INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Thursday night could easily be a buzzkill for Broncos fans, who saw their team ride a four-game winning streak into Los Angeles where they had a chance to break an eight-year playoff drought.
Instead, it was their four-game winning streak that was snapped, and it was the Chargers who inched closer to the playoffs.
But I don't want Broncos country to get too disheartened by what happened Thursday.
This is sort of what happens with teams as they grow into becoming NFL contenders – You have to learn how to win.
We've talked about that so many times throughout this season, and this was the first game with real stakes attached – end-of-season type stakes.
And for a lot of Thursday’s game, the Broncos played well. It was just in the margins where they failed.
And I’ve got to give kudos to Broncos country out here in LA. They showed up in droves, as they often do in the City of Angels. I captured video of some Broncos faithful, still engaged, still trying to will their team to a win in a two-score deficit late.
They gave the defense the energy to get off the field at one point. They were sort of trying to buoy the offense, to get this thing into the win column. And hey, it just didn't happen.
Look, this is disappointing, right? You felt like you had a chance to clinch the playoffs, and you didn't do it.
But I think you're going to learn more from this, and you're going to come out on the other side of it, better for it. And the way that Sean Payton talks to this team, I think that will be his sentiment as well.
