I have been reasonably content and without questions for several weeks but the current state of Jerry Jeudy’s play and discontent forces me to ask: What the heck? Is he really so upset at his perceived neglect at being targeted? When he is thrown the ball, his performance is often, quite lacking! That’s about as kind as I can be. How does it look from your professional perspective?

— A Referee, Greeley

The airing of grievances has re-commenced, eh, Ref? Kidding, kidding, thanks for writing in as always.

It’s turned into a bit of a funk with Jeudy, hasn’t it? Two of his three lowest production games by yards and targets have come in the past three weeks and in the other game — 51 yards against Houston — there were chances for so much more.

It’s not fair to put all of it on Jeudy. Against Houston in particular — as we detailed pretty extensively in a story Sunday — a bunch of different stuff all conspired against more big plays being made. Some of that is on him, some’s on Russell Wilson, some’s on the defense making good plays, pass protection and more. And, to Jeudy’s credit, he was able to see that and willing to acknowledge that during the week when I talked to him about it.

Against the Chargers, though, it did look like frustration set in. Either of the two deep balls could have been completed. Just one man’s opinion, but the first one didn’t look like a great throw from my seat and the second one was a tough chance, but I thought it got through the defensive back and on to Jeudy’s hands. The throw in the back corner of the end zone is the one you’ve got to have. It’s a four-point difference between getting a second foot down and not. Plain and simple.

Wilson last week insisted he has, “all the trust in the world in (Jeudy).” Quarterbacks tend to default to the guys they have that trust in when things go awry. Wilson always speaks highly of Jeudy in that regard but it’s also no secret that, this year, Wilson’s made the most hay getting the ball to Courtland Sutton in those situations and in the red zone. Sometimes it’s just the way the ball rolls, too. Sutton’s long touchdown against the Chargers was a play originally designed to go to Jeudy. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.

Jeudy’s really talented. His production hasn’t matched that talent. Even on a team that’s not putting up big passing numbers, he should be producing more. The simplest way I know how to say it is it’s on Wilson to get him the ball when he gets open and it’s on Jeudy to be able to stay the course mentally when that doesn’t happen.

It appears when Jaleel McLaughlin enters the game, the defense already knows he’s going to get the ball, since his ability to block is questioned. Any thoughts about using him in the slot or in the backfield with Javonte Williams and/or Samaje Perine?

— Curtis Hanlen, Bosque Farms, N.M.

Hey Curtis, it’s a good point and something we’ve mentioned previously. There was a stretch where the ball was going to McLaughlin — either a carry or a target in the passing game — more than 70% of the snaps he was on the field. That rate has come down but is still high – most recently 7 carries/targets in 13 snaps against the Chargers.

It’s kind of where they’re at offensively at this point. Williams is the go-to guy on early downs and Perine is the trusted pass-protector and pass-catcher on third down (and, when healthy, provides nice punch in the run game). That leaves McLaughlin to handle a handful of snaps a game, usually in situations where they can avoid leaving him in pass protection.

The conundrum: In order to use McLaughlin less, the Broncos would have to play him more. One of the many quirks that makes football great.

Hello Parker, this may not be a popular opinion, but Russell Wilson should be benched if the Broncos hope to make the playoffs. He is a liability on a team with little margin for error. Would it be the same if this were another player making so many mistakes, e.g., running into sacks, missing wide open receivers, not seeing open receivers? Why is he still on the field? Is Sean Payton making a case for waiving him next year? Because the evidence is piling up. Thanks!

— Joe C., Aurora

Hey Joe, Wilson isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s not happening. And not just because he makes a lot of money and all that. There’s just no reason to think anything other than he gives the Broncos the best chance to win at this point.

It’s interesting: Wilson at this stage of his career misses on stuff that most quarterbacks don’t miss on. But he also still makes a handful of plays per game that most other quarterbacks don’t make. It sometimes leads to performances that aren’t the cleanest or the prettiest to watch, but recently it’s also led to a whole bunch of wins.

