INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Broncos had plenty of these moments a year ago.

In 2025, the Broncos found themselves in a slew of one-score games. And time and time again, they won. On 11 occasions during the 2025 regular season, the Broncos pulled out a one-score victory.

But the 2026 Broncos are a different team. And as wide receiver Courtland Sutton explained following the Broncos' 23-17 win over the Chargers on Sunday, there's value in the newest iteration of the team gaining that experience.

"The more you get battle tested, when you do get thrown in those situations later in the season when it's crunch time in a sense of playoff positioning and things like that, you have those memories to be able to fall back on and say, 'Hey, we've been in this situation before,'" Sutton said. "You can't always say, well we had this situation last year. That's a completely different situation. You have to experience those moments with the team that you have now."

Denver is now 3-0 in one-score games in 2026, as the Broncos previously earned one-possession win against the Jaguars and Rams.

The Broncos, as they were a year ago, were near their best in the key moments of the game. On the Chargers' five fourth-quarter possessions, Denver's defense notched a three-and-out, forced a turnover on downs, recorded a pair of takeaways and clinched the game with a sack on the final snap. Denver's offense, meanwhile, scored 13 points on its final three possessions to capitalize on the short fields the defense provided.

The trend is nothing new. Since the start of 2024, the Broncos are 11-10 when trailing in the fourth quarter, which equates to a .524 winning percentage. According to Next Gen Stats, that's both the most such wins and the highest winning percentage in those scenarios — and by a significant margin. Buffalo's .375 winning percentage in those games is the second highest rate in the league.

As the 2026 Broncos continue their season, Sutton is hopeful that this sort of win can again provide confidence.

"I think when you have games like this — a divisional game against a very good team that we've had a struggle with playing here against them — when you can have that opportunity to overcome that and fall back on that memory later in the season, I think that it allows us to go and have success later on in this season," Sutton said.

ON THE GROUND

For as important as Denver's defense was in Sunday's win, the Broncos' performance on the ground was also critical.

Denver posted season highs in rush attempts (29) and rushing yards (106), and the Broncos did not allow a tackle for loss during the game.

"We'll look at the film and obviously want to clean some things up, but I think that's important," Head Coach Sean Payton. "It's a good defensive front. It's one of the strengths of their team. But we got to the C gap a few times, especially later in that game — fourth quarter. Those were some good plays for us."

Payton acknowledged "it wasn't by any means always perfect," but Denver posted some effective carries — particularly in the fourth quarter. In the final frame, the Broncos rushed the ball eight times for 49 yards and a 6.1 yards per carry average. Running back J.K. Dobbins had a pair of carries for double-digit yardage in the frame, and he averaged 6.8 yards per carry on six attempts in the fourth quarter.

Earlier in the game, Dobbins scored his first touchdown since Week 5 of the 2025 season.

"It felt good," Dobbins said. "… The blocking was perfect. My O-line, tight ends, receivers, they blocked that perfectly."

BATTLING BACK

Following a 13-point fourth quarter, tackle Mike McGlinchey acknowledged the need for Denver's offense to continue to improve. He also, though, recognized the fight the team showed en route to three consecutive scoring drives to end the game.

"Clearly a lot still to improve on, but I'm proud of the way we stuck with it," McGlinchey said. "Got to be better overall, but I think we found a little something there. Let's ride the momentum."

Dobbins echoed McGlinchey's sentiment, saying Denver is "making progress" but also "nowhere near where we want to be."

Payton pointed to Denver's third-down struggles as an area for improvement, as the Broncos were just 1-of-12 on third down. The Broncos had six drives in the game in which they did not pick up a first down, and they briefly fell behind after their first four possessions of the second half did not result in points.

"It was good enough to win, but there are still a number of things that we need to improve on," Payton said.

Quarterback Bo Nix threw a game-tying touchdown pass en route to the 11th fourth quarter comeback of his career, but he also pointed to a need to improve.

"I don't think it was my best, for sure," Nix said. "I've got to go watch [the tape]. I just felt like we got to third downs quickly again. Definitely things there that we can clean up, but like I said, I've got to watch. The game and the feel and the results of drives told me it wasn't necessarily pretty, but we just found a way to win."

Payton said he wants his quarterback to "let it rip," and he reminded Nix of his faith in him.

"I said, 'Man, you're the guy we wanted here,'" Payton said. "'Let's go.'"