Chargers lose to Broncos, learn AFC playoff fate

The Los Angeles Chargers lost in the Week 18 season finale against the Denver Broncos, 19-3.

A Justin Herbert-less offense predictably had trouble getting going on the road. Backup quarterback Trey Lance was in there for the mostly meaningless game behind a line filled with backups and the top two running backs out injured.

In fact, the Chargers offense kept it vanilla while spamming the ball at veteran Keenan Allen to help him hit some major incentives in his contract.

Those preliminaries out of the way, here’s a quick look at a recap of the action.

Chargers vs. Broncos quick summary

Tough outing for Lance, who went 20-of-44 for 136 yards with an interception. Allen paced the team in targets with 10, of which he caught seven for just 36 yards before exiting the game, incentives in hand.

With Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal battling injuries, Jaret Patterson dominated the backfield's touches and did little with limited chances.

It was a vanilla Chargers defense that largely kept the Broncos in check. While likely running vanilla looks of their own, Bo Nix went just 14-of-23 with 141 yards and was held under 100 yards passing through most of three quarters. He also led the team in rushing.

The Chargers were hardly averaging three yards per play near the start of the fourth quarter, so the end result wasn’t all that shocking.

Easy to miss: Marlowe Wax

How about the showing for the undrafted rookie linebacker? After drumming up some buzz for himself over the summer and sticking around, Wax got in the game and had a nice seven-tackle day with Denzel Perryman out suspended. He’s got a future in town, to say the least.

Chargers vs. Broncos: What it means

The AFC is pretty much set, with the #Broncos (1) getting a bye and this weekend’s games shaping up as:#Chargers (7) at #Patriots (2)#Bills (6) at #Jaguars (3)#Texans (5) at #Steelers/#Ravens winner (4) pic.twitter.com/rpL4TGscqC
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 5, 2026

The Broncos get the AFC's No. 1 seed and a bye in Round 1 of the playoffs.

And the Chargers get a wild-card berth via the No. 7 seed, where they'll visit the New England Patriots. They will have Herbert and a host of other starters back in the fold and the proverbial schematic gloves off for the elimination game.

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