With Russell Wilson on bench, Broncos offense squeezes out win over Chargers — but Denver is eliminated from AFC playoff hunt
Sunday might've been the first look at next season's Denver Broncos offense.
It's not like the Broncos will have that many options in the offseason, if they move on from Russell Wilson and eat an $85 million dead salary-cap hit. The most likely solution for the Broncos is to stick it out with Jarrett Stidham for a season and maybe draft a rookie. There won't be a lot of cap room to do much else.
Stidham wasn't too bad as he took over for Wilson at the end of a tumultuous week in Denver. He threw for 224 yards and didn't make any big mistakes in an ugly 16-9 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Still, the Broncos were eliminated from playoff contention due to other results in the AFC on Sunday.
The Broncos' stance was that Wilson being benched for Stidham was just a football move and that head coach Sean Payton wanted to spark the offense. That's difficult to believe, but Stidham at least played well enough to get the team a win.
Broncos take a lead into halftime
The Broncos' offense mostly struggled in the first half, aside from one play. Stidham was rolling right, and it looked like he'd run for a first down, but he saw Lil'Jordan Humphrey crossing the field. He hit Humphrey on a short pass to about the 40, and then Humphrey did the rest, spinning and juking to avoid multiple Chargers defenders on the way to the end zone.
Stidham was 12-of-22 for 165 yards in the first half. It wasn't difficult to see the difference in the Broncos' offensive approach with Stidham at quarterback. Wilson had fewer than 30 attempts in a game seven times this season.
Payton wanted to play a ball-control game with Wilson at quarterback. With Stidham, things opened up a little bit. Perhaps that was to prove a point about the quarterback who was just benched.
Broncos hold lead into 4th quarter
In the second half, the Broncos' biggest play was a defensive pass interference. On fourth-and-1, Stidham threw to the end zone to a heavily defended Jerry Jeudy. But Chargers safety Alohi Gilman was called for pass interference, keeping the drive alive and setting up the Broncos at the 1-yard line. A couple of penalties on the Broncos cost them a shot at the touchdown, but a field goal gave them a 10-point lead.
The Chargers missed a field goal after that, and their offense wasn't leading a comeback. Easton Stick, who was forced into action due to Justin Herbert's season-ending injury, was not very good against the Broncos. The Chargers cut the Broncos' lead to 16-9 late in the game and had a shot to recover a muffed onside kick, but Denver got on it and ran out the clock after that.
Denver's offense wasn't very good either, especially against a bad Chargers defense that allowed 63 points to the Las Vegas Raiders a couple of weeks ago. Stidham finished with 224 yards and a touchdown and didn't throw an interception. He wasn't bad, but it wasn't the shot in the arm the Broncos say they were looking for with the move. Stidham was just better than Stick, and that was good enough for a win.
The performance also won't give the Broncos a ton of confidence if they have to settle for Stidham next season. That conversation can start now, given that the Broncos' playoff hopes have been dashed.
