Justin Herbert threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns. Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 37-10 on Thursday night, ending a three-game losing streak that has knocked them off the top of the AFC West.
The Chargers (5-3) won for the first time since Week 6 in Miami, rebounding four days after a blowout 38-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Keenan Allen had four catches for 44 yards and joined Hall of Famer Antonio Gates as the only players in Chargers history with 11,000 receiving yards.
The Vikings (3-4) lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, with both games lasting five days. They managed just 12 first downs, went 3 of 11 on third downs and only owned the ball for 21 minutes.
Carson Wentz started on short rest in place of quarterback JJ McCarthy, who missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury. Wentz was 15 of 27 for 144 yards with one touchdown and an interception and was sacked five times. He played with a shoulder injury, which he aggravated several times.
The Chargers had chances to score on all four of their first-half possessions and led 21-3 at the break. They missed only Cameron Dicker's 49-yard field goal attempt, which went wide left after a failed kick. Dicker made 46 of his 47 attempts at home. Oronde Gadsden II caught an eight-yard pass, Kimani Vidal scored for three yards and Ladd McConkey caught a 27-yard scoring pass.
Dicker's 49-yard field goal early in the third extended the lead to 24–3.
After the Vikings were forced to punt, Herbert was intercepted at the Chargers 26. That led to the Vikings' only touchdown, helped by two Chargers penalties. Will Reichard's 32-yard field goal was nullified when the Chargers were penalized for having too many players on the field. The Vikings went for it on fourth-and-9 and Wentz was nearly sacked, but Chargers cornerback Benjamin St. Juste was penalized for illegal contact. That kept the drive alive and Wentz hit Jordan Addison for a four-yard score to make it 24-10.
The Chargers responded early in the fourth with Herbert's six-yard pass over the middle to Tre Harris. The Vikings were penalized for having too many players on the field, and the Chargers overcame a penalty for a false start on Foster Sarell.
Rookie RJ Mickens threw his first career interception, picking off Wentz and ending Minnesota's first possession of the fourth. Two Dicker field goals capped the scoring to make it 37-10.
