And that’ll almost do it, folks. Chargers are gonna win this one and improve to 9-6, while the Broncos will drop to 9-6 themselves.
Well, this is all gonna come down to an onside kick after that deep field goal by Wil Lutz. Those have been VERY unsuccessful this season. Let’s see if the Broncos can be the exception to the rule.
Justin Herbert, man. What a ridiculous game from this guy. This is his second truly spectacular touchdown of the night. The shovel pass under pressure to Hassan Haskins, who scoots his way through the defense to put the Chargers up two scores with a little more than two minutes remaining.
Herbert has used his legs way more often this season, and to great effect. That was an enormous conversion on third-and-10 right there to keep his offense on the field, and then Gus Edwards followed it with his longest run of the season to get L.A. deep into Denver territory. Big swing.
Also, the Broncos probably should’ve gone for it there, considering the situation. Sean Payton might regret punting it away.
Great series for L.A.’s defense. Bud Dupree got it started with a sack on first down to put the Broncos behind the chains. A short run and a short pass later, and now the Chargers have a chance to run a bunch of clock in the four-minute drill to try to put this game away.
After a big third-down conversion from Herbert to Hayden Hurst, the Broncos pass rush quickly ended the drive. First, Jonathon Cooper came off the edge to bat a pass down out of the air on second down. And then Drew Sanders got to Herbert in the pocket for a sack before he could slip away. Denver has a chance to tie or re-take the lead midway through the fourth.
The Broncos since opening the game with three straight touchdowns: 27 plays, 87 yards, 1 FG, 4 punts.
Nix missed an opportunity right there. Mims had about five steps on the corner and Nix underthrew the ball. Should’ve been a TD.
What an outrageous throw from Herbert to give the Chargers their first lead of the game. Holy cow. Rolling to his left, back across his body, over the top of the defender and in a spot where only Derius Davis could catch it. Unreal throw.
Well, we had a free kick earlier and now it looks like we have a simultaneous catch. Thursday Night Football!
Gus Edwards it into the end zone again for L.A.’s second touchdown of the night. Immediately capitalizes on the late hit by Strnad. And suddenly it’s a one-score game again. Two-point conversion fails, though, so it remains a five-point lead for Denver.
Justin Strnad with a really silly play right there. It’s not like that was a late slide. Herbert was on his way to the ground well before Strnad began his tackle attempt.
After that conversion, Denver’s series stalled out after Estime was dropped behind the line and then Nix threw the ball way out of the end zone. A short pass set up fourth-and-3, but Sean Payton opted for a field goal rather than trying to pick up a second conversion of the drive.
Denver converted each of its first four third-down opportunities of the game, but missed its last three. Alas, the Broncos kept the line moving this time around with a screen pass to Courtland Sutton on fourth down and now have a chance to extend their lead.
In case you’re wondering…
It’s not every day that you see one of these. Because the half ended on a fair catch, and because there was a personal-foul penalty on the catch, the Chargers got the opportunity to kick a free field goal and Cameron Dicker nailed it to make this a one-score game at the half. Really, really poor clock management from the Broncos made that possible.
Well there that goes! Kris Abrams-Draine just made a terrific play on a Herbert pass up the seam and came away with an interception. Just cut right in front of the receiver and snatched it out of the air. Only Herbert’s third pick of the season.
Justin Herbert (12-14 for 141 yards) has been just as effective as Bo Nix (14-19, 158 yards, 2 TD) on a per-dropback basis so far. The difference here is Gus Edwards has 18 yards on his 8 carries and the Broncos’ backs are averaging over 5 yards per carry, so Denver’s drives have sustained in a way L.A.’s haven’t.
That sack by Bosa was enough to get L.A. its first stop of the night. Nix’s third-down pass for Vele was tapped up into the air. No defenders in the area or else it might’ve had a chance to get picked. Now Herbert can cut this to a one-score lead before the half and make it a very different game.
With 4:13 left in the second quarter, the Broncos finally had their first negative play of the night. Joey Bosa dropped Bo Nix for a sack.
The Chargers go three-and-out this time, and now Denver has a chance to make it a three-score game. Also, Gus Edwards is getting looked at by trainers. Wheels might be starting to come off for the Chargers here.
Two pretty egregious missed calls in favor of the Broncos so far, with the personal foul on their opening drive and the missed illegal man downfield on that last touchdown.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Broncos easily marched right down the field and scored a touchdown. 6 plays, 70 yards, 2:28, zero negative plays, and Devaughn Vele with the score this time.
It looked like we were on our way to a fourth consecutive touchdown drive, but the Broncos stuffed Gus Edwards behind the line of scrimmage on a third-and-1 opportunity and Jim Harbaugh decided to send the field goal team out there. The way this Broncos offense looks so far, that might be a pretty big mistake. The Chargers need all the points they can get if they want to keep pace. (And you shouldn’t really be kicking on fourth-and-3 from the 19 in the first place.)
Once again, Denver got whatever it wanted on a relatively easy touchdown drive. Bo Nix threw two incomplete passes but every other play gained positive yards. The touchdown came on a play-action bootleg concept with FB Michael Burton sneaking out into the flat. Extremely easy stuff.
Significantly more effective second drive for the Chargers. They marched right down the field just as efficiently as Denver did on its first possession. Justin Herbert is now 4 of 4 for 43 yards, with the big plays on the drive being completions to Josh Palmer and Scott Matlock, plus a 19-yard run by Kimani Vidal before Gus Edwards punched it into the end zone from the 1-yard line.
The Chargers are incredibly banged up in the secondary and could now be without yet another safety. The Amazon broadcast reported that Maye has an ankle injury and headed to the X-ray room.
Quick, efficient work for the Broncos on that first possession. They gained positive yards on every snap. 10 plays, 72 yards, 5:56 off the clock and Estime’s first career touchdown from 3 yards out.
The Broncos have not been very good at running the ball this season (23rd in the NFL in yards per carry), but are finding plenty of success on the ground on their first drive. The Chargers have yielded 4.7 yards per carry to opponents, so this early success makes some sense.