We’ve written extensively about the way his contract works, the decisions ahead, the imperfections in his game and all of that. But the caveat has always been and will continue to be that if you win, that stuff matters less. Right now, they’re winning. So you plow ahead trying to make the postseason and worrying less about what it looks like en route. If they falter down the stretch here and fall out of playoff contention, maybe Jarrett Stidham gets a game at the end of the year. But that situation or injury is the only way it’s happening over the next four weeks.

Parker, our win over the Chargers was easily the most dominant I’ve seen our team since Sean Payton became coach. What’s changed since our slow start? We were on the cusp of the season fading into a top-three pick, but now we’re a game away from the AFC West lead.

— Ryan, Castle Rock

Yo Ryan, thanks for the note. It’s a lot of things, but let’s put it as simply as possible:

1. The defense went from one of the worst starts in NFL history to being one of the stingiest groups in the league. Obviously a combination of things at play, but they’ve made a bunch of personnel moves that have paid off – jettisoning Randy Gregory and Frank Clark, giving Ja’Quan McMillian the nickel spot, starting Fabian Moreau, getting P.J. Locke and Baron Browning healthy, etc. — and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has adjusted on the fly.

2. The offense settled into, for the most part, leaning on what it does best. Run the ball, play-action off of it and protect the football. You see what happens when they get away from that, but also how it’s a recipe for success. Then when the game’s on the line, they’ve found ways to get the job done more often than not.

Agree with you that Sunday was pretty convincing. They missed on a few chances and let the Chargers hang around for a while, but overall it felt like they were in control pretty much from the time the defense got that early red zone stand after Wilson’s first-play interception.

Hey Parker, last month I asked you who’s making the Pro Bowl on how we’ve played so far. Who do you have going now? I’m changing my answers to Courtland Sutton (he’s second in the league with 10 touchdown catches), Ja’Quan McMillian (he just makes plays) and Quinn Meinerz (he’s having a breakout year).

— Nick Winters, Colorado Springs

Yeah Nick, the Broncos certainly have more candidates than last time we did this exercise. I agree with your three and would think cornerback Pat Surtain II and safety Justin Simmons would also be good bets.

Good on you for coming around to my suggestion from a month ago about Meinerz. He’s really played well.

And it’s hard to say enough good things about McMillian, who could go from practice squad rookie to Pro Bowler. He’s already set the Broncos’ single-season record for tackles for loss by a cornerback (though nickel and corner aren’t exactly the same thing) with seven.

According to the Broncos, he’s also one of just two players in the NFL this year with multiple sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. That’ll work.

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Denver faced a third-and-1 at Los Angeles’ 10-yard line when it lined up in a T formation with quarterback Russell Wilson under center and running back Javonte Williams, fullback Michael Burton and tight end Chris Manhertz behind him.

Wilson got the Chargers to bite on a play-fake to Williams, then the nine-time Pro Bowler rolled to his left. As this was happening, tight end Adam Trautman ran undetected into the end zone, where he caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to take a 24-7 lead with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter.

What a call. #AsISawIt x @KOAColorado pic.twitter.com/Iq3CazvCVK

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 11, 2023

A day after the Broncos’ seventh victory, head coach Sean Payton said there’s no better feeling than when a play works as intended. But it has to be the right situation.

“The challenge, honestly, as a play-caller, is you really have to be true to the situation,” Payton said. “If I’m guilty, or if any of us are guilty of something, it’d be like you’re wanting to open it too quickly, and it’s not ready. It has to be right.”

If the play seemed familiar, it’s because it was. Payton got the idea from the Jacksonville Jaguars after they ran the same play against the Chargers in last year’s AFC Wild Card game. The Jaguars were down by two points with 1:28 left in regulation when they lined up in a T formation at Los Angeles’ 41-yard line.

Instead of quarterback Trevor Lawrence passing the ball on fourth-and-1, he handed the ball off to running back Travis Etienne Jr., who cut to the outside for a 25-yard gain that helped set up the game-winning field goal.

“You’re rewinding it, you’re rewinding it, and all of a sudden you see something, and then you begin to tinker with it, and you put it in,” Payton said.

Payton hoped the Chargers would take the bait if they faked the handoff to Williams. However, Williams didn’t expect Trautman to catch the ball. Throughout the week, Williams said the team ran the play with the intent of Wilson running with the ball.

