Still the one: Rookie leads Chargers to clutch win over Falcons, 17-13

Tarheeb Still’s sports hero is Deion Sanders. On Sunday in the Chargers’ 17-13 win at Atlanta, where Sanders began his NFL career, Still turned in a prime performance to keep Los Angeles on pace for a playoff berth.

The Chargers’ fifth-round selection in the 2024 draft, Still intercepted two passes, including a go-ahead 61-yard touchdown return on fourth-and-5 late in the third quarter that gave Los Angeles a 17-10 advantage. Later, with less than a minute remaining in regulation, he also broke up a pass deep intended for Drake London deep in Chargers territory. One play later, Derwin James intercepted Kirk Cousins to ice the win for Los Angeles (8-4).

Cousins matched a single-game career high with four interceptions, his most in more than 10 years, since the Giants picked him off four times in a 45-14 loss when he was with Washington, Sept. 25, 2014. He also extended the longest stretch of his career without a touchdown pass to three games, and finished Sunday 24 of 39 for 245 yards. Atlanta (6-6) has lost three in a row and is in danger of losing what was was a commanding lead in the NFC South after Week 9.

Justin Herbert and the Chargers, meanwhile, have won four of their last five as they battle Denver and Baltimore for a wild card berth. On Sunday, Herbert (2,551 passing yards in 2024) joined Aaron Rodgers (2018) as one of two players in NFL history to reach 2,500 passing yards with one-or-fewer interceptions over his first 12 games of a season. What’s more, Herbert is now just the third player in league annals without an interception over 10 straight games during a season, with a minimum 15 pass attempts in each contest. He joined Tom Brady (11 consecutive games in 2010) and Derek Carr (10 in 2018) as the only members of that club.

The Chargers, who entered the day ranked first in the league in scoring defense (15.9 points allowed per game), held an opponent to 20 points or less for the 10^th time in 12 games.

Next week, the Falcons travel to Minnesota (10-2) to meet Cousins’ former team. The Chargers are in Kansas City (11-1) on Sunday night.

For more information on the Chargers and Falcons, visit the L.A. Chargers and Atlanta team pages at ProFootballPost.com.