Chargers almost Charger again, but mistake-prone Broncos lose second straight

It was hard to trust the San Diego Chargers coming into Thursday night. But coming out of it, the Denver Broncos might be temporarily outside the Circle of NFL Trust. They couldn’t do what most teams have done to San Diego this season: pull out a late-game miracle the Chargers so badly seemed to want to give them.

The Chargers held on for a 21-13 victory that likely saved head coach Mike McCoy’s job for now. They controlled the action on both sides of the ball early but cracked in hauntingly familiar ways, unable to make it a three-score game despite ample chances throughout the second half. Thankfully for them, the Broncos’ late-game blitzkrieg — with Trevor Siemian’s awful Hail Mary attempt serving as a metaphor — fell short.

“I just thought, are we about to find another way [to lose]?” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said after the game. Rivers passed Dan Fouts for the franchise’s all-time passing yards total early in the game and had a terrific night overall despite all the craziness.

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So yes, the team that blew a 21-point lead against the Kansas City Chiefs, lost in the final 77 seconds to the Indianapolis Colts, fumbled twice in the final minutes to lose to the New Orleans Saints and botched a late field goal against the Oakland Raiders … well, they won! And boy, did they need it. Even as agonizing as it turned out to be.

On the other side, the Broncos did their best Chargering rendition possible, but it started early in the evening and lasted almost throughout. They committed 12 penalties for 103 yards — wiping out 69 yards gained — with a holding call in the end zone resulting in a second-half safety. They lost two fumbles in the second half. The missed a field goal. They looked lost offensively most of the night without head coach Gary Kubiak, at home recovering from a serious migraine, and Kubiak’s son said he felt lost with his dad by his side watching the game at home.

Kubiak will be back Monday. But will the Broncos? They have the next 11 days to stew over their second straight loss, both coming in the past four days after the 4-0 start, and they should be plenty ready for the Brock Osweiler Bowl next Monday. But Siemian was rusty and rough on Thursday coming off a shoulder injury, even in showing some toughness after taking a few big hits and rallying late.

And it’s not as if the Chargers didn’t give the Broncos every chance to win the game the way most Chargers opponents do.

The Chargers dominated everything but — no big deal — the scoreboard in the first half. They had scoring drives that lasted 7:00 and 10:03, the latter being the longest of Rivers’ career and the longest of the 2016 NFL season. Overall, they possessed the ball nearly 21 of the first 30 minutes and had a halftime yardage edge of 173-60.

Siemian had trouble when his first read was covered, and he was pressured by the Chargers’ front most of the first half. How good is Joey Bosa, y’all? It’s hard not to wonder how much of a difference he might have made during the 1-3 start after a pointless holdout, which was followed by a hamstring injury that cropped up when he was trying to get into game shape in double time.

On offense, the Chargers (like the Atlanta Falcons the week prior) short-circuited the Broncos’ pass rush with a flurry of quick passes, and tight end Hunter Henry caused the same kind of matchup issues for the Broncos that Tevin Coleman had the week before. The Chargers stayed in a lot of two-TE sets and kept the Broncos in their base defense, even against the spread formations. Really smart coaching there.

But there was a brief glimmer of the Chargers being the Chargers in the first half. Travis Benjamin, who already had lost the punt-return job once before this season, misplayed a punt — let it go! — inside the 10-yard line and the Broncos recovered after interim head coach Joe DeCamillis won the challenge. The Chargers were fortunate to hold them to a field goal, but it felt like foreshadowing to another collapse.

The Chargers held serve through the third quarter, padding their lead with three field goals, but all three — including one gifted by a Broncos turnover — were drives that bogged down in the red zone. Somehow, it remarkably remained a two-score game.

And with these Chargers, as we’ve seen, no lead feels safe. Broncos kicker Brandon McManus missed a 56-yard field-goal try at the end of the third quarter, so the Chargers entered the final 15 minutes of the game needing to protect a 16-point lead that felt tenuous at best.

They barely did. After the safety, they muffed the ensuing free kick and the Broncos recovered.

That led to the Broncos’ first really good drive of the night — 11 plays, 51 yards and an 11-point game with more than eight minutes left. The Chargers helped the Broncos out by running only two minutes off the clock and losing 11 yards on their next possession.

Siemian got the Broncos rolling again, but Demaryius Thomas’ fumble just outside the red zone with under four minutes left did them in. Well, sort of. The Broncos got the ball back, kicked a field goal and then recovered the onsides kick. Improbably, the scene was set for another collapse. But Siemian moved the ball only 9 yards on the final four plays and the Chargers escaped.

The Broncos now are suddenly a bit unsteady following their second straight loss but have plenty of time to correct things.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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