Even if Wilson didn’t throw in the end zone, he had enough room to convert the first down and possibly a touchdown.

“It worked, so I’m glad (Wilson threw it),” Williams said.

The Broncos’ 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive was one of their most impressive this season. It was methodical and textbook football. More importantly, it sucked the life out of the Chargers after they had just cut the deficit to 17-7.

On the first play, Williams rushed up the middle for a 20-yard gain — his second-longest run of the season. Williams had five carries for 34 yards during the drive. In addition to being effective in the run game, the Broncos were 4-for-4 on third down. Wilson connected with Trautman on two third-down plays, including the touchdown at the end.

By the time Denver reached Los Angeles’ 10, the Chargers were out of timeouts.

“That’s just complementary football,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton said.

Extra Points

• Broncos offensive lineman Luke Wattenberg stepped up and played 32 snaps at right guard after Quinn Meinerz went to a local hospital due to an elevated heart rate. Rookie linebacker Drew Sanders played 32 defensive snaps after edge rusher Nik Bonitto went down with a knee injury.

• Denver’s defensive backs are making an impact in the pass rush. P.J. Locke is the first Broncos safety in team history to record a sack in three consecutive games. He is the first NFL safety to accomplish the feat since the Dolphins’ Brandon Jones in 2021. Meanwhile, cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian is the first Broncos cornerback to record at least 0.5 sacks in back-to-back games since Ray Crockett in 1996. McMillian has even set the franchise’s single-season record for most tackles for loss by a defensive back with seven.

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The couple announced the birth of their daughter, Amora Princess Wilson, on Monday, a day after the Denver Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers.

“2 wins in less than 24 hours!” Russell Wilson posted on Twitter, adding the baby made her debut at 9 pounds and 1 ounce.

AMORA PRINCESS WILSON
9lbs 1oz
We Love You so much! @Ciara

2 wins in less than 24 hours! pic.twitter.com/UbhZJMIA3T

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) December 11, 2023

Amora is the fourth kiddo to join the bunch. The Wilsons share a daughter Sienna, 6, and a son Win, 3. Ciara’s first child, 9-year-old Future Zhair, is with her ex, Future.

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Stock Up

OLB Jonathon Cooper

The Broncos’ third-year outside linebacker has been solid all season and continued to impress in Sunday’s road win against Los Angeles. He helped set up Denver’s first touchdown when he intercepted a pass tipped by Baron Browning. The Broncos’ edge group is young and ascending, but it’s been through some machinations and growing pains this season. In all of that, Cooper’s been the most consistent, and he’s carried the heaviest workload.

S P.J. Locke

Locke is playing a really good starting partner next to Justin Simmons, and he’s not going to easily give up his starting spot to Kareem Jackson when Jackson returns from suspension next week. Locke’s capable of playing the deep half in coverage, is doing his job in run support and, in perhaps the most pleasant surprise for Denver, he’s become a really good blitzer. Locke had seven tackles, a strip sack and a quarterback hit against the Chargers.

DE Zach Allen

The Broncos paid Allen big money in free agency to be this kind of player. He’s going to gamble in gaps, and occasionally teams will be able to run the ball past him. But the longer Allen’s first season in Denver goes, the more impact he’s making as a pass-rusher. He had a sack and three hits Sunday against the Chargers and is up to five sacks for the season. One more will give him a career high. According to Pro Football Reference, he’s already tied his career best in quarterback hits. Allen’s also carrying a heavy workload, having played 82% of Denver’s defensive snaps this year.

G Luke Wattenberg

Good on the second-year offensive lineman for being ready to roll when his number got called. It’s particularly impressive for Wattenberg because when he got his chances as a rookie, he struggled mightily. The former Washington guard and center was overpowered and got run through too often in limited playing time last year, but he jumped in for Quinn Meinerz on Sunday and held his own just fine.

Stock Down

Team health

The Broncos notched a big victory, but it could end up being a costly one, too. Between Nik Bonitto’s left knee injury, Meinerz’s heart-rate issue and various other bumps and bruises, it’s probably the most question marks Denver has left a game with this year. The team wasn’t going to avoid it forever. But complicating matters is a short week to Saturday night’s game at Detroit.

