INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The final moments felt all too unfortunately familiar.
The ball soaring off the foot of the kicker — this time 43 yards through the air instead of 45 — and splitting the uprights for a game-winning score.
Just as they did in Week 2 vs. the Colts, the Broncos held a fourth-quarter lead in Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Chargers. And yet, a walk-off field goal handed the Broncos another defeat.
"Obviously, a disappointing finish to a hard-fought game," Head Coach Sean Payton said.
After trailing 10-0 until the final moments of the first half, a 52-yard fourth-down touchdown pass from Bo Nix to Courtland Sutton gave the Broncos a spark. They came out of the locker room after halftime and added another touchdown on their first drive of the third quarter. And then a field goal after the Chargers fumbled a kickoff.
With Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on the field for just three plays in the impactful span, the Broncos went from behind 10-0 to leading 17-10.
As the Broncos looked to knock off the Chargers and grab hold of first place in the AFC West, they had chances to seal a win. Leading 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Broncos converted a fourth-and-1 at the Los Angeles 32-yard line and held a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line. The Broncos, though, were forced to settle for a field goal that kept the game within one possession. Late in that drive — and on several other occasions — penalties stung the Broncos, and Payton pointed to those numbers — 10 for 90 yards — as an area of focus.
Denver had another opportunity to push the lead to double digits before Herbert led a tying 76-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. The Broncos' ensuing chance to retake the lead ended as Nix's deep attempt to Sutton fell just beyond his fingertips.
"Yeah, it felt very similar [to last week], where it felt like we kept going backwards," Nix said. "Had no explosives when we needed them. We had the ball with a chance. … It just felt like we kept going backwards and had long field position and long third downs. In this league, it's not going to cut it."
In the final moments, Herbert led the Chargers to the win — and it left the defense frustrated despite an impressive performance. Denver sacked Herbert five times while recording 14 quarterback hits, and Brandon Jones snagged the first regular-season interception off Herbert since Week 16 last year.
"It's very hard," outside linebacker Nik Bonitto said. "We go three-and-a-half quarters playing good football. Last drive, we can't get a stop. It's frustrating."
Added outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper: "It doesn't matter how many stops we get. When we need it most, we've got to step up and be there and stop them. We just didn't get it done."
Now, the Broncos must look ahead. Running back J.K. Dobbins said the Broncos are in "a learning process" of how to close out games, but he said he believes in the players in Denver's locker room.
"We have the guys to do that, and we will," Dobbins said. "We lost two games that we should've probably won, and we'll fix that."
Veterans Courtland Sutton and Garett Bolles both stressed their belief in the Broncos to make those needed corrections and improve ahead of a "Monday Night Football" matchup with the Bengals.
"At the end of the day, our season's not over," Bolles said. "We lost two close games. This team is full of studs, and we've just got to find a way to win. Obviously, the ball's not bouncing our way, but it's not just going to give us a reason to give up. We've got to keep fighting. We've got to stay positive in this locker room — which I know we're going to — get back to work and find a way to win."
Added Sutton: "We lost two really close games. They're disappointing losses. At the end of the day, they're still L's that go into the column. But there's stuff to learn from, and it's still early in the season. We play 17 games. There's a lot of opportunities ahead of us. It's about how do we go into this next week and learn from the mistakes of this week and grow from it. Not allowing the things that beat us today to beat us again next week. Once we do that, it's about stacking those positives on top of each other."
Should the Broncos find a way to turn a pair of last-second losses into a learning experience that spurs their season forward, Payton believes in their potential.
"We've got to get better fast," Payton said. "And if we do, I think this will be all right."
And down the line, the Broncos will get another chance to close out a game against the Chargers the way they know they can.
"[They're a] good team," Payton said. "We think we're a good team. And we'll see them again."
