Herbert’s second-half heroics also coincided with the defense’s turnaround.

After giving up three touchdown drives early in the game, the defense only allowed six points over the rest of the game and allowed the offense to fight back.

A few game-changing plays and defensive stops were huge, according to Edholm, not only for this game, but also in the broader picture in terms of rebounding from last week’s performance.

Suddenly there was a pass rush. Tackling and gap adjustment have been improved. The Broncos had to sweat a little. The Chargers forced the Broncos to punt five times in six series – including three three-and-outs – contributing to the comeback. Joey Bosa’s sack in the second quarter seemed to ignite a little fire, and Bud Dupree had a huge hit as the Chargers defended a three-point lead with less than seven minutes left. You’ve done just enough to last, including Tarheeb Stills pass defensed Nix’s underthrow pass more than 40 yards downfield. That probably should have been a touchdown.

The Bolts are now close to a playoff spot and could be as early as Sunday depending on the results.

But regardless of whether they don’t make it this weekend, they say Thursday night’s win was a statement Bleacher Report’s NFL Staff.

It turned out that this Chargers team had the edge Jim Harbaugh and Herbert are a team no one wants to face in the Wild Card round.

Harbaugh’s fingerprints are already all over this team. But after the Chargers beat the rival Broncos in a matchup with big wild-card implications, it’s clear that it’s the quarterback-coach combination that makes the Bolts a nightmare matchup as the AFC’s (likely) sixth No. 1 seed …

The Chargers are not the best team in the AFC, not even second or third best. But no one wants them to come to town in Round 1.