WR Marvin Mims Jr.

The Broncos just haven’t been able to figure out a way to get Mims going offensively. Russell Wilson targeted him right out of the gate Sunday on the first play, but the placement was a bit off and it got intercepted. Denver’s timing and blocking are getting a little bit better in the receiver screen game as the season goes along, but Mims finished with a modest two catches for 11 yards.

Goal-to-go offense

The first one was easy. Cooper’s interception set the Broncos up at the 3-yard line, and Javonte Williams scampered in on the first play. The second one? Not so much. Wilson threw three straight incompletions, the last of which was originally ruled a touchdown, but Jerry Jeudy couldn’t get his back foot down in bounds. According to NFL stats, the Broncos have scored on just 52.2% of goal-to-go scenarios compared to a 71.8% league average.

Deferring

Actually deferring when Denver wins the coin toss isn’t the problem. It’s what they’ve done to start the third quarter that’s been brutal. The Broncos started the second half with the ball for the 11th time in 13 games Sunday and went three-and-out. Again. On those 11 drives, Sean Payton’s offense has now punted nine times (one total first down) and missed two field goals. Gaining nine yards before willingly taking a delay of game penalty actually, somehow, goes down as Denver’s best effort to open the third quarter since the bye week.

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In an astonishing display of perseverance, Boebert has continued to show up at the U.S. Capitol despite the global humiliation that ensued including a Saturday Night Live skit. A sheer lack of shame, however, doesn’t get anyone out of that kind of trouble. The congresswoman is getting nothing but coal this year, and I don’t mean that as a metaphor for kickbacks from the fossil fuel industry for her unwavering boosterism.

And thus, begins my naughty/nice list for 2023, a year when Coloradans of note shone bright as stars or stumbled like a Jerry on the slopes.

If Russell and Ciara Wilson are half the saints in real life that they appear to be in their public personas, then a Tiffany-trimmed tree is in order. The Wilsons run the Why Not You Foundation (read their kid’s book by the same title for some inspiration) that gave out $1 million in grants this year. Russell also could be the Colorado come-back story of the year if he pulls off a few more win this season.

But for all the Wilsons’ ease, charm, and overperformance, there’s Deion Sanders, a complex man who raised expectations sky-high only to fall back to Earth.

On any given week, Sanders could be found on either list. Santa certainly isn’t the type to reward egomaniacs who push student-athletes out of the University of Colorado, but Sanders also uses his public persona for good, sticking up for the Colorado State University player whose dangerous play received widespread condemnation and asking for mercy for the teens who stole jewelry from his players in the Rose Bowl locker room. Two things tip Sanders to the nice list – the poor man recently lost his fiancé in a very public separation, and he elevated CU superfan Peggy Coppom, 99, in a genuine display of kindness.

Nicola Jokić did let those two epic f-bombs slip at the Nugget’s championship parade in downtown Denver in front of families and children, but somehow it seems like a much more innocent word when delivered in a Serbian accent by a man who just wants to get home to his friends and family. Santa is going to be good to the Joker, his wife, Natalija Jokić, and their darling daughter who stole the hearts of the nation during the NBA finals.

I don’t know for certain, but it seems likely that Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin is on the naughty list after a woman was found by the team doctor in his hotel room so intoxicated that she left in an ambulance. There’s no indication of a crime or even of a complaint from the woman. But the whole thing was more than a little suspicious including Nichushkin’s conspicuous absence for the next five games. He’s got work to do on his reputation (he could start by addressing the incident publicly and explaining what happened) before he gets off the naughty list.

District Attorney Linda Stanley is facing a formal complaint that she launched a retaliatory investigation into a judge’s personal life and that she violated seven separate rules of professional conduct for attorneys while pursuing the case of Suzanne Morphew who went missing in 2020 and whose remains were found in September. Stanley’s behavior, which she will address in a formal response to the complaint, puts her on the naughty list, and worse it jeopardizes there ever being justice for Suzanne Morphew.

