Let’s start this off with a big Mile High Salute to the 2025 Denver Broncos team. I’m so proud to see this team put in the hard work from top to bottom to get the #1 seed in the AFC.
THIS is what Broncos’ football looks like. I was spoiled as a fan getting to watch the Broncos constantly be in the hunt for Super Bowls and many seasons of playoff appearances. My personal take has always been: make the playoffs, and I’m a happy fan. I want to see my team have a chance at it all. If they make the playoffs, I don’t
feel like griping and complaining have much of a seat at the table.
But this team didn’t just make the playoffs—that was last season’s story. They’re poised to host games at home in the postseason and even get to skip the first round of games. This puts them in the best possible position to reach the Super Bowl.
As a fan, you can’t ask for more from your team. Style points can forever get a bucket of sand and pound away. The Broncos got 14 wins this season, and it feels good.
Offense
I’m honestly pretty light on offensive notes for this game because Sean Payton and his staff basically put in a basic offense preseason install. As a fan, many of you were probably pretty bored.
But again, I’m not just about style points. This was Payton knowing that they didn’t need to run up a score in order to win this game. Also, whatever team has to play us is going to have less relevant film on what our offense is about (coaches typically look at the past handful of games to use for game planning).
My daughter was expressing some concern as we watched in the 3rd quarter, and we had a good discussion on why I wasn’t worried. We had just kicked a field goal to push the lead back up to 10 points. I explained that our defense has a handle on the Chargers’ 2nd string offense, and their scoring 10 points would be nigh impossible based on what we’d been seeing.
This is just Sean Payton being a smart coach. Keep the game plan simple. Pull out a couple of deeper plays with an out and up and a deep crosser a couple of times to help put the game away. Other than that, just work your run game and short screens and keep the clock running so we can get out of the game as healthy as possible.
Quarterbacks
Bo Nix’s escapability was so impressive in this game. Twice with pressure coming up the A gaps, he spun away from the rusher, buying time to either throw the ball or run it to keep the offense on track. He ran the ball 8 times in the game with excellent success. Nix knowing when to use his legs is going to be key to the success of the offense this postseason.
After driving the offense down the field to a 1st and goal, Nix turned into Tim Tebow and missed two throws by a country mile. The 3rd down play was a dump off to a running back out of the backfield, which is a routine play in Pee Wee football. For a guy who is usually very accurate on short passes, it was a bit of a head-scratcher to see on back-to-back plays.
Line
I got pretty concerned seeing Garett Bolles go down with what looked like a bit of an ankle twist. We need him healthy for the postseason, which makes that #1 seed all the more impactful to this team’s postseason outlook.
Alex Forsyth had a lot of trouble up front from what I was seeing. Either we had poor protection calls, or he was lost far too many times. I will say that the Chargers’ front is excellent, even with Khalil Mack sitting out, and the quality of players they have on defense could have been a big factor.
Running Backs
Jaleel McLaughlin should be getting starting duties. He’s just running the ball consistently better than RJ Harvey. He started the game off with a surprisingly powerful run to gain 5 yards when he should have been stopped for 2 yards. He sprang downfield behind some great blocking for a 16-yard gain on 3rd and 14. The way he ran the ball, I’d think he should see more touches in the playoffs if Dobbins misses time. I also think his consistently getting fewer carries than Harvey these past few games is a poor coaching choice by Payton. McLaughlin has been outproducing Harvey in all of the final 3 games of the season and has earned more carries.
RJ Harvey looked pedestrian by comparison. He had 15 carries for a whopping 28 yards (1.9 ypc). He also had a drop in the open field on a swing pass. He also was not ready for a quick pass on 3rd down later in the game (though the throw was behind him a bit by Nix). In several short-yardage situations, he got completely owned consistently.
I’d be very excited to see JK Dobbins back and healthy at any point in the playoffs, but I also would like the team to start giving carries to the guys that are producing instead of force-feeding the young back needing development. If a guy has a cold hand, just put those plays elsewhere. Giving Harvey 15 touches to McLaughlin’s 6 in a playoff game could cost this team dearly.
Receivers
Pat Bryant was a welcome sight returning to the field. I loved seeing him get extra yards in this game with some nifty spin moves after catching the ball.
It was good to see Engram snag one of the only exciting downfield passes on a deep crosser. He even had to reach back to snag the poorly placed ball.
Defense
Even though this defense had some issues with a scrambling quarterback, this defense was dialed in and played an outstanding game of football.
Vance Joseph had this squad on point and held the Chargers to 3 points on the day, which is exemplary football. I’d honestly be highly surprised if this team is able to keep him in Denver after the season he just put together.
Front 7
It was so good to see Justin Strnad healthy and playing in this game. He led the team in tackles, had a sack on the day, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, and a pass defense that was a rare example of perfect man coverage from an inside linebacker covering a tight end up the field.
Nik Bonitto had himself a day in this game. He got a sack by powering through the tackle. His strip sack off the edge was very Von Miller-esque and is exactly the kind of plays that Nik can make to help this team reach their postseason goals.
Zach Allen showed just how strong he was with his tackle for loss in the 2nd half. With one arm, he held a running back from getting away from him for the tackle. He also had a half sack with Bonitto on the day.
Alex Singleton whiffed an amazingly easy interception chance in the first drive, which was a heartbreaker as it went right into his hands. He whiffed on a 4th and 1 tackle in the open field as he had a decent angle, but failed to hold on to the ball carrier.
Secondary
Ja’Quan McMillian got himself a pick-6 early to blow open the game on a tipped pass. He did a great job running behind blockers downfield (shout out to Riley Moss for selling out for the block by the goal line) to get it in the end zone. He also did a great job holding Keenen Allen up on a slant for a 3rd down stop.
Riley Moss had such a good line on a pass outside at the end of a half, and the ball went right through his hands. He had two pass defenses on the day and, most importantly, didn’t get any flags this week, which is always good to see.
Pat Surtain II got a superb open-field tackle on 4th down to get the ball back on downs late in the game. While I love seeing any of our players lay the wood, I wondered how badly Surtain needed to be out there that late in the game when the game was all but over.
Special Teams
Jeremy Crawshaw could use some work on placement, as he had a touchback on a short punt that I wonder if he could have put more hang time on it to give his coverage team a better chance at downing it inside the 10. This is pretty nitpicky, to be honest. His other punts were largely successful.
Final Thoughts
I count this team very lucky to get this game as the last week of the season, with the Chargers needing to rest several starters, including Justin Herbert. That team is very talented and very well coached. I’m not scared of any AFC opponent, but I think the Chargers would be one of the toughest opponents for the Broncos to face in the postseason. I’m just giving credit where it is due.
Do not think for one second that how this offense played is what you are going to see in two weeks. It may have been a while, but remember what the offense did vs Green Bay. That is what they are capable of doing. The game vs Kansas City and this week’s contest were boring game plans on purpose.
Sean Payton will have this team ready to give whoever they face their best shot. It is going to be very tough for any team to come into the Mile High City and defeat the Broncos.
Now this team gets two weeks to rest, recuperate, and prepare for a postseason run. Get excited, Broncos Country. We have a very special team to cheer for as 2026 gets underway.
