No Bull thoughts, opinions, and analysis on the Broncos earning a win extra home game vs the Los Angeles Chargers
In the NFL, a win is a win. I’m sure many of you out there in Broncos Country felt like I did for much of this game: Frustrated. The offense looks largely broken and disjointed. The defense swings between elite and derptastic.
Props to the Los Angeles Chargers. They were missing something close to half of their starters coming into this game and gave the Denver Broncos one hell of a fight.
Offense
I don’t for one second think that changing play callers had any serious impact on the play of the offense overall. The problem with the offense is about execution and the players, not about scheme and play calling. Hopefully Davis Webb feels a bit vindicated that Payton took over play calling only to have the offense look hapless against a winless team.
The one serious nit to pick has to do with the clock and play management at the end of the 4th quarter. They could have gotten a play in and ran it at the last second, but wasted a timeout instead. They then took a delay of game immediately. I can not begin to understand how that happens. It was ineptitude of the highest order and lands directly at the feet of Sean Payton.
While many players had many gaffes that cost the team in several ways, you can rest assured the play caller cost us an opportunity to put the game away during that series.
Quarterbacks
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 11: Bo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos carries the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers during the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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Whatever we did with Bo Nix heading into this season needs to be largely thrown in the trash and never repeated in upcoming years. Nix still looks out of sync, rushed, and inaccurate through 5 games so far this year. We saw this same level of play last season, but it appears that we’re stuck in a Groundhog Day loop with our quarterback development. I think next offseason Nix better be playing quite a few more snaps in the preseason in order to knock the rust off and hit the ground running.
I’m pretty curious about why Nix audibled into a run play on 3rd and 9. There’s no real way for us to know this, but it seemed like a give-up play to me. Yes, the Chargers’ defense is good. But there just seemed to be no gusto whatsoever for attacking throughout the game, and this was but one example of that.
In the past two years, Nix has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL at avoiding sacks, yet in this game he sacked himself running right into the left side of the pocket. He also was getting tackled and gave up a fumble, one-arming the ball. I’d complain more, but across the field from him was a quarterback who did an even worse job in this game of protecting the ball.
On the positive side (that just adds to the frustration), he showed off his arm on a big pass outside to Waddle as he was getting hit in the knees. He drilled a couple of outs to the sideline that were nice throws to both Humphreys and Sutton. His touchdown throw was quickly delivered and on point.
Much like the game overall, we saw a frustrating amount of bad quarterbacking in this game along with a sprinkle of good play.
Line
Hats off to the line for some exceptional blocking outside on the first touchdown by Dobbins, with Sutton, Bolles, and Powers all leading the way to an easy score in the run game. But honestly, the line is not blocking up the run game early, and it is a big part of the problem with our offense. The pattern still holds that this line doesn’t really open up lanes until late in the game. This points to excellent conditioning for our linemen, as they really did start winning at the line of scrimmage in the 4th quarter. They have to figure out how to win in the trenches earlier.
Their pass blocking was spotty this game. Part of that has to do with the Chargers’ front, but I’m not sure how well we can expect Nix to stay in the pocket more when it’s collapsing from one side on a good number of pass plays (especially 3rd downs, which was one reason they did so poorly in that area this week).
Running Backs
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 11: J.K. Dobbins #27 of the Denver Broncos runs for a rushing touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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JK Dobbins got force-fed the ball this week. He started off quite slow with runs of 2, 0, 1, 2(TD), 1, 6, 5, 4, 0, 3, 0, and 3 through 3 quarters for an average of a little more than 2 yards per carry. Of course, once the 4th quarter gets here, Dobbins wakes up and has runs of 3, 14, 1, 13, 2, 4, 7. Sure, the average at the end of the game looks decent. But this back is not playing well enough. Last year he would bounce out of tackles and create a couple extra yards. This year he is looking pretty pedestrian regularly. Giving him so many ineffective carries early does not serve the offense.
Did you know that RJ Harvey was on the field for 23 snaps? I wouldn’t have guessed since we didn’t see much of him. He was run up the middle a couple of times for practically nothing and only had one catch for 0 yards in the passing game. I’m not sure how a guy who is such an explosive player isn’t being used more to help kick-start the offense. I do know they had him in pass blocking on a 3rd down that went poorly. He’s not the back that can slow down a linebacker (that would be Badie).
Receivers
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 11: Evan Engram #1 of the Denver Broncos makes a catch during the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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Evan Engram had himself a game against the Chargers with 4 catches on 4 targets for 55 yards to lead the team. He had a big time catch on one of the best executed plays we’ve seen from the Broncos in a couple of weeks.
Jaylen Waddle’s best play this game was a nice end around for 8 yards. For what seems like the 3rd week in a row, he dropped another pass that hit his hands (though it was a very poor throw by Nix, I expect highly paid WRs to catch it if it hits their hands).