Don Thwaites, who for two years ran a cheerful little food stand in the shared parking lot with Casa Bonita, goes on the nice list. But whoever was behind his unceremonious ouster from the Casa Bonita parking lot is on the naughty list. Thwaites had a valid lease to sell Sno-Kones and kettle corn and other food out of his shipping container store through May 2024, but his landlords at Broad Street Realty seem to have gone out of their way to terminate the lease just before Casa Bonita’s grand reopening.

Finally, I’m going to put those hard-working strippers I mentioned earlier, far too flippantly, on the nice list. It took real bravery for performers Elyssa Hanley, Vanessa Herr and Rebecca Dolana to speak out about their careers as dancers at Colorado clubs. We hope Santa brings all three what they asked for in The Denver Post story — a way out of the sometimes exploitive, unstable and traumatic work in clubs.

Megan Schrader is the editor of The Denver Post’s opinion pages.

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He thought he had a touchdown.

No, not thought.

“I know I did,” he said with a smile.

The grin, of course, came easily despite the fact that he’ll never watch tape of this game and believe Easton Stick’s hand was moving forward when McMillian rocked him, jarred the ball loose, picked it up on his own and ran it into the end zone.

The grin came easily because the Broncos’ bottle rocket of a nickelback is writing himself a starring role in this defense’s Hollywood turnaround story.

Credit for another dominating outing? That’s easy. He gets plenty.

Credit for helping turn the most maligned unit in the NFL into one of the most intimidating? Oh, yeah.

“The guy who has that athletic ability but also is smart is the perfect combination,” defensive end Zach Allen said of McMillian after the game. “… He’s been awesome and he’s been a huge reason why we’ve been winning these games.”

A 24-7 win here against the Los Angeles Chargers marked the Broncos’ first divisional road triumph in 1,526 days but also the team’s sixth victory in their past seven games.

It came on the strength of a defense embodied by its short-in-stature-only nickel.

“It’s fun when you’re making plays and all the guys are making plays and flying around and doing their job and focused on the details,” McMillian said. “And it’s fun when you’re winning. It’s always fun when you’re winning.”

The Broncos got back to that in a much-needed bounce back after last week’s last-second loss at Houston. Now they are 7-6, still the hottest team in the AFC West and have everything in front of them even if the path to the postseason remains studded with obstacles.

In fact, they almost got tripped up right out of the gates against a reeling Los Angeles team.

After Denver’s defense started the game by forcing a punt, quarterback Russell Wilson threw a first-play interception deep in his own territory that set Justin Herbert and the Chargers up 13 yards from pay dirt.

Four plays later, however, Joseph’s group had the first of five fourth-down stops on the afternoon and kept the game scoreless.

“Sean and ‘VJ’ were talking about starting fast and we did exactly that,” said safety P.J. Locke, who provided coverage on Justin Herbert’s fourth-down pass into the end zone at that early pivot point and finished the game with seven tackles, a sack and forced fumble. “Once we did that, we were just in rhythm the entire game.

“That gave us a little boost right there.”

They were just getting started.

L.A. missed all 12 of its third-down tries, didn’t hit a fourth down until the fourth quarter and needed 49 minutes, 23 seconds before it got to the end zone.

Six different players logged a sack on Herbert and then Stick after Herbert was knocked out of the game with a fractured finger.

Inside linebacker Alex Singleton (14 tackles) snuffed out the Chargers’ first drive with a third-down takedown of Herbert, and safeties Locke and Justin Simmons blasted Stick in a three-play span around the two-minute warning to close out the half.

“It comes a time when you’ve got to pressure the quarterback and (Joseph) is calling the dogs,” Locke said. “Somebody’s going to make a play.”

That confidence has steadily grown over the past two-plus months as Joseph’s defense morphed from historically bad into a group that believes it can do anything.

“Instead of survival, you’re trying to excel, which is the way defense is made to be played,” said Allen, a centerpiece of the Broncos’ free agency play who played the first four years of his career for Joseph in Arizona. “VJ, he calls a great game and everyone is going to get their opportunities. It’s a really fun defense to be a part of.

“This is the best defense, by far, I’ve ever been a part of. It’s the most fun we’ve had playing football right now.”

A month from now, teams will be preparing for Wild Card weekend. If the Broncos are still kicking at that point, it will be in large part because Joseph’s group continues on this course.

