INGLEWOOD, Calif. – In a crucial game for the Los Angeles Chargers, they trail the Denver Broncos at halftime‘ With playoff hopes looming, head coach Jim Harbaugh turned to star defensive lineman Derwin James for inspiration.

James did not disappoint.

“It’s time to go,” James told his teammates. “It’s time to play. We don’t need a coach to give us a speech now. It’s up to the players.”

James kept it simple. And it worked as the Chargers stormed back in the second half, outscoring the Broncos 21-6 in the final two periods and beating Denver 34-27 on Thursday at SoFi Stadium. The win increased the Bolts’ record to 9-6 and pushed them to the brink of the postseason in Harbaugh’s first season in Los Angeles.

With the win, the Chargers have a 97% chance of making the playoffs, according to NFL Next Gen stats. They can even clinch victory this weekend when the Miami Dolphins lose to the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts lose to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

The win ended a difficult stretch for the Chargers, as they had lost three of their last four games heading into Thursday’s contest.

But the Chargers got an outstanding performance from their best player. Quarterback Justin Herbert played it all, completing 23 of 31 passes for 284 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 106.6. Both of Herbert’s TD passes came in the fourth quarter – a 19-yard pass to receiver Derius Davis and a throw to running back Hassan Haskins for a 34-yard reception.

“He’s phenomenal,” Ladd McConkey told FOX Sports. The rookie receiver led the Chargers with six receptions for 87 yards. “He’s a damn warrior. He comes out every day and does his best. We know we have a chance when he’s back.”

Herbert, who is dealing with a lingering ankle injury, also used his legs more, running eight times for 28 yards. It was the kind of performance from Herbert that NFL observers expected from one of the league’s most talented quarterbacks in a must-see moment as he engineered his 12th career comeback in the fourth quarter.

“His legs are a weapon,” James told FOX Sports. “These other quarterbacks are running at us, so I always tell him when you can run, that makes it a lot harder.”

“He picked us up when we needed his best. I told Joey (Bosa) on the sideline that 10 was on the way to first down. We won’t have to go out there again. And that’s what he did.” Keeping the drive going with his legs. It feels good to win, man.

Some people nationally have questioned Herbert’s ability to assert himself and lead his team over the finish line when the games matter most. Herbert acknowledged in his postgame comments that he heard the water cooler talk and said he was looking forward to those moments.

“You treat this like it’s the final play,” Herbert said. “You never worry about the previous drive where if I throw an interception, I never want to let that affect my next throw.”

“If that continues in my head, I’m doing my team a disservice. So to put this behind us, let’s go ahead and say, ‘Hey, this is the way we’re going to go.’ Get it done.’ I think we did that today. We fought all year long and that never left us.

While Herbert stepped up when the Chargers needed him, the play that changed the dynamic came when the Bolts presented a fair-catch opportunity at the end of the first half.

The Chargers forced Denver to punt from their own end zone with 8 seconds left. While executing the punt, Davis earned a fair catch interference penalty with no time left.

(Related: What is a fair catch kick?)

The 15-yard penalty moved Los Angeles to Denver’s 47-yard line, allowing Harbaugh to take advantage of an obscure rule that allows a team that has just made a fair catch to attempt a free kick for three points. The kick is attempted from the line of scrimmage and the defenders must stand 10 yards away.

The Chargers have one of the NFL’s best kickers in Cameron Dicker, who drilled the 57-yard attempt to cut Denver’s lead to 21-13 at halftime.

Harbaugh had attempted this play before in 2013, when he was head coach of the 49ers, but Phil Dawson missed a 71-yard kick. The last player to make a fair catch kick was Ray Wersching when he played for the San Diego Chargers 48 years ago in 1976.

“That’s my favorite rule in football,” Harbaugh said. “I just tried to get one of those every game.”

Dicker said special teams coach Ryan Ficken went over the fair catch-kick scenario every Friday leading up to game days, so he was aware of the situation.

“I didn’t really think it would ever happen,” Dicker said. “I always thought it would be cool if it did, because usually it’s longer kicks, and longer kicks are fun. So I was hoping it would happen and it was a really cool opportunity for us.”

The play that changed the dynamic was the latest example of how the traditionally unprepared Chargers are now among the most buttoned-up teams on game days.

“We are always prepared for any situation,” James told FOX Sports when asked if Dicker made the kick. “It’s great to have a coach who prepares you so you can just come in and do your part. It feels good.”

The scrappy Chargers returned to their winning ways under Harbaugh. They ran for 134 yards, led by Gus Edwards with 68 yards and two touchdowns. They finished with fewer penalties than the Broncos (Denver had seven penalties for 61 yards while the Chargers had two for 8 yards).

One of the league’s best defenses, led by defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, held the Broncos to six points in the second half. And an offense that has struggled to score points over the past month scored 34 points against one of the league’s best defenses, including a season-high 21 points in the second half.

“We know what kind of team we are when we put it all together,” McConkey said. “We know how we can play. We have put in top performances, now we just need to put it all together.”

Eric D. Williams has covered and covered the NFL for more than a decade Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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