Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Colts at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Live updates
Pre-game updates
Scouting report (11:10 a.m.): Check out how the Broncos match up with the Chargers in Luca Evans’ scouting report.
Game predictions
Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer: Chargers 23, Broncos 17
Jim Harbaugh’s got his team off to a terrific start. He oversaw a sweep of Sean Payton’s team a year ago. And he’s got a defense coordinated by Jesse Minter that is flying. They make you dink and dunk, which the Broncos did powerfully for almost a half in December, then forgot to carry on with. A 1-2 start isn’t ideal, but it’s not the end of the world for Denver, either. On the flip side, 2-1 with a road win over the Chargers would look awfully good.
Luca Evans, Broncos beat writer: Chargers 27, Broncos 17
Not going to be very popular here, but the Broncos have a lot of kinks to iron out on the road in sunny Los Angeles. The Bolts have the weaponry around Justin Herbert to attack the gaps in Denver’s secondary, and the defensive playmakers to contain Bo Nix. They just made Geno Smith look like his 2013 Jets rookie-disaster self again. This is an early inflection point for Sean Payton’s squad.
Troy Renck, columnist: Chargers 23, Broncos 19
Styles make fights. And the tale of the tape is not kind to the Broncos. The Chargers make them uncomfortable and impose their will like few teams do. With Jim Harbaugh in his first season, the Chargers swept the Broncos because they dominated time of possession, were more disciplined, took care of the ball, and wore them down on the ground. And now Justin Herbert and his receivers are better. This is a statement game that Denver needed at home.
Sean Keeler, columnist: Chargers 23, Broncos 20
Justin Herbert right now is everything we want Bo Nix to be. And more. Safety Derwin James Jr. is doing his best Steve Atwater. L.A. coach Jim Harbaugh has some kind of Peter DeBoer-like hold over Sean Payton-coached teams (5-1 lifetime). If the Broncos lose this one, Herbert and Harbaugh might have the AFC West locked up before the end of September. Surely, the Chargers have to find a way to Charger this one. Don’t they? (Nah.)
Broncos-Chargers NFL Week 3: Must-reads
Renck: Why Broncos’ Sean Payton vs. Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh is referendum game
The Broncos should not be nuts about the Bolts.
The revelation is as depressing as a leverage penalty. The truth is as sobering as Dre Greenlaw’s sore quadriceps.
Just when we thought the Broncos could win the AFC West with the Chiefs dissolving before our eyes, they must level up against the Chargers. Not this season. Not in January.
Now.
Lose to the Chargers and Denver trails by three games in the division three weeks into the season. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Sunday, which is conveniently part of a larger narrative. Read Troy Renck’s full column.
Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins motivated to show he’s ‘back to being one of those top-end backs’ to Chargers and to NFL
Now 26 years old and the head of a revamped Broncos backfield, though, Dobbins feels he’s a better football player for the pain of the last few years. A better man, too. He smiles with his eyes when he says it.
He was not the rare running back who’s immortal. He is the rare back who’s survived. Read Luca Evans’ story.
Broncos special teams coach Darren Rizzi pushes back on Colts’ description of fateful FG penalty: ‘We know our tendencies’
Darren Rizzi sensed trouble just before the fateful snap against Indianapolis.
The Broncos, though, could not reset.
The closing seconds of Sunday’s walk-off loss to the Colts are well-covered by this point.
The 60-yard Spencer Shrader field goal attempt that went begging short and right. The leverage penalty on Dondrea Tillman that gave Shrader another chance.
The 45-yarder sailing through the uprights and dropping Denver to 1-1 moments after the team thought it had started the season with two wins.
Rizzi on Thursday acknowledged that Tillman erred when he, just before the snap, switched places with interior defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike. Read Parker Gabriel’s story.
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