DENVER (AP) — What was shaping up as a winner-take-all showdown Sunday between the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos has morphed instead into a study in contrasts.
“Our focus is this is a playoff game,” said Denver coach Sean Payton, whose Broncos (13-3) are one victory away from earning the top overall seed in the AFC playoffs and the all-important first-round bye that comes with it.
Los Angeles coach Jim Harbaugh is centered on giving his Chargers (11-5) the best chance to win a road wild-card game next weekend, so he's sitting out some of his starters Sunday, most notably quarterback Justin Herbert.
“He’s got bruises that need to heal,” Harbaugh said of his banged-up QB who has been playing with a broken left hand over the last month.
Trey Lance will make his sixth career start and first with the Bolts.
“Super excited,” said Lance, who last started in the Dallas Cowboys' regular-season finale last season. “Just thankful, very thankful. Get a win is the goal, keep guys healthy.”
Lance has appeared in 15 games throughout his NFL career, throwing for 1,153 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions to go along with 292 yards rushing and a touchdown.
“Trey is very capable,” Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. “He was in my draft class, as a matter of fact. He is a first-round pick with all of the intangibles and tools to succeed. We’re definitely not taking this game lightly."
Lance will face the league's nastiest pass rush.
The Broncos have an NFL-high and franchise-record 64 sacks so far, within striking distance of the 1984 Chicago Bears' record of 72 sacks, which was accomplished in 16 games and included a record dozen in their final game that season.
What the Broncos harp on, however, isn't necessarily the sack numbers but where they rank in the NFL in other categories such as yards per play (first), net yards rushing (second), third-down percentage (second) and red zone percentage (second).
Denver hasn't earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in a decade. The last time they did, they parlayed it into a trip to Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California — site of this year's Super Bowl 60 — and a win over Carolina for the franchise's third championship parade.
“It’s huge,” said Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who can tie Russell Wilson's record of 24 wins in his first two NFL seasons on Sunday. “I think that’s our main focus right now, the best chance, the best position we could put ourselves in.”
Last year, the Broncos faced a similar situation in Week 18 when the Kansas City Chiefs rested their starters — after having clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC — and the Broncos ran away with a 38-0 win that secured their first playoff berth since 2015.
Surprisingly, the Broncos are minus-5 in takeaways this season, something Payton said has to change for a successful playoff run.
“I know we’ve been reiterating punching the ball out and when the ball is in the air, attacking the ball," Surtain said. "We’ve preached that each and every week. I know that the turnovers are going to come in bunches soon. We’ll make that shift.”
The Chargers are coming off a 20-16 loss to Houston that spoiled their shot at the AFC West title in which they were 2 of 5 in the red zone while the defense allowed a pair of rare long touchdown passes to open the game.
Pro Bowl kicker Cameron Dicker missed a field goal from inside 40 yards for the first time in his career and pulled an extra point wide for the first time this season.
The Broncos are the first team other than the Chiefs to win the AFC West since 2016, but their celebration of that status has been muted.
“We just didn't really talk about it,” Payton said.
“You win the whole thing and that becomes another shirt,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton concurred. "It is part of the journey. If you lose, it becomes a reminder — if it’s the only shirt you have and you end up losing, it just becomes a reminder that you didn’t finish it all.
"You acknowledge it and say, ‘OK, we checked that box.’ Then you have to move onto the next one because there is more ahead. I know all the guys in that locker room will tell you that their goals are bigger than winning the AFC West.”
Sunday's forecast for the unseasonably warm Mile High City is 61 degrees at kickoff. That would make it the second-coldest kickoff in Denver this season. The coldest was 60 degrees for a Thursday night game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 6.
___
AP Sports Writer Beth Harris contributed from Los Angeles.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
