7 takeaways from Broncos’ 28-13 win over Chargers

The Denver Broncos upset the Los Angeles Chargers 28-13 at home in Week 12, improving to 6-5 with the win. Here are seven quick takeaways from Denver’s important AFC West victory.

Drew Lock is not the answer

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Lock had a great opportunity on Sunday to prove that he should be the quarterback going forward, but he squandered it. Stepping in for an injured Teddy Bridgewater, Lock first fumbled the ball (the Broncos fortunately recovered it) and then he later threw an interception that led to a Chargers touchdown. That kind of recklessness with the football — two turnover-worthy plays in his first five snaps — is a perfect example of why Denver’s coaching staff seems to have little confidence in Lock.

That was a gutsy performance from Teddy Bridgewater

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Five weeks ago, Bridgewater played on “Thursday Night Football” shortly after recovering from a concussion while also battling through foot and quad injuries. This week, Bridgewater was knocked out of Sunday’s game with a shin injury, only to return later to lead a touchdown drive and help secure a win. It was a gutsy performance from Denver’s resilient quarterback.

“He toughed it out,” coach Vic Fangio said after the game. “He was nowhere near 100 percent in that second half, but he toughed it out and led the offense.”

Bridgewater was rewarded with a game ball following the victory.

“When you win, it doesn’t really matter what you’re going through,” the QB said when asked about his health. “You feel good. I feel good right now. We’ll see how I feel when I wake up in the morning.”

Broncos' backup offensive linemen are passing every test

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Denver just might have the best offensive line depth in the NFL — either that or offensive line coach Mike Munchak and assistant Chris Kuper know how to get the best out of offensive linemen. Perhaps its a combination of both.

The Broncos went into Sunday’s game without left tackle Garett Bolles (COVID-19), right guard Graham Glasgow (ankle, IR) and right tackle Bobby Massie (ankle).

Then, during the game, left guard Dalton Risner went down with a back injury and Calvin Anderson, who was filling in for Bolles, suffered a knee injury.

Netane Muti filled in for Risner, and Quinn Bailey — who was just elevated from the practice squad on Saturday — filled in for Anderson. Fangio said after the game that he was “thrilled” by the performances of Muti and Bailey, and the offensive line’s day overall.

“When Calvin plays for us I’m not worried,” Fangio said. “When Quinn [Meinerz] goes in there and plays I’m not worried. [With] Muti I’m not worried. We have good quality depth and to see a guy like Bailey go in there and play in a game this late in the season that has some meaning to it and play as well as he did …. just to go in there and for our offense to operate and operate well in two of those three drives is [a] credit to him. Credit to ‘Munch’ and credit to ‘Kup’ for bringing him along.”

Bailey was rewarded with a game ball.

Pat Surtain looks like Champ Bailey

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This is not a comparison of the players’ careers — Bailey is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Surtain has a long way to go before we can talk about him potentially joining Bailey in Canton.

Speaking strictly of appearance, though, Surtain brought back memories of Bailey running down the sideline with his pick-six. He looked a lot like Champ:

The forearm sleeves … the tipped pass … Surtain’s raised arms at the end of the play — brings back memories, doesn’t it?

The Bailey comparisons will likely continue if Surtain continues playing like he did on Sunday.

Run game is the key to Denver's success on offense

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The Broncos have a pair of quality running backs, so it’s no surprise that Denver’s success on offense largely results from the run game.

Broncos rookie running back Javonte Williams had 17 touches (14 carries and three catches) for 111 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on Sunday. Fellow back Melvin Gordon totaled 88 yards on his 18 touches and Bridgewater added an 11-yard score on the ground to boot.

“I feel like establishing the run first is definitely something to help this team,” Williams said after the win. “I feel like once we establish the run, they kind of start stacking the box, and that gets ‘Court’ [Courtland Sutton], [Jerry] Jeudy, Tim [Patrick], players like that, more space to get open.

“It also helped Teddy with play action and stuff like that, so I feel like establishing the run first and then play action passes really helps us win games.”

Running the ball, protecting the ball and playing good defense might not be a pretty formula, but it’s a winning formula.

That might have been Pat Shurmur's best game of the season

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Shurmur has faced a lot of deserved criticism this season for questionable play calling and for not getting the most out of Denver’s offensive weapons. The coach deserves to take heat when the offense isn’t good enough, and he deserves praise when the offense performs like it did on Sunday.

The Broncos finally seemed to place an emphasis on running the ball, with Williams and Gordon combining to rush 31 times in the win. The offense was also more efficient than usual, converting 8-of-11 third down attempts (73%).

“I think Shurmur did a great job of just mixing things up,” Bridgewater said Sunday evening. “Coach put up a number earlier this week pertaining to rush attempts, passing, things like that, and coach Shurmur hit that quota.”

Denver’s offense picked up 11 first downs on the ground and nine first downs through the air. The passing game (outside of Lock’s one terrible decision) was efficient, and the offensive line only allowed one sack.

Shurmur called a good game, and he deserves credit for it.

A division win was huge for Denver

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After upsetting the Chargers, the Broncos now have a huge “Sunday Night Football” showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs (7-4) on deck. If Denver can upset the Chiefs on the road, the Broncos would have a better division record (2-1 vs. 1-2) and a head-to-head win over KC, putting Denver in first place in the AFC West with a 7-5 record.

“It’s a great feeling, but we got work to do,” Bridgewater said of the team putting itself back in contention for the division title. “We have seven days until the next opportunity to go out and compete, so we got to make sure that we’re maximizing and winning each day leading up to that game.”

Sunday’s game could prove to be a launching pad for Denver’s quest to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

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