Chargers Hold Off Broncos Late Comeback Attempt in Week 6 Win

Despite a push in the fourth quarter by the Denver Broncos, solid performances on both offense and defense allow the Chargers to pick up their third win of the season.

Los Angeles head coach Jim Harbaugh stands on the sideline in the first half of their 23-16 victory over the Denver Broncos at Empower Field in Denver, Colorado on Oct. 13th, 2024. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Austin Gage | Contributing Sports Writer

Despite a push in the fourth quarter by the Denver Broncos, solid performances on both offense and defense allow the Chargers to pick up their third win of the season.

Overcoming a health scare to head coach Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers were able to overcome a unique situation and a division rival on the same day as they took down the Denver Broncos 23-16.

Right before Los Angeles took the field, however, Harbaugh was taken into the blue injury tent and later the locker room to tend to what was labeled as an “illness” at the time. Thankfully, Harbaugh would recover and return to coaching the game in the same quarter, and he would later speak on the fact that he has atrial flutter, which is a style of arrhythmia.

Citing that this wasn’t the first time he had suffered an incident due to arrhythmia while coaching and winning an NFL game, Harbaugh was able to joke about the situation after the game once results came in clean and positive.

“2-0 with arrhythmias,” he said with a smile postgame.

As the boss recovered and returned for the Chargers, the Bolts cruised early to a lead that they would never truly let go. 

Starting from the very first drive of the game, the Los Angeles defense made it known that this wasn’t gonna be an easy game for Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix and the Denver offense. Forcing a third and long early, Nix fired a pass that was deflected into the air. The fourth-year defensive back happened to be in the right place at the right time in the middle of the field, and he was able to secure his second interception of the season and set the Chargers offense up with good field position to start their first drive of the game.

Driving into a goal-to-go situation, Los Angeles suffered an offensive pass interference call by wide receiver Joshua Palmer that would end up stalling the drive. A short field goal by Cameron Dicker provided a 3-0 lead that would not be given up the rest of the day.

After another good defensive possession for the Chargers to force a 3-and-out, quarterback Justin Herbert and company went to work once again. Thanks to chunk plays such as consecutive gains of 8 and 12 yards by emerging star running back J.K. Dobbins and a big rece[tion by Palmer for 24 yards, the offense set up a 1st and 10 at the Denver 38-yard line. Targeting rookie running back Kimani Vidal out of the backfield, Herbert dropped in a beautiful pass into the former’s hands for the long touchdown. The touchdown reception, one that marked the first touch in the rookie’s NFL career as he beat his man on a wheel route, extended the Chargers lead up to 10-0. 

For Herbert, Sunday provided his best passing day of the 2024 season so far, as he ended his day with 237 passing yards on 21 for 34 attempts to go along with the singular passing score. This marked the first time the prolific passer has reached the 200-yard passing barrier all season.

‘I thought he was as precise as he could be, as a quarterback could be. There were some great throws, some great avoids of pressure and [he] just put the ball in the appropriate spot throughout the entire game. Hopefully, this reminds everybody that Justin Herbert’s really good at playing quarterback,” said Harbaugh. 

More of the same ensued in the battle of the Denver offense against the Los Angeles defense as the young and inexperienced Broncos struggled to get anything going in the first half. Another punt followed and the Chargers once again took over.

Using a draining 20-play, 76-yard drive, Los Angeles marched down the field and controlled much of the possession in the second quarter. Converting 4 fourth downs on the drive, the Chargers stalled in the redzone in a “goal-to-go” situation once again and were forced to settle for another short field goal. Dicker’s second kick of the day pushed the Los Angeles lead to 13-0. 

The following offensive drive for the Broncos shaped to be a much better one than their previous two to begin the game. Highlighted by a 13-yard rush by running back Javonte Williams and an 8-yard catch on third down by veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton, Denver moved the ball into Los Angeles territory for the first time all day. However, that success would be short-lived as star linebacker Khalil Mack would force a fumble on a Williams’ carry, and the Chargers would have a chance to potentially go up three scores in the late second quarter.

And that is exactly what they did. Relying on Dobbins heavily, the Bolts were able to capture a 20-0 lead off a 4-yard rushing touchdown by the aforementioned running back. Dobbins, who has been one of the game’s best rushers in his first season with Los Angeles, totaled 25 carries for 96 rushing yards and 2 catches for 6 yards with the rushing score on the day.

Entering the locker room with a 20-0 lead, not much more was needed to secure the victory in Denver. 

The Chargers added on a field goal late in the third quarter to edge the lead up to 23 points, and despite the Broncos producing a scoring drive on their last three drives of the game with two touchdowns and a field goal, it simply wasn’t enough to steal a comeback victory. An onside kick attempt for Denver failed with just under a minute left and all but sealed the divisional win for Los Angeles. Two kneeldowns by Herbert allowed the Chargers to emerge from their bye week with an immediate victory and gave them a 3-2 record overall on the campaign, which is very much still young. 

“It’s always huge to get a division win. I heard Coach say that they count for two wins. For us getting back in the plus win column, it’s always a great thing,” Mack said.

Up next for the Chargers is a Monday night date against the Arzona Cardinals on October 21st.