Broncos Beat Chargers: 3 Studs, 4 Duds
The Denver Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 16-9 on Sunday but were bounced from any hopes of the postseason with eight losses on the season. The win marked the first game that Russell Wilson did not start this season, and the offense did not perform any better.
It was Jarrett Stidham at the helm against the AFC West rival on Sunday, but it was the defensive performance against an injury-riddled Chargers team that won the day.
As we sift through the aftermath, let's break down the biggest studs and duds from the game.
Stud: Lil’Jordan Humphrey | WR
Dud: Jerry Jeudy | WR
Stud: Alex Singleton | LB
Dud: Garett Bolles | OT
Stud: Jaleel McLaughlin | RB
Dud: Sean Payton | HC
We were told that Sean Payton was an offensive genius, and he was going to make this Broncos offense perform well this season. That didn’t happen, and the evaluation was that he needed a quarterback who could run his system.
Payton made the quarterback change to Stidham, his hand-picked offseason acquisition, and the Broncos' offense continued to sputter. In fact, the performance against the injury-riddled Chargers team was worse than it was only two weeks ago when L.A. had a better team.
The quarterback was to blame all season, but maybe Payton’s offense doesn’t work as well without Drew Brees.
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