On a season-best four-game winning streak, the Denver Broncos enter a battle for playoff seeding holding the upper hand when they face the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night in Inglewood, Calif.
The Broncos (9-5) last reached the playoffs in 2015, when they won the Super Bowl behind quarterback Peyton Manning. Rookie QB Bo Nix has brought hopes of a brighter future, guiding Denver from a middling 5-5 start to the cusp of a double-digit wins for the first time since the Manning days.
There is even an outside chance the Broncos could clinch a playoff spot this week. If Denver wins or ties on Thursday, and the Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts follow with losses or ties over the weekend, the Broncos would be playoff bound.
While Nix threw three touchdown passes in a 31-13 home victory over the Colts on Sunday, he also had a career-high three interceptions.
“I thought I saw the game well, (but) I have to keep from turning the ball over,” Nix said.
Nix and the Broncos could have fashioned a four-game winning streak earlier this season, but the Chargers came into Denver and earned a 23-16 victory in Week 6.
Nix threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in that game and wound up with 216 yards in the air. Even so, he lost the duel against Chargers QB Justin Herbert, who threw for a TD and had 237 yards passing.
On Sunday against the Colts, Nix had just 130 passing yards, but Denver cashed in another strong defensive performance by putting up 24 second-half points, including 21 in the fourth quarter.
“Later in that game, when we needed it, man, there’s a maturity and a moxie about him, which I love,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of Nix. “I think it’s contagious to the team. When you have that at the quarterback position, your team knows that you’re in every game.”
If there was a moment when the Broncos gained their footing this season, it might have been in the second half against the Chargers. Trailing 23-0, Denver scored 16 fourth-quarter points while blanking Los Angeles to charge back and make it a game.
Since then, the Broncos have gone 6-2 to bypass the Chargers in the AFC West. Denver currently holds the No. 6 playoff seed in the AFC, while the Chargers (8-6) have dropped to No. 7.
The No. 7 seed could be facing a wild-card round matchup against the Buffalo Bills, while the No. 6 seed likely will meet the champion of the AFC North, where the Pittsburgh Steelers hold a one-game lead on the Baltimore Ravens.
The Chargers have lost consecutive games and three of the past four after falling 40-17 at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. More than just the Los Angeles defense struggled, with the offense gaining only 32 rushing yards and Herbert throwing an interception for the first time in 12 games.
Not only did the Chargers give up the most points they have allowed this season, but they also yielded a season-high 506 yards, including a season-high 223 yards on the ground.
The Chargers still have a two-game lead on their closest wild-card pursuer with three games to play, so their situation is not dire. They also would clinch a playoff spot under a nearly identical scenario to the Broncos, with games still remaining against the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders, who have five combined wins.
With plenty on the line, the game Thursday is expected to have a playoff feel.
“It’s just up to us as an offense and us as a team to go out and execute and play the way we need to,” said Herbert, who has been nursing a sprained left ankle. “Obviously, they’re all important games in December and January. This is where we want to be.”
Herbert was limited at practice Tuesday but is expected to play. Los Angeles tight end Will Dissly (shoulder), guard Zion Johnson (ankle), defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia (pelvis) and defensive backs Cam Hart (concussion) and Elijah Molden (knee) did not practice on Tuesday.
The only Broncos player to miss practice on Tuesday was defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers (foot).
–Field Level Media
