LOS ANGELES – Driving by SoFi Stadium on an 86-degree afternoon, there are no campers filling an RV lot. Eating at Benny’s Tacos a stone’s throw from LAX, nobody is wearing yellow and blue, though a young woman dined on enchiladas draped in a Kobe Bryant sweatshirt.
It gives credence to a line that has gained popularity since the franchise moved 123 miles north: There are Chargers fans, I have just never met one.
Well, I did on Wednesday. And he is a jockey, fitting with the Broncos and Chargers racing down the stretch for the last two playoff spots in the AFC. Luis Jauergui has been following the Chargers for more than two decades.
When I told him I wasn’t exactly feeling the juice surrounding this game, he struck back like a lightning bolt.
“Absolutely, there is a lot of buzz. Under (coach Jim) Harbaugh we wanted to see improvement. And we have. You see the players, everyone buying into the culture that Harbaugh wants. You see the respect they have for him,” said Jauregui, who, without races at Santa Anita Park on Thursday, will be able to attend the game. “If we can make the playoffs, you will see people excited. There are a lot more Chargers fans than you think.”
The stakes are high, even if the voltage is not. At least not yet.
Anticipation and redemption remain running themes for this game. The last time Denver reached the playoffs the Chargers were still playing in San Diego. The period of Broncos history since has been defined by gaffes, gags and imposter quarterbacks.
All Broncos Country has wanted is a team it can be proud of, a team that wants the spotlight. Coach Sean Payton agreed to flex this game — it required his approval since it was a second Thursday roadie — because it put the Broncos on the national stage and gave his players more time to recover before playing at Cincinnati next Saturday.
Put it this way: Payton did not get a deal with Jordan Brand because he lacked swag and bravado.
Payton is exactly the kind of coach you want for this kind of game, but he must fight the temptation to win because of Bo Nix. Forget Bo. The path to victory is being Bo-ring.
As in methodical. Deliberate. The same advice I advanced in training camp is more relevant than ever with Denver’s defense.
I trust Jauregui when he says there will be diehards pulling for the Bolts, starting with the Thunder Alley tailgaters. But it will be an upset if the stadium is not drowned in a sea of orange even with some Broncos fans “heartbroken,” like Travis Ota from Hawaii, after the game was moved from Sunday, preventing him and others from attending because of the cost of changing flights and asking for additional time off work.
Many people got shafted by the switch. The NFL cares only about its TV partners, in case you were wondering. And while I sympathize with fans, there is no time to play the victim.
For the last decade, Broncos fans have invaded SoCal, whether at Qualcomm, the Mini-Me soccer stadium in Carson, or SoFi. Even if some are angry, bitter and boiling — and that’s just those fighting traffic on the 405 and 605 — they will show. They always do. And they are needed.
The Broncos do not want to go into their last two games needing a win. The crowd will not require a silent count, force false starts or limit the playbook. Everything will be at the Broncos’ disposal.
Payton, however, must show restraint. The Broncos will only lose this game if they lose the turnover battle. The Chargers are not who you think they are. They are not the team that suffocated the Broncos in October, securing a 20-0 halftime lead.
The Chargers are 2-3 over their last five games, allowing 24.8 points and 151.3 yards on the ground.
With Jaleel McLaughlin out with an injury, this represents the perfect time for Audric Estime to emerge from witness protection.
Wouldn’t it be something if Payton, the initial second choice for the Broncos’ job to Harbaugh, out-Harbaughed Harbaugh? Payton is always going to talk a big game. What if he won the big game with a bare-knuckle mentality, leaning on Estime and Javonte Williams to set up play-action daggers to Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims Jr.?
Harbaugh fell back on old standards this week. Getting out of a slump requires work, he explained, pure and simple. He has turned quarterback Justin Herbert into a game manager, and it worked before running back J.K. Dobbins hurt his knee, landing on injured reserve. Gus Edwards has taken over with underwhelming results — 30.3 rushing yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry. Harbaugh wants to win with fury, fists, physicality.
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The Broncos can stand up to this kind of fight now. They could not in October. But they are better, more confident.
Payton without passing feels like Rembrandt without a brush. But he can paint a masterpiece on the ground.
This is the rare road game where everything tilts in Denver’s favor. They can turn Chargers fans acoustic, make SoFi their house, and return to the playoffs, their home for nearly three decades.
Now, that would be electric.
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