Broncos Beat Chargers 23-17 at SoFi: Defense Forces Turnovers, Dobbins Closes Out His Old Team

The short version: The Denver Broncos won a game their offense nearly gave away. Denver beat the Los Angeles Chargers 23-17 on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, scoring 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter after trailing 17-10 in the third, according to Broncos Wire's game recap. The Broncos (3-2) got five sacks, forced a string of turnovers against a patchwork Chargers offensive line, and left with their first win at SoFi against the Chargers since Dec. 10, 2023 — and their first divisional win of the season, as Last Word On NFL noted in its takeaways.

A win the defense dragged home

Start with the unit that actually won this game. Broncos Wire reported that Denver sacked Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert five times, forced several fumbles, recovered two of them and intercepted Herbert late, with every takeaway feeding points: Broncos Wire's studs-and-duds breakdown counted 20 points off turnovers as the difference between winning and losing. Edge rusher Nik Bonitto led all players with two sacks of Herbert, flying around a Chargers line that was missing both starting tackles. Safety Talanoa Hufanga forced a fumble early that led to a Broncos touchdown. In the fourth quarter, defensive lineman Zach Allen sacked Herbert and forced a fumble that Que Robinson recovered, setting up a field goal that put Denver back in front. And on fourth-and-six late in the game, with Los Angeles driving from deep in its own territory, safety Brandon Jones intercepted Herbert to protect a three-point lead.

The final play summed up the afternoon. The Chargers lined up for a Hail Mary, and, as Last Word On NFL described it, coordinator Vance Joseph sent cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian on a blitz that sacked Herbert before he could even get the throw away. Denver's defense finished with five sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception — its best turnover game of the season, according to Last Word On NFL — against an offensive line starting four rookies.

The offense is still a problem

None of that should paper over what the other side of the ball looked like. Broncos Wire was blunt in its recap: the Denver offense looked awful after its first scoring drive, and quarterback Bo Nix still does not look like himself. Nix finished 16-of-27 for 123 yards with one touchdown, was sacked once and lost a fumble — a season low in passing yards, as USA Today noted in its player update. Broncos Wire's studs-and-duds column described a quarterback missing open receivers and looking skittish in the pocket, and pointed to the questions Denver now has to answer quickly: this was the first game with Sean Payton having taken over play-calling duties, and the offensive rhythm did not obviously improve. Wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who had caught just nine passes for 86 yards through four games coming in, had only two receptions for 18 yards on Sunday — but one of them was a touchdown, which Denver will hope is a starting point rather than a footnote.

Dobbins closed out his old team

The one offensive player who finished the day stronger than he started it was running back J.K. Dobbins, playing against the team he ran for in 2024. Athlon Sports reported that Dobbins carried 18 times for a season-high 68 yards and scored from two yards out in the first quarter for his first touchdown of the season. The efficiency was nothing special — 3.8 yards per carry, up from the 3.5 he brought into the game — but when Denver needed to protect a three-point lead late, there was no debate about the plan. Athlon Sports noted Dobbins carried the ball on every snap of the final drive, four straight runs for 26 yards, setting up Wil Lutz's 36-yard field goal with 1:08 left that made it 23-17. Backup RJ Harvey, who had out-snapped Dobbins in the previous week's loss to San Francisco, managed just three carries for seven yards, and Denver's run defense also gave up 155 yards on the other side — a number that will matter against better teams.

Context: a depleted opponent, and a streak ended

Honesty requires the other half of the ledger. Broncos Wire's five-takeaways column pointed out how much help Denver got: Los Angeles started four rookies on a banged-up offensive line, was missing all of its starting wide receivers, and was flagged for nine accepted penalties costing 93 yards. The Chargers are 0-5, and this is the kind of game a playoff hopeful is simply supposed to win. Denver nearly did not. Still, road wins in the AFC West have been genuinely scarce for this franchise: Broncos Wire noted the victory snapped a streak of five consecutive road losses within the division, and the Mile High Report's No Bull Review of the game captured the mood in Broncos Country — a win is a win, even when the offense looks disjointed and the defense swings between elite and erratic for three quarters.

What it means

Denver is 3-2, above .500, with a defense capable of taking a game over and an offense that has scored the hard way for five straight weeks. The turnaround is immediate: the defending champion Seattle Seahawks visit Empower Field on Thursday night, according to Broncos Wire, which means a short week to fix a passing game that produced 123 yards and a quarterback who has thrown multiple touchdowns in only one of five games. The Chargers game proved Denver can win ugly on the road in the division — a skill this team has lacked. Thursday will test whether ugly is a floor the Broncos can raise, or a ceiling they keep banging into. Follow the rest of our Colorado coverage in the Local News hub and on the Previously sports desk.