They haven’t given up more than 22 points since a Week 5 loss to the New York Jets. That afternoon at Empower Field, the Jets rolled to 407 yards.

Then on a short week, Denver gave up 389 at Kansas City but only surrendered 19 points. In retrospect, it was the beginning of a major turnaround.

Not coincidentally, McMillian had three tackles for loss that night at Arrowhead Stadium.

All he’s done since then is make big plays.

All the Broncos have done since then is turn themselves into a contender for the playoffs — and, after the Chiefs lost Sunday at home to Buffalo, maybe even the AFC West — instead of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

None of it is unexpected to the kid from East Carolina, who’s gone from an undrafted practice squad player as a rookie to a Pro Bowl candidate in his second season.

All he wanted was a chance.

All the Broncos needed was a spark.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” McMillian said. “I’ve done this on every level if you go back. College I’ve done it. High school I’ve done it. But just to do it on this level, it’s a blessing.

“Whoever is watching, hopefully they find out who No. 29 is.”

AFC playoff race tightens up at the bottom

The race for the final two Wild Card spots in the AFC tightened up considerably Sunday, with six teams sitting at 7-6 by the end of the day. All told, 11 of 16 teams in the AFC will be above .500 heading into the final four weeks. That will give conference games an added degree of importance down the stretch, especially with one of the top playoff tiebreakers being record vs. conference opponents. The good news for the Broncos: They have the easiest remaining schedule of the 7-6 teams with just one opponent (Detroit) over .500. Here’s a look at where each team stands, including their remaining opponents:

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“We’re in a horse race,” quarterback Russell Wilson said Sunday, after the Broncos dismantled those Thunderdolts from Los Angeles. Denver routed the Chargers 24-7 in a game that was no contest after a devilish Denver defense broke the spirit and stole the soul of Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert with a goal-line stand early in the first quarter.

But enough of my silly football poetry. Let’s just stick to the facts, ma’am: Since the last Sunday in October, when they snapped a 16-game losing streak to Kansas City, the Broncos’ record is 6-1, while the dead Chiefs walking are 2-4.

Playoffs? Playoffs! Playoffs?

Yes, and a Wild Card berth is not the only prize the Broncos can aim for down the stretch of this NFL season. With four games remaining in the regular season, Denver finds itself only one game out of first place in the AFC West, a division the Chiefs have won seven years in a row.

By now you’ve memorized the M.O. of these Broncos. Play nasty defense, harass the quarterback, pound the rock and wait for one big play from quarterback Russell Wilson that, more times than not, seems to end with a no-freaking-way catch by Courtland Sutton.

“He’s like a big power forward,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton, admiring the way Sutton wins 50-50 balls as much with his muscle as his hops.

The big play that secured this W for Denver arrived with five minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter, when some jazzy improvisation between Wilson and Sutton resulted in a one-handed grab of a 46-yard touchdown pass that staked the Broncos to a 17-0 lead.

On a play that went delightfully off script when the Denver offensive line allowed Wilson more than six seconds to improvise before throwing the football, Sutton made touchdown magic by listening to a voice inside his head.

“Top down,” Sutton recalled. “Literally I heard (Wilson) in my head saying: ‘Top down.'”

Perception is the result of recognition. Exploit the space the defense has given.

The little confession by Sutton that Wilson was the little birdie in his ear delighted the veteran quarterback.

Sutton “did a great job, because he was going deep, came back for a second and then went deep again,” Wilson said.

That chemistry between a quarterback and receiver, in which no words needed to be spoken, was worth six points to the Broncos.

I mention this football ESP between Wilson and Sutton for a very specific reason. While nobody in the NFL mentions Wilson in the same breath as Mahomes when speaking of elite quarterbacks, anybody who has watched the championship reputation of the Chiefs slowly unravel can tell you this truth: The K.C. offense has been reduced to not much more than whatever magic can be conjured between Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

While Mahomes and Kelce have connected on 80 passes for 896 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, Denver’s QB-WR1 duo has exceeded that production in the most important category, with Sutton hauling in 53 catches for 799 yards and 10 touchdowns — the most scores by any Broncos receiver in a single season since the late, great Demaryius Thomas in 2014.

