First half woes again hurt Broncos in loss to Chargers

If not for a holding penalty with just under 4 minutes, 30 seconds left — which called back a 20-yard catch and scamper by C.J. Anderson for a touchdown — the Denver Broncos could have handed the San Diego Chargers another heartbreaking, last-minute loss.

But, left tackle Russell Okung gets the penalty, touchdown is waived off, and two plays later Demaryius Thomas fumbles the ball over to San Diego, down by two scores with 3:43 remaining in the game.

Even then the Broncos had a chance to complete a miraculous second half comeback after a late field goal and a successful onside kick attempt. But a last-second Hail Mary fell short, handing Denver it’s first road divisional loss since 2010.

Despite the furious comeback, and a much better second half on both offense and defense, Denver couldn’t make up the deficit they gave themselves with their first-half play.

“I think we showed a lot of resilience there at the end, but it was a little too late for us,” quarterback Trevor Siemian said after the game.

In the final two quarters Thursday, Denver put up 244 yards of offense, possessed the ball nearly 4 minutes longer than San Diego, and had 14 first downs. Comparatively, in the first haff the Broncos put up just 60 yards and two first downs, possessing the ball only 9:33.

After the game, interim head coach Joe DeCamillis called the performance a wake up call.

“I think we’ve got to obviously do a better job at getting started, and then the positive I thought was they fought their tails off, to be honest with you,” DeCamillis said. “When you look at the end of the game, having a chance to win that game (is) incredible, really, because you’ve got basically two onside kicks on it.

“I thought our guys just stayed in it, hung in there, and we’ve got a lot of grit and determination in that room and I think that they are going to bounce back.”

Time of possession and lackluster starts have gone from a blip in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4 to a pattern following Thursday’s game.

On the road against Tampa Bay, Denver had just 123 yards of offense through the first half, to go with 10:25 of possession to the Buccaneers 19:35.

In that game, however, the Broncos defense set up its offense with some short field, especially on Aqib Talib’s early interception in the Buccaneers red zone that set up a quick touchdown pass from Siemian to Demaryius Thomas.

However, on Sunday at home against the Falcons, Denver struggled again in the first half and put up only three points — much like their first-half performance against the Chargers.

A late rally would bring Denver within striking distance of Atlanta, but again the deficit was too difficult to overcome.

“We’ve just got to find a way to start clicking early. We’re clicking too late, and by
the time we start clicking, it’s hard to come back,” cornerback Chris Harris said after the game Thursday.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.