The 1990 Giants won the Super Bowl behind a dominant defense led by Lawrence Taylor and coordinated by Bill Belichick. That defense held its first 10 opponents to less than 21 points, a start to the season that has never been repeated — at least not yet.
If the Chargers hold the Bengals to under 21 points on Sunday night, they’ll be the first defense that has held every opponent to 20 points or less through 10 games of the season since those 1990 Giants.
The most points the Chargers have allowed this season was 20, in their Week Three loss to the Steelers. The Chargers have given up 17 points three times, 16 once, 10 twice, 8 once and 3 once. Add it all up, and through nine games the Chargers have allowed just 118 points in nine games, an average of 13.1 points allowed per game that is the best in the NFL this season.
At 6-3, the Chargers are in the thick of the AFC playoff race, and while quarterback Justin Herbert gets most of the attention, the dominant defense in Los Angeles has sparked a significant turnaround in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s first year.