“I try to play with a certain attitude and demeanor and it came from the way (Thomas) played the game,” Sutton said.

In a city where a gallon of regular gas costs $5.19, Los Angeles has too many problems the other six days of the week to worry about the Chargers on Sunday. Broncos Country achieved such an overwhelming and nearly unopposed takeover of SoFi Stadium that Denver linebacker Alex Singleton felt confident exhorting the crowd for noise before the snap of a fourth-down play by backup Easton Stick, who replaced Herbert after the most overrated quarterback in the NFL departed with a finger injury.

With a 7-6 record, there’s every reason to believe the Broncos can end their long playoff drought, so long as they sweep the remaining AFC teams on their schedule (the reeling Chargers, wretched Patriots and reprehensible Raiders).

All the AFC rivals ahead of Denver in the wild-card race now feel the hot breath of Blucifer on their necks. The Broncos are taking names, checking boxes and kicking keisters. The long playoff drought is close enough to being over that everybody who loves this team can almost taste the champagne.

Win by win and week by week, Payton noted, “It’s one less question about one more demon we have answered.”

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Imagine how dangerous the group might be if Jerry Jeudy finds any semblance of a rhythm down the stretch.

Denver coach Sean Payton and quarterback Russell Wilson made a concerted effort to push the ball down the field to the talented receiver, but he finished with just two catches for 16 yards on six targets in a 24-7 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jeudy had two chances to make catches up the right sideline in the first half, but couldn’t come down with either. Then he had a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone wiped off the board just before halftime when he failed to get his trailing foot down inbounds.

Instead of leading by two touchdowns, Denver eventually settled for a short Wil Lutz field goal and took a 10-0 lead into the break.

“Oh look, he’ll get his touches. Gosh,” Payton said. “The key is winning. He had a chance to make a play or two today and he made a few plays early on. I’m not as worried about it.”

To Jeudy’s credit, he sounded just like the head coach in the post-game locker room.

“This was a big game for us,” Jeudy said. “It was a must-win. Coming in here after a loss and getting it done is huge for the team.”

Jeudy, the 2020 first-round pick, hasn’t had more than 64 yards in a game since Week 3, but didn’t seem concerned after the game.

“I’m always confident,” he said. “… Throughout the season you deal with a lot of adversity, but we’ve got guys in this locker room that can overcome that. I’m very confident.”

Injuries crop up. The Broncos had the injury bug show up Sunday during their convincing win against the Chargers. In addition to right guard Quinn Meinerz being held in the area overnight due to a heart rate-related concern, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and didn’t return.

Bonitto was not seen in the locker room after the game and Payton said he had no updates on any of Denver’s injured players.

Several others, including safety P.J. Locke, nickel Ja’Quan McMillian and outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper were hurt during the game, but that trio each returned and made a big impact.

Locke and McMillian at one point collided, but before that Locke took a helmet to the neck/throat area and after the game barely had a voice.

TE impact. The Broncos got a pair of big plays in the passing game from their tight end group, a relative rarity this season.

First, Lucas Krull made his first NFL grab count on a wide-open 35-yarder that put the Broncos in scoring range before halftime.

“It was awesome, man,” Krull said. “Seeing that Cover 3 look come up, I knew it was going to give me an opportunity to get that ball. It was a great call, it was great to get that first one but also get that win. That’s really all I care about. This team’s rolling and it’s going to be fun to see where we go.”

That catch alone vaulted Krull past the injured Greg Dulcich, block-first Chris Manhertz and rookie Nate Adkins into second place among tight ends in receiving yards this year behind Adam Trautman

Trautman salted the game away with a wide-open touchdown grab from Russell Wilson with 3 minutes, 11 seconds remaining.

After pondering for a moment whether it was the most open he’s ever been on a scoring grab in his career, the fourth-year tight end came to a simple conclusion.

“Yes,” he said.

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It took the Denver offense time to settle into a rhythm. They still missed a bunch of chances down the field and the connection between quarterback Russell Wilson and receiver Jerry Jeudy is still missing. But the Broncos did what they had to do, cashing in a turnover in the first half and getting a terrific, 46-yard touchdown catch from Courtland Sutton in the third quarter to eventually build a comfortable margin. Even given that, though, there’s work to be done. Denver’s rushing attack was more churning than explosive in Southern California, cresting the 100-yard mark on the 26th attempt and grinding out nine first downs. Their most impressive drive: A burly, 13-play, 75-yarder that chewed up 7:26 off the clock and ended with a wide open touchdown pass to Adam Trautman.

