Perfect to start the season, the Los Angeles Chargers are out for a clean sweep of the AFC West through three games when they play host to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.
The Chargers (2-0) took down another division opponent when a shorthanded defense stepped up to dominate a 20-9 road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. Los Angeles also won its season opener 27-21 over the Kansas City Chiefs in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Quarterback Justin Herbert continues to grow into a steady veteran with the third-most passing yards through two games at 560 and the fifth-best completion percentage among starters at 72.1. He has five touchdown passes without an interception.
On Monday, the Chargers were without linebacker Denzel Perryman (ankle) and lost linebacker Khalil Mack (elbow) on the final play of the first quarter. Linebacker Daiyan Henley had been questionable with an illness before playing.
Henley ended the night with one of three interceptions for the Chargers against Raiders QB Geno Smith, along with a sack and 10 tackles. Mack, diagnosed with a dislocated left elbow, and Perryman will both miss at least the next four games after being placed on injured reserve.
The victory put the Chargers alone in first place for the first time since 2021.
“To be in the conversation to be competing for a spot like that is our goal,” Herbert said Wednesday.
That the 2-0 record has happened without the Chargers playing a home game provides more reason for optimism.
“I think it’s been great the past couple weeks for us to go play on the road,” Herbert said. “To be the team that we want to be, we need to go play and win games like that, but to (now) stay at home and lose some of the travel, it’s always good for us.”
In addition to Henley not practicing on Wednesday, wide receiver Ladd McConkey (biceps), tight end Will Dissly (knee), defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe (foot) and safety Elijah Molden (hamstring) were also absent.
The Broncos (1-1) looked like winners in Week 2 when the Indianapolis Colts missed a field goal to end the game. But a leverage penalty against Denver gave Indianapolis another chance and Spencer Shrader delivered to give the Colts a 29-28 victory.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix completed 22 of 30 passes for 206 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Nix led Denver on a seven-play, 60-yard touchdown drive to open the second half, with J.K. Dobbins scoring on a 5-yard run.
But the Broncos had just 83 net yards the rest of the way, with Wil Lutz missing a 42-yard field goal attempt with 3:19 remaining to leave the door open for the Colts to win it.
“I felt like it slipped away from us,” Nix said. “Got away. We made errors at the end that cost us.”
One of those miscues was Nix’s interception with 11:25 remaining. Through two games, the second-year QB has thrown for 382 yards with a 67.1 completion percentage, four TDs and three interceptions.
“There will be a bitter taste in our mouth for a little bit, and it’s because we put ourselves in a position to control that game late — and then it slipped out of our hands,” Denver head coach Sean Payton said. “It’s hard.”
The Broncos practiced Wednesday without tight end Evan Engram (back), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (quad) and linebacker Justin Strnad (foot).