the crash.
The Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing 3 km from the city, Azerbaijan Airlines said earlier.
Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry initially said 25 people survived the crash, later revising that number to 27, 28, and then 29 as the search and rescue operation continued at the site of the crash, bringing the supposed death toll down.
The Prosecutor General's Office in Azerbaijan later reported that at least 32 people survived the crash, adding that the number wasn't final. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that some of them were in critical condition.
The number of survivors could mean that over 30 people may be dead.
According to Kazakhstani officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhstani and three Kyrgyzstani citizens, it said.
RIA Novosti quoted Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, as saying that preliminary information showed that the pilot had chosen to divert to Kazakhstan's Aktau after a bird strike on the aircraft led to “an emergency situation on board”.
Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside in the grass. The footage corresponded to the plane’s colors and its registration number.
Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage of the plane.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure-right once nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight before impacting the ground.
FlightRadar24 separately said in an online post that the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming” which “ made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.
In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black.
Azerbaijan’s state news agency, Azertac, said that an official delegation consisting of Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister, the country’s deputy general prosecutor, and the vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines had been dispatched to Aktau to conduct an “on-site investigation”.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who had been traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan on hearing news of the crash, the president’s press service said. Aliyev was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media. “It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he wrote.
He also signed a decree declaring Dec. 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Aliyev on the phone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Speaking at the CIS meeting in St. Petersburg, Putin also said that Russia's Emergency Ministry sent a plane with equipment and medical workers to Kazakhstan to assist with the aftermath of the crash.
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities."
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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