Defense — A

Vance Joseph’s group arrived at SoFi Stadium with a bad attitude and wasted no time showing it. They harassed Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert from the start, racked up six sacks total between Herbert and back-up Easton Stick and carried a shutout into the fourth quarter. The home team’s offense contended with crowd noise from Broncos fans, went 0 for 12 on third-down tries and failed on five fourth down attempts, too. Nickel Ja’Quan McMillian continues to be a revelation. Zach Allen’s second-half surge continued. This is the group that will lead a potential playoff push.

Special teams — B

Outside of the punt that got partially blocked at Houston, Riley Dixon’s been really good the past couple of weeks. He punted seven times, averaged 44.7 yards per attempt and put five inside the 20-yard line. Broncos returner Marvin Mims Jr. generated 13 yards on his first punt return of the game. For the most part, it was a quiet day in the third phase. Wil Lutz knocked home a short field goal and hasn’t missed one since Kansas City’s Justin Ross got away with jumping offside on Oct. 29 and blocked an attempt at Empower Field. Lutz has hit 14 straight.

Coaching — B

This one almost started with disaster when Sean Payton put Wilson in an empty formation and he threw an interception deep in Denver territory on the game’s first play. But the defense held — Brandon Staley coached like a desperate guy the whole game and it turned out very badly for him — and the Broncos won a game they absolutely had to win. Now they’re at coin flip odds for the playoffs and have a slate in front of them that includes a trio of AFC teams with losing records. It’s all there for the taking for Payton’s first Denver team.

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1. Broncos steal Staley’s birthday cake: Happy Birthday, Brandon Staley! The Broncos (7-6) and Sean Payton might have just sealed your pink slip. Although you did this one to yourself, champ, as Los Angeles whiffed on five of six fourth-down chances. Including some absolute head-scratching go-for-it decisions on the part of Staley and his staff. Pick your fireable offense. Playoffs? Heck, yeah, Broncos Country is talking playoffs, especially with the Chiefs wobbling. The sixth and seventh seeds for the AFC are setting up to be a free-for-all, and the loser of Broncos-Chargers was basically eliminated from the AFC postseason picture. Even sweeter? The Raiders (5-8) joined the Bolts (5-8) in Loserville thanks to a home setback to the Vikings. That leaves the AFC West as a two-team, two-horse race. And one of those horses is wearing Orange and Blue.

2. Offensive line props: Would you believe the Broncos go as Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey go? In a repeat of that home win over Cleveland, Denver’s book-end tackles did a heck of a job making one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL a non-factor. Chargers star Khalil Mack was handed his first sack-less game since Nov. 12, a span of four tilts. The offensive line helping to eat 7:36 off the clock late after the hosts scored? And a TD pass in the red zone out of the ‘T’ formation? Tip of the cap to Sean Payton and Russell Wilson, those star-crossed lovers, on that one.

3. Ain’t Jeudy’s feet. Or Jeudy’s hands. It’s Jeudy’s head. Two drops. No toe-drag. A complete lack of awareness in the end zone. Jerry Jeudy says he’s open all the time. And given his separation skills, that might very well be true. But for every few games that No. 10 reminds us why he was the highest-drafted wideout in Broncos history, he gives us a first half such as Sunday’s. A half that reminds us why his quarterbacks don’t care if he’s open — they’re looking for somebody else. Somebody who can, ya know, consistently catch the ball.

4. Are the replay refs blind?: We know that Easton Stick’s got a friend in Carson Wentz. Apparently, the Chargers backup QB has friends in the NFL league office, too. Sorry, New York. That ball Ja’Quan McMillian jarred out of the signal-caller’s hand as he attempted to throw with 1:36 left until halftime? Total fumble. It was a fumble in real-time. It was a fumble at half-speed. At any speed. Except, apparently, at whatever speed the wonks in the replay booth are processing reviews these days.