Maybe the Broncos had a champagne party on their minds a little too soon.

Denver scored three touchdowns in its first three drives Thursday against the Chargers, who entered the game owning the league’s ninth-best defense in DVOA (defense-adjusted value above average).

Everything fell apart from there as their offense faltered for the rest of the game. Denver scored just six points and scored on five of its remaining seven drives, ultimately leading to a 34-27 loss.

The Broncos averaged just 3.4 yards per play in that span.

Quarterback Bo Nix told reporters he was very frustrated with the result, as the Chargers reached the decisive tiebreaker by winning the season series.

Denver is fighting for a spot in the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the AFC.

“Just frustrated,” Nix said. “The difference in our two games with them was seven points and we just had to find a way to get the ball in the end zone again. That’s the frustrating part, the margin of error is one touchdown.”

Perhaps another reason for the frustration is not only the lack of touchdowns, but also the confidence that head coach Sean Payton has in his rookie quarterback.

After Nix caught the ball at his own 45-yard line with five minutes left, trailing 27-24, he took a sack to make it 20-20.

Instead of throwing the ball in a clear passing situation, Nix handed the ball off to Audric Estime, who gained seven yards.

On third-and-13, Nix gained seven yards with a throw to Lucas Krull before Payton decided to punt from midfield on fourth-and-6.

Ben Baldwin, an analytical guru who suggests the right calls for every fourth down, predicted that the most dubious call of the game was the fourth down play, where the Broncos opted for a pun as their win probability fell by 5.2 percent would have increased if they had done so.

According to Baldwin, if they had converted, they would have had a 44 percent chance of winning.

Instead, they gave up a six-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that put the Chargers up by 10 points and effectively put the game out of reach.

The Broncos only need to win one more game to secure a playoff spot on their own, although they could qualify with the help of other teams.

They are followed by three 6-8 teams, the Colts, Dolphins and Bengals. Denver has the tiebreaker over the Colts and plays Cincinnati in a crucial matchup next week.