Offense — A-
The Broncos broke it open in their final game of the season. Quarterback Russell Wilson had three completions of 50-plus yards, Denver ran for 205 yards and finished with a season-high 471 yards of offense. Justin Outten’s two games as the play-caller resulted in 55 points and six total touchdowns from Wilson (four passing, two rushing).
This will go down as a bad season offensively, without a doubt, but the high-note finish lends a glimmer of hope to whoever the next head coach is that Wilson and the core of Denver’s offensive skill players have brighter days ahead.
Defense — C
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert generated two touchdowns early in the game and then the Broncos’ defense settled in from there. Safety Justin Simmons forced two fumbles, both recovered by the Broncos. Allowing 28 points is rarely going to mean a truly standout effort – these Broncos were closer to that for most of the two games they played against Kansas City this year – but overall they got done what they needed to. The Chargers’ last scoring drive only needed 28 yards after a special teams turnover. The defense didn’t have its best day against Los Angeles but will be remembered as a salty unit overall.
Special teams — D
One week after Denver had its best special teams performance of the season, the unit hurt the Broncos against the Chargers. Rookie receiver Montrell Washington was inactive for the second straight game since Jerry Rosburg took over as interim head coach. With Kendall Hinton out, too, though, both Freddie Swain and Brandon Johnson muffed punts, and Johnson’s fumble led to a touchdown that got Los Angeles within 31-28 midway through the fourth quarter. After that, Johnson didn’t even attempt to catch a punt that hit at around the 20-yard line and rolled to the 3-yard line.
Coaching — B
The Fighting Rosburgs played hard in another meaningless game.
The interim head coach used his timeouts wisely before halftime and got the Broncos the ball back, preceding Wilson’s 57-yard connection to Jerry Jeudy and touchdown to Eric Tomlinson with six seconds before the intermission.
In two games as the interim coach, Rosburg kept the Broncos playing hard and got a win after more than two decades worth of NFL coaching experience.
Put it this way: Denver’s coaching was much better than Los Angeles’, where Brandon Staley played his starters in a game that didn’t matter at all – they’re locked into the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs – and watched receiver Mike Williams and star pass-rusher Joey Bosa leave the game with injuries.
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