Broncos Rally Past Chargers 23-17 as Los Angeles Hits 0-5

The Denver Broncos beat the Los Angeles Chargers 23-17 on Sunday despite converting 1 of 12 third downs. Sean Payton had just taken the play sheet back, and the offense still could not stay on the field.

Los Angeles led 17-10 after three quarters, outgained Denver, and then gave the game away. A sneak from its own 41, a strip-sack, and an interception turned a winless home afternoon into an 0-5 start, the franchise’s first since 2003.

Got it done. #DENvsLAC pic.twitter.com/UJLkzjyXMB

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 11, 2026

The Sneak From the Chargers’ 41

Jim Harbaugh faced fourth-and-1 at his 41 with 10:27 left and a 17-10 lead. He kept the offense out. Justin Herbert was stuffed by outside linebacker Que Robinson, and Bo Nix needed five plays to hit Courtland Sutton from 5 yards at 8:53, tying the game at 17.

Harbaugh later called it the wrong decision and said he could not think of a time he had been more mad at himself. When the Broncos gapped down, he said, he felt he should have taken a timeout and punted. The failed fourth-down try early in the fourth started a run of 13 unanswered points.

THE FOURTH QUARTER AT SOFI

1. 10:27 left: Robinson stops Herbert on fourth-and-1 at the Chargers 41.
2. 8:53: Nix finds Sutton for a 5-yard touchdown. Game tied, 17-17.
3. Next Chargers snap: Zach Allen strip-sacks Herbert for an 8-yard loss at the 24. Robinson recovers.
4. 5:07: Wil Lutz kicks a 19-yard field goal after Denver stalls at the 1. Broncos 20-17.
5. About 3:19 left: Brandon Jones intercepts Herbert on fourth-and-6 and returns it to the 34.
6. 1:08: Lutz hits from 36 yards. Broncos 23-17.
7. Final play: Ja’Quan McMillian sacks Herbert on a Hail Mary from Denver territory.

Nix said the sneak was basically a turnover even if it did not count as one, because it handed Denver a short field. Payton counted three takeaways and the sneak as four game changers. The Broncos’ site posted a defense story built around a season-high three takeaways, and Nix put it in one line: he did not think they would have won without them.

Los Angeles had already handed Denver a short field once. On the Chargers’ third play, safety Talanoa Hufanga punched the ball from tight end Charlie Kolar and Jones recovered. J.K. Dobbins scored from 2 yards at 6:53 of the first quarter, his first rushing touchdown of the season, after a face-mask penalty stretched the 40-yard drive.

The Chargers’ best stretch sat in between those gifts. They trailed 10-3 at half after a Cameron Dicker 42-yard field goal and a Lutz 34-yarder, with only 74 yards in the first two quarters. Then they tied it at 5:32 of the third on Hayden Rucci’s 7-yard catch, Rucci’s first NFL touch, set up by Herbert’s 23-yard run to the 7. Tuli Tuipulotu stripped Nix on a scramble, recovered at the Denver 42, and Kimani Vidal ran 42 yards on the next snap at 0:57 for a 17-10 lead.

Marvin Mims Jr. returned a punt 27 yards to the Chargers 27 early in the fourth, and Lutz missed from 42. That was the last miss Los Angeles would get. The next time Denver had the ball, it was at the 41 because Harbaugh had gone for it.

One Third Down in 12 Tries Under Payton

Payton took play-calling duties back after four games on Thursday, Oct. 8, ending Davis Webb’s run as the caller. Denver had been 2-2 and ranked 27th in scoring and total yards. Payton said he would call the plays. Webb, still the coordinator, called it disappointing and then said that is the NFL.

Sunday was the test. Denver finished with 224 yards, 3.9 yards per play, and 1 of 12 on third down. Payton said they converted one third down out of 12, so that is not good enough, and that he had to be a little bit better too. Nix went 16 of 27 for 123 yards and the Sutton score. His only completion longer than 16 yards was a 34-yarder to Evan Engram. He called the switch smooth and a collaboration, then said it was not his best game.

HOW THE TWO OFFENSES COMPARED

Six of Denver’s 18 first downs came by penalty. The Broncos rushed for 57 yards through three quarters and 49 in the fourth, enough to finish with 106 on 29 carries, Dobbins going 18 for 68. They were 2 of 5 in the red zone and settled for the 19-yard kick after reaching the 1. Nix said they were in a good spot to score touchdowns twice and did not.

That is the part of 3-2 that will not travel. Denver won without Pat Surtain II (ankle) and Riley Moss (ribs). Hufanga left in the third with an ankle injury after the Kolar punch-out. The defense still sacked Herbert five times. The offense still needed those sacks to mean anything.

Herbert’s Turnovers Keep Arriving in Bunches

Herbert completed 14 of 24 for 121 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, with a 68.2 rating. He ran six times for 54 yards, including the 23-yard sweep that set up Rucci. He also lost a fumble and threw the Jones interception. His line, cobbled together after tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater went down at Seattle, featured four rookies. He was sacked five times for 39 yards.

“Just can’t turn the ball over,” Herbert said. He also said this is not where the Chargers want to be.

HERBERT THROUGH FIVE STARTS

• The passing line: 85 of 143, 937 yards, 5 touchdowns, seven interceptions through five games.
• The rushing line: 24 carries, 142 yards, no scores.
• The turnovers: 7 interceptions and 2 lost fumbles, nine turnovers in five games.
• This week: 2 fumbles (1 lost), 1 interception, 5 sacks, 121 passing yards.

