Such is the AFC this season, filled with teams who flash one week and fizzle the next.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s regular-season finale<\/a> \u2014 which the Broncos won, 19-3<\/a> \u2014 was far more competitive than it should have been, especially considering the lopsided incentives.<\/p>\n Whereas the Chargers were playing for pride and only modestly consequential postseason seeding, Denver\u2019s stakes were two miles high: a free pass to the second round, and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n How unsettling that the Chargers could even make the game interesting, having rested 14 starters, including Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Chargers now turn their attention to a first-round game at the 14-win New England Patriots<\/a>, who have averaged 34.4 points in the five games since the beginning of December.<\/p>\n It\u2019s another opportunity for Herbert to notch his first playoff victory. In his six seasons, the Chargers have had two one-and-done appearances \u2014 an epic collapse at Jacksonville<\/a> in the 2022 season and a four-interception loss at Houston<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the way he\u2019s played this season, this could be a breakthrough,\u201d receiver Keenan Allen<\/a> said. \u201cEverything we want is still right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II catches a pass against Denver Broncos safety P.J. Locke during the first half Sunday.<\/p>\n (David Zalubowski \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n That\u2019s not exactly true. Allen reeled in two hefty items on his wish list. He needed nine more receiving yards for a $250,000 contract bonus, and six more receptions for a $750,000 payout. He finished with seven catches for 36 yards \u2014 jackpot!<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to get that out of the way,\u201d he said, smiling broadly.<\/p>\n Allen was one of the few seasoned Chargers veterans to set foot on the field. Watching from the sidelines were offensive starters Herbert, Ladd McConkey<\/a>, Quentin Johnston<\/a>, and the entire starting offensive line.<\/p>\n So backup quarterback Trey Lance, making a rare start, had a collection of blockers that was even more hodgepodge than usual \u2014 and going up against the NFL\u2019s sack leaders, no less. The Broncos came into the game with a club-record 64 sacks.<\/p>\n They got to Lance four times, and although that might be impressive, the Chargers collected four sacks of their own, two by backup defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was dope,\u201d star edge rusher Khalil Mack<\/a> said of the performance by second-stringers.<\/p>\n Mack sat out, as did All-Pro safety Derwin James Jr.<\/a>, linebacker Daiyan Henley<\/a> and safety Elijah Molden<\/a>. All will be back for the Patriots game.<\/p>\n The Chargers have beaten the Patriots in their last two meetings, including a 6-0 win two years ago in Foxborough. This is the first time the teams have played with these head coaches, Jim Harbaugh and Mike Vrabel.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of game that defines your season,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cOur focus and attention is on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s game was a foregone conclusion before kickoff. Yes, the Chargers were 5-0 against AFC West opponents, but their primary aim was to stay fresh for the playoffs.<\/p>\n The Broncos, meanwhile, were so laser-focused on securing that No. 1 seed that coach Sean Payton instructed the videoboard operators to scrap the goofy games during breaks in the action. He wanted the crowd thinking about decibels, not distractions.<\/p>\n Denver running back RJ Harvey is tackled by Chargers defenders during the second half Sunday.<\/p>\n (C. Morgan Engel \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n From the start, Denver looked on track. On their first possession, the Broncos drove from their 13 to the Chargers\u2019 six, setting up the first of four field goals by Wil Lutz.<\/p>\n Who would have suspected that, after those 81 yards, Denver\u2019s offense would generate only 31 more the rest of the half?<\/p>\n Put simply, Denver is a weird team. The Broncos have trailed in 12 of their 14 wins, and this was the second time this season they won without scoring an offensive touchdown. Naturally, there were incentives Sunday to staying as vanilla as possible on offense as not to reveal more to future opponents, although this is a team that already has put 17 games on video.<\/p>\n This game was either an offensive stinker or a defensive masterpiece, depending on your perspective.<\/p>\n Both quarterbacks led their team in rushing. Lance completed 20 of 44 passes for 136 yards with an interception. Denver\u2019s Bo Nix was 14 of 23 for 141 yards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The game was the understudies versus the underwhelmings. The second-string Chargers against the… wait a second, the top-seeded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[11594,63447,25037,1535,11155,11544,423,6666,48,52,51,47,50,49,18158,18035,18710,427,315,430,1539],"class_list":["post-120340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-broncos","tag-case-sunday","tag-charger","tag-chargers","tag-defense","tag-denver","tag-game","tag-houston","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-no","tag-offense","tag-regular-season-finale","tag-team","tag-time","tag-week","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chargers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767581616_190_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Denver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767581617_872_.jpeg\")
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