Who in the heck are these Broncos?

After four straight wins, one of which effectively punched Denver’s ticket into the postseason (barring a mathematical blunder of epic proportion), Broncos Country should be riding high. Yet, that’s not necessarily the case. Clearly, the standard in Denver has changed for the better – a year ago, the idea of simply participating in the postseason would have been appealing; now we’re wondering if the Bo Nix-led Broncos can actually make some noise ahead of schedule.

At 9-5, the Broncos look like a contender on paper. But their last four wins might have resulted in more questions than answers.

Against the Falcons, the Broncos were flawless; in retrospect, Atlanta looks like a mess of a football team.

Against the two-win Raiders, the Broncos won, but looked sluggish against a team that had no business being the game.

Against the Browns and Colts, it took some Mile High Magic to secure a pair of strange, strange wins.

It all adds up to the question that could be answered on Thursday Night Football against the Chargers. Who in the heck are these guys?

Are the Broncos the formidable playoff team that just won four straight? Or are they a team that’s a byproduct of an easy stretch on the schedule, winning ugly and casting doubts? The Chargers posed big problems earlier, but have they improved or gone backwards since then? Will they expose the Broncos for better or worse?

Here’s what are holly jolly Broncos experts had to say.

Mark Knudson
The Broncos are not yet Super Bowl contenders from the AFC. They’re still the team in need of playmakers at WR and RB, their QB needs more experience, and depth is still an issue. What they are is a resilient, hungry and well-coached group that is dangerous for anyone to have to play.

The last time they played the Chargers, Denver was bullied up front. Typical Jim Harbaugh style football. Out physical the other team. Don’t put too much stock in what happened in the second half when LA took their foot off the gas. The Chargers have the better roster.

But this time of year, there’s more to it than just talent. The Chargers are reeling a bit, no doubt feeling the pressure to secure second place in the AFC West and a playoff spot. Their QB is banged up. Denver is pretty healthy now that Patrick Surtain is a go. These things are equalizers. And Denver has a history of playing well in LA, especially with the majority of the crowd behind it.

Denver’s better than it was last time these two teams played. We will see if LA is. Sean Payton wanted these bright lights, no doubt to have his young QB and his team feel and experience all of it. Given expectations at the start of the season, the Broncos are playing with house money, so to speak. They showed no fear in Kansas City, and will likely do the same at Empower Field West.

Cody Roark
I think it’s always difficult to see who a team really is when they have to play Thursday Night Football. For the Broncos, this is their second game on TNF this year and it’s coming at the most crucial time for them. The Broncos are a playoff team and they’ll have to prove that on Thursday and in the final two games afterwards. You play who is on your schedule. The Chargers are without J.K. Dobbins, who made an impact early on in that game, and Patrick Surtain II left with a concussion after the first play. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll learn something about the Broncos, but none of it matters unless they commit to a run game and get it going in order to help out Bo Nix and the defense.

Dan Mohrmann
The Broncos are a young team with some built-in resiliency that is outperforming every preseason metric placed on them. That’s just reality. They’ve won every game they should have while stealing a few that no one would have given them a chance to win prior to the season (see the Jets and Bucs). It’s admittedly tough when Bo Nix fires a laser to Marvin Mims for a 93-yard touchdown then two weeks later hand-delivers three interceptions to the Colts. But he is a rookie, so sometimes that will happen.

I think we may learn a little something about this Denver team on Thursday. It would be easy to look at a short week, no Riley Moss and being on the road as reasons the Broncos falter. But LA tends to be very Broncos friendly. And this team is leaps and bounds better than it was in Week 6. I’m cautiously optimistic that the easy answer is the right answer: The Broncos are the real deal.

Shawn Drotar
Even this late in the season, we’ll find out a lot about both teams on Thursday night.

The Chargers were thumped at home by never-give-up quarterback Baker Mayfield and whatever’s left of the Buccaneers’ injury-riddled roster last week, while the Broncos’ 31-13 home win over the Colts masked an abysmal offensive performance that saw Denver fail to gain even 200 total yards. Bo Nix has thrown five interceptions in his last two outings as the Broncos’ ineffective ground game continues to make them overly reliant on a rookie quarterback. Though Nix has had an extraordinary rookie season, it’s hard not to notice that nine of his 11 interceptions on the season have come in games in which he’s had to run only for double-digit yards. Fortunately, the swarming Broncos defense has been up to the task of elevating the entire team; the league’s leader in sacks has scored five touchdowns of their own this season.

That task will be harder against Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who isn’t nearly as mistake-prone as the Colts’ Anthony Richardson or the Browns’ just-benched Jameis Winston.

Both the Broncos and Chargers have feasted on losing teams – the Broncos haven’t lost to a single team this season that currently has a winning record. They haven’t beaten a team that currently has one, either – and that includes the Chargers.

Nix will have to take much better care of the ball in what should be a tightly contested game, and a long-overdue, solid performance by the Broncos’ three-headed running game would be a big help in that regard. The Broncos, at this point, still look like a (slightly) more complete and consistent team than the Chargers, but they’ve lost to them already in Denver, and they’ll get an even hungrier Chargers squad that knows that they can pass the Broncos back up in the standings (and possibly to stay) by claiming the season tiebreaker.

It’s the biggest, most important game for the Broncos since 2016; they can end their longest-ever NFL playoff drought with a win and close in on a 6th seed or better that would ensure that they avoid a road game against the dangerous Chiefs or Bills in the first round. The stakes could hardly be higher – we’ll soon see if Sean Payton’s team is ready for the spotlight.