The Broncos won their first divisional road game since 2015 with a wild 23-22 win over the Chargers in LA on Sunday. Denver trailed 22-20 with 1:51 left in the game and the ball at their own 8. Case Keenum made two huge throws on the drive. The first one was to Emannuel Sanders for 38 yards to the Chargers 49. The second one was to Courtland Sutton for 30 yards down to the Chargers 16. It led to a Brandon McManus 34 yard field goal as time expired and the Broncos had their first AFC West road win since December of 2015. It was about as good of a win the Broncos have had in the Vance Joseph era, and it put them at 4-6 on the year and actually breathed some life into their season. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game....
1) I liked the Broncos being gutsy and going for a fake punt down 6-0 in the second quarter. The gamble paid off and Colby Wadman completed a pass to Andy Janovich for a first down, and the Broncos converted the drive with a Philip Lindsay TD run to make it 7-6.
2) I think VJ should have elected for the field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 1 inside Chargers territory later in the quarter. The Broncos got an interception from Chris Harris, and they failed to convert it into points as Lindsay was stopped on a 4th and 1. I would have taken the points there and made it 10-6.
3) The Chargers took control of the game from there and built a 19-7 lead and they were driving in Denver territory when the game turned. Von Miller read a screen pass and picked it off and returned it deep into LA territory. The Broncos capitalized with a short Royce Freeman TD run and pulled within 19-14. Denver then took the lead early in the 4th quarter on another short TD run-this time by Lindsay-and Denver had the lead at 20-19. Case Keenum didn't get in for the two-point conversion and it looked like it might come back to haunt Denver-especially after the review showed that it looked like Keenum crossed the goal line, but VJ never challenged it.
4) Down 22-20, the Broncos had a chance but Jeff Heuerman dropped a key third down pass and Denver was forced to punt with 3:53 left to play and three timeouts left. The Chargers got a first down on a 3rd and 6 and it looked like the Broncos were going to lose this one. However, the Chargers had other ideas. On a 2nd and 3 with 2:39 left, Philip Rivers had a miscommunication with Melvin Gordon and he had to take a sack. They led to the 2:00 warning. After that stoppage, Rivers came back on 3rd down and inexplicably threw an incomplete pass and it only wasted 2 seconds off the clock. Denver caught the break of the game at that moment, and that helped enable them to victory.
5) The final drive was terrific by Keenum. He made some gutty throws, and once again he showed some guts late in the game. It was a great drive and great moment for Keenum.
6) The Broncos offensive line held up and Keenum wasn't sacked all day. They did a great job in the run game as well.
7) This is the kind of game that can galvanize a team. It was the best win the VJ era and a game that no one saw coming. Yes, the Chargers and their mistakes and penalties helped them, but give the Broncos credit for hanging in there and fighting to the end.
8) The Broncos are now 4-6 and host the Steelers on Sunday in Mile High. The win gives them another week of hope and maybe they can pull off the upset of Pitt at home and really give Broncos fans a reason for hope down the stretch.
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