Three things the Broncos must do to beat the Chargers on Sunday

The Broncos were humbled in Week 7 against the Chiefs. The first division opponent of the 2020 season was not even really trying that hard and they stomped the Broncos by a score of 43-16. The Broncos must lick their wounds as they realize where they are in the AFC West pecking order – and it’s nowhere near where the Chiefs are.

This week, the Broncos face their second divisional opponent in the Los Angeles Chargers. While the Broncos young quarterback Drew Lock is struggling, the Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert is playing great football. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio trusts his quarterback will bounce back from his worst performance of the season last week against the Chiefs.

“It’s one of the pieces of the puzzle. We still have eight or nine games after this one. It’s just another step. I think he will bounce back. The one thing I do like about Drew is that after a bad play — or in this case, a so-called bad game — I think he doesn’t let him drag himself down. I think he plays the next play and the next game with the same confidence and energy that he would if things were going much, much better. I like his mentality that way and I’m just hopeful that all 11 of us out there are operating on the same page and doing a good job,” Fangio said.

The last time we saw Broncos versus Chargers it was with Philip Rivers at quarterback. He’s moved on and things are different for the division rival. Here are three things the Broncos must do to beat the Chargers.

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Go After Herbert

The Chargers may have their franchise quarterback in 2020 first-round pick Justin Herbert. He has been thrust into the lineup after veteran starter Tyrod Taylor was knocked out due to a ribs injury caused by incorrect needle placement on an injection. Herbert was thrust into the lineup against the Chiefs earlier this year and almost won the game going toe-to-toe with superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Herbert has also played – and looked good – against Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Drew Brees with the New Orleans Saints. It’s incredibly rare for a rookie quarterback to be able to hold his own against superstar quarterbacks in the first few starts of his career.

Fangio knows that Herbert has the looks of a franchise quarterback and could be here to stay.

“I think it’s been a good job both by him and their coaches. He’s been under center a good bit, so obviously he’s adjusted to that very well and that’s kudos to him, especially with no offseason and a shortened training camp. He looks very comfortable under center. Kudos to their coaches for putting in some of the stuff that he ran in college and felt comfortable with and had success with. I think both sides of that coin need credit. Ultimately, this guy is just very talented; it looks to me like he’s made up of the right stuff to be a quarterback in the NFL and fortunate for them and unfortunate for us I think they found their quarterback for the next 10 to 15 years,” Fangio said.

A key for the Broncos this week is making the rookie uncomfortable. Fangio has a brilliant defensive mind and needs to throw the kitchen sink at the rookie. He was blitzed heavily by the Buccaneers and withstood the pressure – a hallmark of his game – so the Broncos have their work cut out for them.

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Convert Third Downs

There is no question that Drew Lock wants to go down field as much as possible. He has a propensity to launch passes deep down the field instead of taking what the defense gives him on underneath routes. Lock has a rocket arm and can make field-flipping throws but those are low-percentage passes which have regularly been falling off the mark and hurting Lock’s numbers.

Lock needs to learn how to work the underneath routes. He’s got players like wide receiver Jerry Jeudy who are getting open regularly, but Lock is not seeing these guys on shorter routes as he only has eyes for players who are going deep. That has to change if he wants to perform better.

Quarterbacks make their money – and stand out from the rest – in the red zone and on third down. Against the Chiefs, in arguably the worst start of his career, Lock’s offense went 5-for-14 on third downs. That’s an awful percentage that has to be improved if the team wants to get back in the “W” column. Lock knows he’s got to improve on third down to help move the chains.

“Third down is category in itself in practice. It can spring countless number of things and certain sections of third downs, as you well know. Third down is tough, and I think one of the things — if we go back and look at our stats — yes, we can be better at third and shorts, but we have to keep ourselves out of the long third downs. I know, personally, last game I could have at least made two or three of those third downs on third and two to six or third and three to six—somewhere in that range. I missed a couple of baby throws, those that I made in Pop Warner, and that’s unacceptable by me. Again, like I said, I’m working on that not happening again and just sharpening the focus a little bit there on those third downs,” Lock said.

If the Broncos passing game wants to get on track, Lock must become adept at taking those underneath routes when they are open. He needs to give his receivers a chance on third down. That means being methodical and going through his progressions rather than making up his mind before the ball is snapped to go deep come hell or high water.

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Stuff the Run

Injuries are rampant around the league and the Chargers have been missing their best running back, Austin Ekeler, for most of the season. He is a dynamic player who can be dangerous as a runner or receiver out of the backfield. While Ekeler has been out, the Chargers have turned to Justin Jackson and rookie Joshua Kelley.

Jackson and Kelley have not done much as runners on a week-to-week basis. Both are talented players with varying skill sets. Jackson is a slashing running back who can catch passes smoothly out of the backfield. Kelley is a hard-charging runner who can grind down a defense while staying strong as the game goes on.

The Broncos rush defense has been good this year but that’s largely because of the presence of nose tackle Mike Purcell. The 29-year-old fortunately inked a three-year, $14.8 million extension at the beginning of October, but now will be lost for the 2020 season with a Lisfranc injury.

Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell knows that losing Purcell is going to hurt.

“It really hurt. This guy has been a stout piece of our defense, but he’s missed time and we’ve had other guys miss time. So, we’re already used to rotating and that’ll be absorbed by two or three guys in different combinations. It’s not new territory for us. We’ll man that together — our d-line — and (defensive line coach) Bill Kollar has done a great job of fitting our guys together. We haven’t lost a step really in performance as far as hitting blocks, playing the run and creating a rush with new combinations of guys. It’s been good, we’ve just got to keep working,” Donatell said.

They are not running the ball well, but the Broncos do not want to let the Chargers get it going on Sunday. Purcell has been a big key to turning the Broncos rush defense around dating back to last year when he was inserted into the starting lineup after the team had former Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette run all over them. It will be interesting to see how the Broncos defense responds without Purcell out there going forward this year.

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