For their Week 5 matchup, the Denver Broncos head on the road to battle the winless Los Angeles Chargers. At 2-2, the Broncos are looking to rebound after last Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Here are three things Denver must do in order to achieve their third victory of the season.
The defense has to make Justin Herbert look bad
At 0-4, it’s been a disaster for the Chargers thus far. Their offense has looked terrible with Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel calling the shots. Los Angeles has failed to score more than fourteen points
in three of four games. Moreover, their passing game is one of the worst in the National Football League.
It’s been a disappointing start for quarterback Justin Herbert. The seventh-year signal caller is completing less than 60-percent of his passes. Herbert has just four touchdowns and six interceptions. He is also averaging the lowest number of passing yards per game in his career.
This will be an important matchup for Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph and his players. With Patrick Surtain II and potentially Riley Moss out for this contest, they will need Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine to step up in a big way when they are on the field. They can’t let this game be the one where Herbert and the Chargers’ offense get back on track.
It’s time for Denver’s offense to start pulling its weight
The Chargers aren’t the only team whose offense has been a dud to begin the 2026 season. The Broncos are right there with them. Denver sports one of the lowest scoring units in the NFL, a bad run game, and a woefully inconsistent aerial attack.
After their loss to the 49ers and earlier in the week, Head Coach Sean Payton said time is of the essence for things to get moving in the right direction. Your mileage may vary, but going up against a winless Chargers squad seems like the perfect time to finally get things right.
The pre-snap penalties have to stop, the run game needs to be committed to early on, and quarterback Bo Nix needs to stick in the pocket and deliver throws with accuracy and consistency. The Chargers have experienced a significant drop-off on defense compared to last season going from a top 10 unit to a bottom 10 unit in ‘26. Will this game finally be the one where Denver’s offense shows signs of life? I certainly hope so.
The Broncos need better play from their trench players
Entering the season, most fans would have pointed to the offensive and defensive lines as being some of the top strengths of the team. Based on what we have seen thus far, I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Though I’m not ready to hit the panic button quite yet on either group.
The Chargers have a beat-up offensive line that has already surrendered twelve sacks on the season. They could be without their starting left tackle and left guard this weekend. With that in mind, finding a way rattle Herbert and force him into some bad decisions will be an important part of the equation for the Broncos to win on Sunday.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Broncos front five need to come up big. Protecting Bo Nix will be key, but paving better running lanes for their running backs will also be mission critical. If Denver wants to get their offense going, they need to have one of the highest paid offensive lines in the league perform well.
