The Denver Broncos were able to improve their record to 3-2 on Sunday following a 23-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. But it didn't come easily, and it certainly wasn't pretty, especially when you consider the opposition for this particular game.
Still, road wins in the division are not easy to come by and coach Sean Payton and his team will take one any way they can get one. The win snapped a streak of five consecutive losses on the road within the division for Denver.
Looking back at what transpired on Sunday, there was plenty of good, plenty of bad and plenty of ugly in a sloppy victory for Denver.
Broncos' good, bad and ugly from Week 5 win over Chargers
The good
Courtland Sutton finds the end zone: Sutton has been nearly non-existent this season. Coming into the game, Sutton had caught just nine
passes for 86 yards through four games, and even in this game, he only had two receptions for 18 yards. But one of those was for a touchdown, which hopefully gets him going for the rest of the season.
All tied up.
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 11, 2026
📺: @CBSSports / @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/YDpYJAeakg
The pass rush: The Broncos won this game because they were able to put pressure on Justin Herbert and frustrate him all day. But that should have happened when you consider that each of the starting tackles missed the game due to injury, and the Chargers had four rookies starting on their line.
The Broncos finished with five sacks and forced two fumbles from Herbert, one of which they recovered to set up the eventual game-winning points.
Brandon Jones interception: Clinging to a three-point lead, the Broncos were able to come up with a huge play when the Chargers chose to go for it on 4th-and-6 from their own 31-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Brandon Jones looked like Herbert's intended receiver on the interception he came up with.
We'll take that 💪
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 11, 2026
📺: @CBSSports / @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/5J1HwsAwgp
The bad
Bo Nix: The Broncos won this game in spite of the way their quarterback played. Nix looked just as bad as he did last week against San Francisco, as he threw for just 123 yards on the day. He didn't turn the ball over, which was the only positive from his performance, but at one time it seemed like it would be a surprise if the Broncos even got a first down, let alone put any points on the board.
Jaylen Waddle: This is a product of Nix's poor play, but the Broncos traded away a first-round pick for a player who is hardly being used. Waddle caught just two passes on the day and touched the ball a total of three times for 28 yards. The team needs to find a way to get him much more involved.
Talanoa Hufanga injury: Hufanga left this game with an ankle injury and did not return. He is a player the team cannot afford to lose, but with a short week coming as the Broncos play on Thursday night, he may miss at least the next game. We should learn more about his injury severity later in the week.
Missed field goal: Wil Lutz made three of his four field-goal attempts on the day, but his miss in the fourth quarter nearly cost the Broncos this one. After Marvin Mims Jr. returned a punt 26 yards to the Chargers' 27-yard line, the Broncos proceeded to gain three yards on three plays. Lutz came out for a 42-yard field goal and yanked it left. The Broncos were lucky to recover from that.
The ugly
Tackling on Kimani Vidal's touchdown: With the score tied at 10-10, the Chargers took a 7-point lead when Kimani Vidal, their third-string running back, took a handoff and ran 42 yards for a touchdown, breaking five or six tackles in the process. It looked exactly like Week 1 against Kansas City, when the Broncos looked like amateurs trying to tackle Kenneth Walker III.
Predictable offense: Payton taking over the play-calling duties had absolutely no impact on this game, at least not in a good way. The offense looked exactly the same, and it performed just as it has all season. Hopefully, he's able to add some wrinkles to lead to more success, but at this point, any talk of Payton being an "offensive genius" is a thing of the past.
Teams know how to defend this Broncos team. During the broadcast, color analyst Ross Tucker called it out. Defenses are playing zone with two deep safeties, inviting the Broncos to run the ball because they know they won't have much success. That leads to several third-and-long situations. It won't matter who calls the plays until this team starts to change these patterns.
Broncos were fortunate to win: Wins in the NFL are hard to come by, particularly on the road within the division. But the Chargers were without Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnson, Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater and Derwin James, among others. Aside from Herbert, it looked like a preseason game lineup for the Chargers, and they still could have and likely should have won this game.
The Broncos will take it, but it was nothing to write home about.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: The good, the bad and the ugly from Broncos' 23-17 win over Chargers
