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.
Chargers vs. Broncos score, takeaways: Justin Herbert and Co. rally past Denver, bolster playoff hopes
Los Angeles leapfrogs Denver in the AFC standings after sweeping its AFC West rival
The Broncos (9-6) failed to clinch their first playoff appearance since the 2015 season as the Los Angles Chargers (9-6) exploded in the second half, outscoring Denver 21-6 en route to a 34-27 victory on 'Thursday Night Football' and a season sweep of their AFC West rival.
The result of the Chargers' victory is Los Angeles and Denver swap places in the conference standings with the Chargers now standing as the AFC's sixth seed and the Broncos tumbling down to the seventh and final postseason slot with two weeks remaining in the regular season for both franchises.
Both teams entered Week 16 tied atop the NFL, along with the Philadelphia Eagles, for the league's best scoring defense, allowing 17.6 points per game, and while Los Angeles' defense didn't look a top scoring defense early, it certainly did late.
The Broncos offense didn't have any issues moving the ball against the host Chargers' No. 1 scoring defense in the first two quarters, scoring touchdowns on each of their first three drives. The first concluded with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by fifth-round rookie running back Audric Estime; the next two were a 1-yard touchdown pass from first-round rookie quarterback Bo Nix to fullback Michael Burton, and another touchdown pass, a 6-yard strike, from Nix to seventh-round rookie wide receiver Devaughn Vele.
However, their offense went completely cold after their first three drives. Five of the Broncos' final seven drives ended in punts with the other two being a 41-yard field goal to open the second half, and a 55-yard field goal on their final possession of the night. Nix finished the game with 248 yards passing and two touchdowns on 29 of 40 passing, but he threw for only 109 yards on 14 of 19 passing in the game's final two quarters.
Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense fed off the momentum of concluding the half with a 57-yard field goal off the first fair-catch kick since 1976 from kicker Cameron Dicker after the Broncos committed a fair catch interference penalty on a punt with no time left on the clock that trimmed their halftime deficit to eight, 21-13. The Chargers scored three touchdowns on their four second-half possessions prior to recovering a last-ditch onside kick by the Broncos with just under a minute left to play. Running back Gus Edwards added his second rushing touchdown of the game from 5 yards out and finished the game with 68 rushing yards and two scores on 14 carries.
Then, Herbert locked in, throwing two touchdown passes, including a miraculous 19-yarder to wide receiver Derius Davis in which the Chargers quarterback launched the football to the end while rolling to the left with a defender draped all over him. A shovel pass to running back Hassan Haskins for a 34-yard score with 2:27 left to play sealed the victory as Herbert finished with 284 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception on 23 of 30 passing.
Why the Chargers won
Herbert heroics, and a defense that stepped up after a horrific start. Herbert finished this game 23 of 30 for 284 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception, but the stat line doesn't do his performance justice -- even when you account for his 40 rushing yards. He was firing lasers all over the field, and he repeatedly came up with huge plays at the most crucial moments. He was the best player on the field. And L.A.'s defense yielded just six points the rest of the game, after allowing the Broncos to begin the night with three consecutive touchdown drives.
Why the Broncos lost
Their offense peaked too early, and their defense had no answers once the Chargers got going. As previously mentioned, the Broncos scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives. But beyond the 21 points they got, the ease with which they did it was astounding. They opened the game by going 72 yards on 10 plays, 70 yards on 12 plays and 70 yards on six plays. They didn't take a negative play until there were around four minutes remaining in the first half. It was SO easy for them ... until it wasn't. After those first three possessions, Denver ran just 35 more plays, and gained only 143 yards on those snaps. And after holding the Chargers to 10 points on their first five possessions, the defense yielded three touchdowns on four second-half drives before the final possession where the Chargers ran out the clock.
Turning point
Leading 21-10 late in the second quarter, the Broncos had the ball deep in their own territory. They'd been rolling offensively so with 41 seconds left they tried to put together a real drive rather than just running out the clock. But it went disastrously bad. A first-down pass to Javonte Williams went backward. Crucially, a second-down pass fell incomplete. And then a third-down run was stopped after just a yard, with 8 seconds left. The Chargers called timeout to force a punt. Why not, right? Something strange might happen. And then something strange happened.
That's right, we got a fair-catch free kick for the first time since 1976. Aided, naturally, by a fair catch interference penalty, which moved the ball into Cameron Dicker's range. That sequence left the Chargers down by only one score at halftime, and started their run to eventually win the game.
Highlight play
It's tough to choose between Herbert's ridiculous touchdown throws, but let's go with the one with a higher degree of difficulty.
SHEESH. That is a frozen rope, on the move to his left, thrown back across his body, over the top of a defender and right on the money to the receiver, in stride, in the end zone. Hard to make a better throw than that.
What's next
L.A. improves to 9-6 with this win and also moved ahead of the Broncos in the standings. The Chargers now hold the No. 6 seed in the AFC and hold the tiebreaker over Denver in the event the two teams finish with the same record. Their final two games of the season are at New England and at Las Vegas.
Denver drops to 9-6 with the loss and falls behind the Chargers in the standings. Denver now holds the No. 7 seed in the AFC but remains fairly safe in the playoff race, with the Colts, Dolphins and Bengals all sitting at 6-8 and needing a lot of things to break their way (likely including Denver losing out) in order to make the field. The Broncos finish out the season with games at Cincinnati and home against the Chiefs.
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.
W-O-W
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.
Timely scramble
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.
Chargers take it right back
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.
Denver defense steps up
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.
JUSTIN HERBERT
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!
Edwards x2
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.
Broncos tack on a field goal
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.
Fourth-down conversion keeps the drive going
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...
Fair-catch kick!
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.
Herbert gets picked
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.
Chargers defense gets a stop
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.
Danger zone for L.A.
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.
Too easy for the Broncos
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.
Chargers stall out, settle for a field goal
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.)
Broncos moving the ball at will, score again
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.
Chargers strike back
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.
Marcus Maye QUESTIONABLE to return
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.
Audric Estime gets the scoring started
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.
Lots of room to run for Denver
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.