Broncos top Chargers, secure AFC’s No. 1 seed for playoffs

DENVER — Call them ugly, call them lucky, but also call the Denver Broncos the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

The Broncos (14-3) closed the deal with a 19-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday in Empower Field at Mile High, tying the franchise record for wins in a season and assuring home-field advantage up to the Super Bowl.

They did it without an offensive touchdown against a Chargers team that sat several front-line players, including quarterback Justin Herbert and safety Derwin James Jr. And they were quick to say afterward that there would be no apologies.

“A win is a win, I don’t care if it’s 3-2,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said. “It doesn’t have to be exciting. At the end of the day, you have to have more points than the other team and you get the dub. I know the style points — all the fantasy people, all the gamblers, they get upset with us because we don’t always do what they want us to do, but at the end of the day, you have to have one more point than the other team.”

The top seeding means the Broncos will get a week off before they face the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round. That opponent could be the Chargers for a third time (they split two regular-season meetings) if Los Angeles defeats the New England Patriots in the wild-card round next Sunday.

This is the first time the Broncos have earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed since the 2015 season, when they went on to win Super Bowl 50. The 14 wins also tied the 1998 Broncos, another Super Bowl winner, for the most in franchise history.

“Huge win, obviously,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “… You can’t control who’s playing for the other team, but I thought our guys did all the things we needed to do defensively. I’d like to score more touchdowns … [but] we understood what was at stake.”

It was the second time Denver won a game this season without a touchdown on offense. The 18-15 victory over the Houston Texans on Nov. 2 was the other as the Broncos seemed to specialize in the grind-it-out games, finishing 11-2 in one-score affairs. Wil Lutz was 4-of-4 on field goal attempts Sunday, and Denver’s defense again came to the rescue.

Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian scored the Broncos’ only touchdown with a 45-yard interception return with three minutes and 39 seconds left in the first quarter. McMillian snatched a deflected pass that had bounced off the hands of Chargers wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith and raced untouched along the Broncos’ sideline for the score.

“I was coming down on the ball to make the tackle … got the tip and just ran it in for the touchdown,” McMillian said. “… Great feeling, all the work we put in, all the work we put in in the offseason is starting to show.”

Denver held the Chargers to 217 net yards as backup quarterback Trey Lance was 22-of-40 passing for 136 yards and got sacked four times.

Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who finished with a career-best 14 sacks this season, also forced a Lance fumble on a sack in the fourth quarter. Denver’s sacks gave the defense a franchise-record 68, four shy of the NFL’s single-season mark.

“It’s great, but there’s still stuff to do,” Broncos defensive end Zach Allen said. “… When you have a special year like this, you want to make sure you take advantage of all the opportunities.”

Payton said he will give the players a few days off from the practice field before returning later in the week. The offense’s 0-for-3 performance in the red zone as well as quarterback Bo Nix’s 14-of-23 passing day for 141 yards with four sacks will be on the agenda.

Nix threw for just 38 yards in the first half, but he has started 24 wins in his first two seasons, tied for Russell Wilson for the NFL record among quarterbacks.

“Yeah, we’ve got some things to clean up, but we will,” Payton said. “We’ll be ready.”

Added Nix: “It’s the best possible position to be in. … It’s better than being on the road, and it’s better than playing an extra game.”