INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Ja’Quan McMillian still couldn’t believe his misfortune after the game.
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:
| Overall | vs. AFC | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Opp. record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | 7-6 | 5-4 | at Indianapolis (7-6) | Cincinnati (7-6) | at Seattle (6-7) | at Baltimore (10-3) | 30-22 (.576) |
| Indianapolis | 7-6 | 5-4 | Pittsburgh (7-6) | at Atlanta (6-7) | Las Vegas (5-8) | Houston (7-6) | 25-27 (.480) |
| Houston | 7-6 | 4-4 | at Tennessee (4-8) | Cleveland (8-5) | Tennessee (4-8) | at Indianapolis (7-6) | 23-27 (.460) |
| Denver | 7-6 | 4-5 | at Detroit (9-4) | New England (3-10) | L.A. Chargers (5-8) | at Las Vegas (5-8) | 22-30 (.423) |
| Buffalo | 7-6 | 4-5 | Dallas (9-3) | at L.A. Chargers (5-8) | New England (3-10) | at Miami (9-3) | 26-24 (.520) |
| Cincinnati | 7-6 | 3-6 | Minnesota (7-6) | at Pittsburgh (7-6) | at Kansas City (8-5) | Cleveland (7-6) | 30-22 (.576) |
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