DENVER — The Broncos battled back late, but their three-game win streak came to an end Sunday with a 23-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The defeat, which ended a five-game home winning streak against the Chargers, drops Denver to 3-3 ahead of a "Thursday Night Football" matchup with the Saints.
"Obviously, it was a disappointing loss," Head Coach Sean Payton said. "We did all the things that you cannot do in a game like that. We knew what type of game it was going to be. We turned it over twice in the first half. That led to points. Then you start looking at the time of possession when you do that. They ran the ball better than we did. We mustered up some offense late in the game. All of this starts with me. We have to be better offensively. We have to protect the ball better. That is what I saw. We will go from there. We have a short week. Once we are finished tonight, we will be done talking about this game."
A furious 16-point rally led the Broncos to attempt an onside kick with 59 seconds to play for a last-gasp chance, but Wil Lutz's kick ended up out of bounds.
After the Broncos' offense failed to score in the first three quarters, quarterback Bo Nix completed 15-of-19 passes for 189 yards, two touchdowns and a 143.2 passer rating in the fourth quarter. He also added three rushes for 28 yards in the frame.
With touchdown throws to Troy Franklin and Courtland Sutton, the Broncos cut into the Chargers' lead. A failed two-point attempt after Sutton's touchdown, though, left the Broncos behind by 10 points and in need of two more scores with 5:22 to play. Nix led Denver to the edge of the red zone before the Broncos elected to kick a field goal to trim the lead to seven on their final offensive possession.
"Bo made a few plays with his feet and his arm trying to get back in it as quickly as we can," Payton said. "It is tough when you put yourself in that much of a hole. It was a three-score game. I have not looked at the third-down numbers, but they are going to be greatly tilted toward the Chargers. All those numbers will be. We have to be better. We will see them again at some point, and we will go from there."
Denver's defense, meanwhile, allowed just three points in the second half and came up with stops on three consecutive drives in the fourth quarter to give the Broncos a chance.
"It's not easy looking at the scoreboard and seeing the deficit," Nix said. "I thought on the sideline our guys continued to battle. Despite the situation, despite maybe missing another opportunity or getting off the field again and you have restart. It's tough, but I think that's our team. I think that's what kind of team we have. We have a very determined and hard-working team. We're able to get down and continue to fight. Not every game is going to be easy. We're not going to blow every team out. Sometimes you get knocked down early, [and] you've got to find a way to gut it out at the end.
"The fact that we gave ourselves a chance there at the end to have another opportunity says a lot about our team. I'm excited about this team. I know today wasn't what we wanted, but I feel like we're headed in the right direction with how we finished the game. You can't normally take moral victories after a loss. It's tough. Nobody likes to lose. Nobody wants to be on that side, but you can look at it and you can only go two ways. You can continue to go backwards, let it defeat you, let it crush you, and you get in your head, or you're going to continue to move forward. I believe our team is going to continue to move forward [and] stay motivated. Today didn't settle well with us. We're going to continue to battle, find ways to get better, and continue to put good stuff on the field."
Though the Broncos cut into the deficit in the second half, Denver could not fully overcome the Chargers' 20-0 halftime lead.
Los Angeles scored on all four of its first-half possessions, excluding an end-of-half kneeldown, while the Broncos turned the ball over twice and were held scoreless.
The Chargers held the ball for more than 21 minutes in the first half and scored 10 points off turnovers over the first two frames.
On third down, Los Angeles held a decided advantage. The Chargers were 8-of-10 on third down in the first half — including several long conversions — while Denver was 2-of-6 on third down. Los Angeles was 11-of-15 on third down through three quarters, while the Broncos were 2-of-8.
Justin Herbert, who had not thrown for more than 179 yards this season, exceeded that total in the first half and finished the game with 237 yards.
The Broncos' challenge on defense was made more difficult, as Pat Surtain II exited the game on Denver's first defensive possession. After the game, Payton said Surtain was in the NFL's concussion protocol.
Nix, meanwhile, threw an interception on the first possession of the game and finished the first half 3-of-10 for 22 yards. Nix's biggest completion of the first half was a final-minute 46-yarder to Courtland Sutton that likely would have set up Denver's first points of the game, but a holding call wiped out the gain.
"We have to go back and watch it," Nix said. "We didn't run enough plays consecutively to get into a rhythm. It was a few plays, and you were off the field. In a game like that where you know they're going to control the ball, you have to find ways to stay on the field."
Before that moment, Denver's most promising drive came with the team trailing 13-0. After picking up a pair of first downs to the Los Angeles 45-yard line, Javonte Williams lost a fumble that set up the Chargers' final touchdown of the half.
The deficit, ultimately, was too much for the Broncos to overcome.
"We have to quickly put this one to bed," Payton said. "We cannot forget it, but we have to learn from it."
