The Denver Broncos began the second quarter at the Los Angeles Chargers’ 33-yard line with a first-and-ten. Two consecutive passes to Courtland Sutton to open the quarter put Denver up 11.

Audric Estime broke inside for another nice nine-yard gain on first down. A quick outside throw to Marvin Mims Jr. opened the scoring and scored first. Then Nix rolled out and threw it to a wide-open Michael Burton for a touchdown that put Denver back in the lead.

Broncos 14, Chargers 7.

Justin Herbert immediately found Ladd McConkey for a 27-yard gain on a short cross route to open the next drive. They drove into field goal range and had a third-and-inches, but Zach Allen dominated the snap and tackled the runner for a three-yard loss to force the field goal.

Broncos 14, Chargers 10.

Denver opened its next drive with a short outside pass to Javonte Williams for a four-yard gain, but it was negated by a false start by Ben Powers on the next play. After an incompletion, Nix looked deep but quickly threw it into the flat to Williams, who had room to drive forward over the first down marker to keep the drive alive.

On the very next play, a short pass to Marvin Mims Jr. went outside for a 54-yard gain to the Chargers’ six-yard line.

Two plays later, Nix hit Devaughn Vele for a touchdown, putting Denver ahead by two points midway through the second quarter.

Broncos 21, Chargers 10.

After a quick three-and-out by the Chargers, the Broncos’ offense had five minutes to work before halftime, knowing they would get the ball back early in the second half.

Bo Nix started out with a nice battle for first down, but was immediately sacked on the next play for a loss of eight yards. Nix would hit Courtland Sutton up the middle for a 12-yard gain on third-and-six. For the first time in the game they failed to convert the ball and had to convert the ball with just under three minutes to go.

It looked like the Chargers would steal a score before halftime after converting a third-and-short inside shot. Herbert fired a deep pass down the middle of the field to the end zone, where rookie Kris Abrams-Draine stepped forward to intercept the ball and save the touchdown.

Denver would get close from then until halftime, but John Harbaugh called a timeout to force them to throw the ball away. A silly special teams penalty moved them to the Broncos’ 47-yard line and allowed them a 57-yard “free kick.”

Broncos 21, Chargers 13.