The Chargers are still figuring out how to run the football — a goal that will only get tougher — but they have successfully run something more important.
The table.
For the first time in franchise history, they have started the season with consecutive victories over all three AFC West opponents, completing the job Sunday with a 23-20 comeback victory over the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium.
Cameron Dicker clinched the victory with a 43-yard field goal as time expired, improving his record to eight for eight on winning kicks.
The Chargers came into the game with wins over Kansas City and Las Vegas, but needed to top Denver for their first 3-0 start since 2002 and a clean sweep of the first half of divisional games.
It was a familiar combination that brought the Chargers back from the edge of defeat: Justin Herbert to Keenan Allen.
Those two connected on a 20-yard touchdown in the waning minutes, tying a home opener that had been steadily slipping away from the Chargers in the second half. During one stretch, they were outscored, 17-0.
Herbert completed 28 of 47 passes for 300 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Quentin Johnson made six catches for 89 yards and Allen had seven receptions for 65 yards.
Running the football will only get tougher for the Chargers, who lost running back Najee Harris to an Achilles tendon injury in the first half. The severity of that is unknown, but it looked bad on replays and he had to be helped from the field.
For the majority of the first half, it looked as if the Chargers were heading for a lopsided victory, but Denver had something to say in response: Nix that.
Second-year quarterback Bo Nix jump-started the Broncos with a huge play at the end of the first half that shocked the Chargers and had thousands of orange-clad fans at SoFi Stadium erupting in cheers.
It was a 52-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass to a wide-open Courtland Sutton with 38 seconds remaining in the second quarter — Denver’s longest fourth-down touchdown pass since 1978. Nix finished with 153 yards on 14-of-25 passing.
The Broncos (1-2) were looking to spoil a pristine season start for the Chargers.
With the injury to Harris, the bulk of Chargers ball-carrying duties ride on the shoulders of rookie first-round pick Omarion Hampton, who ran for 70 yards — including a touchdown — and caught six passes for 59.
After being stymied by the Chargers defense throughout the first half, the Broncos broke through with Sutton’s touchdown and would go on to tip the scales with 17 unanswered points.
Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins, who played for the Chargers last season, had a painfully slow start with minus-seven yards on his first four carries. Like his team, he would come alive. Early in the second quarter, he caught a screen pass, did a tightrope run down the Los Angeles sideline and dived into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown.
Denver fans will long remember the touchdown to Sutton in the waning moments of the first half. Some might call it the most creative and impactful play call by coach Sean Payton in his short tenure with the team. Facing a fourth-and-two from their 48, the Broncos made it look like they planned to run for the first down.
After a Chargers timeout, the Broncos came out in a different line configuration that included right tackle Mike McGlinchey lined up at right guard, tight end Adam Trautman lined up at left tackle, and massive left tackle Garett Bolles at tight end. Everything pointed to Denver running to the right.
But Nix rolled right, and threw across his body to an uncovered Sutton streaking down the field for a touchdown.
It was a brilliant play, but one reduced to a mere footnote in the wake of a come-from-behind victory by the Chargers.
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