Honorable Mention Stud – Malik Jackson
Danny Trevathan had the game’s first turnover, an interception returned for a touchdown in the waning moments of the first quarter, but it was Malik Jackson’s pressure on Philip Rivers that forced the bad decision.
CBS color commentator Rich Gannon at one point said Jackson was “living in the Chargers backfield.”
Postgame, Broncos head coach had this to say about Jackson’s (and Von Miller‘s) pressure on Rivers:
“I thought we had good pressure all day long. We were very consistent. We really didn’t blitz a whole lot. We played coverage and I let those guys do their job and thought we did a good job at pushing the pocket and obviously we [made] a big play…”
With just two tackles, Jackson’s numbers didn’t jump off the page, but his three quarterback hits (Denver had 11 on the day) and two passes defended were huge parts of a dominant effort by the Denver defense.