Cortland Sutton continues to look largely washed as our #1 WR. He shoved a defender to get an offensive pass interference call. He dropped a makeable jump ball on 3rd down. He finally caught a 13-yard pass left open on the sideline. He did get a gimme touchdown on a completely busted coverage by the defensive back lined up across from him.
Defense
I don’t think anyone out there in Broncos Country thoroughly enjoyed the defensive performance in this game. There were several plays that had more of the poor tackling issues we saw earlier in the year.
That being said, the defense was the #1 reason the Broncos won this game. They got pressure on Herbert. They forced 3 fumbles. They got an interception as well. They also made a 4th-and-1 stop to effectively turn the ball over.
Sure, Herbert had a couple of nice runs. One of them was a perfectly executed play and superb scheme from McDonald to get Herbert a free lane to the sideline for a gain of 23 yards. The only guy I could see Vance Joseph using as a spy on Herbert would be Srnad, and he’s too valuable in coverage to do that.
Front 7
Inglewood, CA - October 11: Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) can not escape the grasp of Denver linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) during the second half at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. The Los Angeles Chargers lost to the Denver Broncos 23-17 in a National Football League (NFL) American Football Conference (AFC) West game. The Chargers are now 0-5 to start the season. (Photo by Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)
MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Nik Bonitto finally had a breakout game this week. He had two big sacks on 3rd down, 3 tackles for loss, and 2 quarterback hits.
Zach Allen again had a big impact on the field. He had a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, and forced one of the defense’s three fumbles.
DJ Jones had his best game of the season against the Chargers. He was wrecking the Chargers from the interior with 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 1 quarterback hit, and a forced fumble.
Jonah Elliss also flashed some plays from what I saw. He had two nice pass rushes forcing throwaways. Neither play will show up on the stat sheet, but they were big plus plays in my books.
Alex Singleton laid down the hammer at the line of scrimmage with a thundering hit early for a gain of 0. Singleton made an absolutely embarrassing attempt at a tackle on 3rd and 15, giving up a first down that he should have stopped. He had a great nose for the ball on a tackle for loss on an outside toss play. He whiffs on the next play, giving up a big gain on a pass to the outside.
Justin Strnad made a nice TFL attacking the edge on an outside run. Nice tackle in the last drive in a one-on-one coverage situation. He also earned a pass defense, slapping the ball out at the last second on an out route.
Que Robinson definitely deserves a shout-out for stopping Herbert on a sneak on 4th and 1. It was a key play of the game by the young outside linebacker.
Secondary
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 11: Brandon Jones #22 of the Denver Broncos is tackled by Marquez Valdes-Scantling #13 of the Los Angeles Chargers after an interception during the fourth quarter of the game at SoFi Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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This week it was Brandon Jones’ turn to be a star safety for the Broncos. He was an absolute monster with an interception, 2 pass defenses, and a fumble recovery. With Hufanga going out of the game early, his play was key to helping the defense hold the Chargers to under 20.
We also need to give some serious love to both Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine. Our tandem of backup cornerbacks had to start this game, and they honestly killed it. Both showed consistent, solid coverage, with Abrams-Draine getting a pass defense and Barron making some timely, solid tackles near the line of scrimmage.
There were so many playmakers on the defense in this game that it may have been easy to overlook Ja’Quan McMillian. He finished the game with 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit.
Special Teams
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 11: Jeremy Crawshaw #16 of the Denver Broncos holds the ball during warms up prior to the game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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Welcome back, Marvin Mims! I was about to ding him in the review, as he had a couple of returns where he called for a fair catch when the defenders were 10 yards away and he caught it. On his second such poor decision, the Chargers got penalized, and he made them pay to the tune of a 26-yard return.
Jeremy Crawshaw kills his punt in the 3rd quarter for 58 yards, pinning the Chargers inside their 5. He got three punts inside the 20-yard line in the game. It may not be exciting to most, but Crawshaw has been one of the most consistent players on the team to date at doing his job well.
Wil Lutz missed another makeable field goal in this game. It was a heart-wrenching 42-yarder early in the 4th quarter. That’s two on the season that were very makeable that he’s missed (one was a 58-yarder, which I give any kicker a pass on due to difficulty and distance).
Final Thoughts
Let me start my wrap-up by saying that the refs, for whatever reason, really were jobbing the Chargers in this game. That they reviewed the pass interference play that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and did not overturn it was mind-boggling. The ball went off the arm of one of the players and started wobbling as plain as day. They also had a couple of pass interference calls against the Chargers that looked like excellent pass coverage to me and never should have drawn a flag. I don’t know that any one of the calls would have changed the game at the end of the day, but every one of them impacted momentum.
The only thing I know about this team’s identity is that they like to get their backs up against a wall and then pull multiple rabbits out of multiple orifices in order to clutch victory.
At the end of the day, the team is 3-2 headed into a home game on Thursday night. We’ll take it and hold our breath heading into a match against the defending world champion Seattle Seahawks. I can tell you this: Seattle is excellent in every facet of the game and well coached, much like the 49ers. If the Broncos play this poorly against the Seahawks, it is going to be a very long and miserable night.
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