INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Hold your horses.

The Broncos saw the light. And the Chargers gave them thunder.

The Broncos are not in the playoffs for the first time since 2015. After a loss that was easier to hate than explain, their noses remain pressed to the postseason window.

Broncos coach Sean Payton entered Thursday night with an instruction, his own version of a seatbelt. At the top of his game sheet was the message written in capital letters: “Run It!!!”

It was the football equivalent of the popular saying: keep it simple, stupid. But at the end of the first half, with the Broncos’ offense humming in a way not seen since the days of Peyton Manning, Payton got greedy. Jim Harbaugh got nerdy.

And here we are: off to Cincinnati. The Broncos lost because of Dicker the Kicker and Hassan Haskins. The Chargers were better despite trailing 21-10 and despite conceding a touchdown on the Broncos’ first three possessions.

That doesn’t mean it will be true next season. Or in 2026. But it is now an undeniable fact. And that feels like 80,000 volts coursing through the veins of Broncos Country.

A decision by Payton and a single foot symbolized a Thursday night that will forever be remembered as a failure if the Broncos don’t win one of their final two games against the Bengals and Chiefs.

It developed like this. The Broncos took over at their own 18-yard line with 41 seconds left in the first half after Kris Abrams-Draine intercepted Justin Herbert. The sea of ​​orange poured over them. They took over this stadium with the vision of one day winning the division. All the pieces of the reconstruction came together like a magical puzzle. And then they shattered and scattered, like the dreams of so many aspiring actors in this city.

Bo Nix completed a pass to Javonte Williams. It was minus 3 yards. This bill should have told Payton to take off his headset and go to the locker room to take a deep breath, drink water and a banana. Instead, he fell on the banana in the exhaust pipe. There’s nothing more powerful than the male ego, and it got the best of Payton. Maybe the Chargers would have burned all their timeouts. Maybe not. But the Broncos opened the door with a chaotic sequence.

He remained aggressive on second-and-13 while Nix tried to make contact with Williams after failing to connect. It fell incomplete, sparing the Chargers a timeout. Williams ran for one yard on third down when Harbaugh, who later said he had practiced that unlikely scenario, stopped the clock with eight seconds left.

It was about setting up a return. Instead, it became a Secret Santa gift.

Just as Broncos Country was on its way to the fridge for a break or the concessions at SoFi Stadium, Riley hit Dixon 46 yards to the Chargers’ 38-yard line. Only a historian or comedian could imagine what would happen next. Tremon Smith, the Broncos’ best special teams player, made a fair catch to returnee Derius Davis.

Those last two words have never seemed so illegal. Due to an obscure rule, the Chargers were able to elect to take a free kick after the 15-yard penalty with no time remaining. Never seen it work? No one had done that, unless they were at a Chargers game with Ray Wersching in 1976.

After the 15 yards had expired, Cameron Dicker set up a 57-yard field goal attempt that looked like a kickoff. There was no rush. Just Dicker, flanked by nine teammates and a defending champion, and you know how that’s going to end, don’t you?

He drilled it. What in the name of Doug Flutie’s dropkick for the Patriots just happened? Harbaugh insisted this was a situation the Chargers had practiced, and given he just won a national championship at Michigan, there’s a tendency to believe him.

“Great football game. Let’s talk about Cam Dicker and the free kick. This is my favorite rule in football. I tried to get one in every game. When Cameron Dicker made it, it got momentum again,” Harbaugh said. “That was our chance. This was our moment (to try it out).”

The score was 21-13. But it didn’t feel right anymore, like having that extra slice of pizza at lunch or a third cocktail at happy hour.

“We practice it all the time,” Payton said. “In that situation, the penalty put them in field goal position. It’s disappointing.”

Suddenly the Chargers had momentum they weren’t allowed to own. And aside from the Broncos’ initial attempt to regain three points in the third quarter, the second half became a series of “You’ve got to be kidding me” moments. Denver rushed for 119 yards and six first downs in the second half and managed just 21 yards on eight carries after rushing for 89 yards in the first half. Insufficient play calls and too many penalties gave Hebert the opportunity to take the lead.

He made throws to the left. He ran like he was being chased by cheetahs. He threw himself over his body. It was like being in the Rose Bowl all over again. This evening was supposed to be about a quarterback from Oregon. But not that.

Herbert erased the deficit and gave the Chargers the lead with a 19-yard throw to Davis. Then came a two-point conversion that all but signaled that the Broncos weren’t going to win this game, as reality overwhelmed them, as it has often done over the past eight seasons.

He shot an arrow into the middle of the field. It appeared linebacker Justin Strnad made the tip. Joshua Palmer definitely deflected it. Itself. For a toe drag swag two point conversion.

Since the NFL requires one-score games, the Broncos had a chance to tie the game, but failed at midfield with 9:48 left. They stung. That made sense. But unlike so many times this season, the defense couldn’t save them.