The interceptions by week are 1, 2, 1, 2, and 1. He has a touchdown pass in every game and has not run for one. The lost fumbles came in Weeks 4 and 5. He tied a career mark with a turnover in five straight games.

WHO WAS NOT BLOCKING FOR HIM

• The tackles: Alt and Slater were already out from the Seattle loss.
• The slot: Ladd McConkey sat with a foot injury.
• The line: Four rookies were trying to protect him.
• Sunday’s exits: Tre’ Harris left in the third quarter. Linebacker Bud Dupree left in the second with a neck injury and did not return.

Those absences are real, and they do not cover a sneak from the 41 or a throw Jones could catch. Vidal ran 8 times for 57 yards. Omarion Hampton was held to 14 carries for 33. The Chargers ran for 155 yards and still scored 0 in the fourth. Protection explains some of the 82 net passing yards. It does not explain going 0-2 on fourth down, including the interception on fourth-and-6.

The 2003 Chargers Also Started 0-5

Los Angeles is 0-5 for the first time since 2003, when Marty Schottenheimer’s team finished 4-12 after that 0-5 start. It is also the first 0-5 start of Harbaugh’s NFL head-coaching career. The 2023 Chargers, often mixed into this conversation, opened 0-2 and won in Week 3. This hole is the old one.

It was the wrong decision. Can’t think of a time where I’ve ever been more mad at myself. When I saw them gap down, I felt like I should call timeout out there and punt the ball. Right now, the only thing I can think of is that I screwed that up.

Jim Harbaugh, Chargers head coach, postgame

Asked for a message to an 0-5 locker room, Harbaugh said he did not know what that message is. He said it is in the players to fight their hearts out, to play, to give everything they have, and that is the only way. He also said to keep digging deep and moving forward, and that staying the course looks like that.

The only NFL club to reach the playoffs after an 0-4 start remains the 1992 Chargers, who went 11-1 the rest of the way, finished 11-5, and won the AFC West. This roster is 0-5, with Kansas City up next. Three teams sit at 0-5 across the league: the Chargers, the Miami Dolphins, and the Tennessee Titans.

Harbaugh’s challenge record was dragged into the first half as well, when two failed challenges on Denver’s field-goal drive left him 16 of 45 in his NFL career. The more expensive choice was the sneak. He said so himself.

Where the AFC West Stands After Week 5

Kansas City sat on a bye and watched the division sort itself. Denver’s first division win of the season, and its first at SoFi Stadium since 2023, moved the Broncos into a second-place tie. The Raiders lost 45-17 at New England and stayed 3-2.

AFC WEST AFTER WEEK 5

The Chargers have been outscored 129-84. They have not scored more than 23 points in a game. They visit a 4-0 Chiefs team that just had a week off. That is the next place an 0-5 quarterback with nine turnovers has to play.

Denver is 3-2 and 1-2 on the road, with a minus-14 point differential. The record is ahead of the offense. Payton’s first game back on the headset produced a division win and the same third-down problem he named when he took the job from Webb.

Denver Has Four Days Before Seattle

The Broncos host the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. That is four days after a road game in Inglewood, and it is a defense that just lost 32-29 to San Francisco and sits at 3-2. Both clubs are on a short week. Denver’s corners were already down a pair on Sunday. Hufanga’s ankle is now on the same list.

Payton wanted four or five more third-down conversions. He got one. Robinson and Allen and Jones kept giving the offense the ball inside Chargers territory, and Lutz had to finish two of those drives with his foot. Robinson said defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had preached punch-outs all week, and they actually did it.

The Seahawks will not gift a sneak from their own 41. If Denver goes 1 of 12 again, the 3-2 record stops looking like a climb. The Chargers, meanwhile, take an 0-5 record into Arrowhead with a coach who said he does not know the message and a quarterback who said he cannot keep turning it over. Sunday’s score was 23-17. The third-down chart and the turnover column are the parts that will still be there on Thursday and on Sunday.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Did Sean Payton Last Give Up Play Calling?

He handed the job to Davis Webb at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, the first time in Payton’s 20 seasons as a head coach that he was not the primary caller. He had said then that he would still call some plays and that there was trust in the 31-year-old coordinator. The arrangement lasted four games. Webb remains offensive coordinator and is still in the game-planning meetings.

Has an NFL Team Made the Playoffs After an 0-4 Start?

Only the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who lost their first four, then went 11-1, finished 11-5, and won the AFC West. They won a wild-card game and lost in the divisional round. Since 2002, none of the 68 clubs that started 0-4 have reached the postseason. Los Angeles is now 0-5, a step beyond that 1992 club’s hole.

What Was Hayden Rucci’s First NFL Touch?

A 7-yard touchdown catch from Herbert in the third quarter, which tied the game at 10. It was also his first career touchdown. Rucci signed with Miami as an undrafted free agent after the 2024 draft, spent two seasons on a practice squad, and appeared in four games last season with one special-teams tackle. Sunday was his first target.

What Was the Closing Line in Broncos-Chargers?

Denver was a 3.5-point road favorite with a total of 42.5, and the game landed on 40 points. Attendance was 69,293 at SoFi Stadium on a cloudy 70-degree afternoon. Denver covered. The Chargers, 0-3 at home, still have not won in Inglewood this season.