INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the days leading up to Denver’s win-and-in, prime-time tilt against the Chargers on Thursday night, Sean Payton and the Broncos knew several things about the state of their run game. First, they’d lacked consistency this season. Second, they’d need it down the stretch to get where they’re trying to go. And, finally, they’d be operating without Jaleel McLaughlin (quad) when they took on Jim Harbaugh’s team. The numbers coming in weren’t pretty. Over the previous five games, Denver averaged 84.9 rushing yards per game. In that span, Javonte Williams rushed nine times for 59 against Atlanta but in the other four he totaled 15 yards on 19 carries. The anemic production hadn’t hurt Denver badly — they had every chance to win at Kansas City in Week 10 and then won four straight — but it lurked as a potential problem. Payton put his aim in bold print. Literally. Atop his play sheet Thursday night, he wrote, “Run It!!!” Early on, the Broncos did. Kitchen sink style. First play: Rookie Audric Estime off the right side for 6 yards. Then WIlliams to the left for 6. Then a pitch to jack-of-all-trades Marvin Mims Jr. for 3. Williams winded for 15 on third-and-2. Undrafted rookie Blake Watson made his NFL debut and churned for 7. Estime, the fifth-round rookie out of Notre Dame, punched in a 3-yard touchdown, waltzing in behind right guard Quinn Meinerz and right tackle Mike McGlinchey, who caved down the Chargers’ defensive front. “The first drive was the rhythm we wanted, the tempo we wanted,” Payton said. Next drive? More of the same. And another touchdown. The Broncos ran it 11 times for 73 yards on their opening two drives. Then the well dried up. Fast. Denver over the rest of the game ran just 10 times for 37 yards to finish with 21 for 110. They also, of course, let a 21-10 lead in the final seconds of the first half slip away into a 34-27 loss. “In the second half, we get some pressure looks when they’re playing from behind,” Payton said. “We just didn’t sustain it enough and, certainly, I’ve got to look at each series, ‘Hey, with some of these looks, what are the sum of the runs?’ We had plenty of work on the run game going into the game.” The dramatic turnaround had an eerily similar feel to Week 2 last year when Payton’s Broncos jumped out to a 21-3 lead over Washington. Before Thursday, that was the last time Denver had scored touchdowns on its first three drives to open a game. That September afternoon, Denver had 10 carries for 64 yards on its first three drives and 12 for 76 before a Russell Wilson fumble late in the half turned the tide toward the Commanders. Washington eventually won that game 35-33. The Broncos finished that game with 23 carries for 122 yards. A couple of weeks after that, Denver rushed 12 times for 115 in the first half against the Jets and built a slim lead but then went away from the ground entirely, netting just 24 yards in the second half of a 31-21 loss. “I know better,” he said then. “I have to be more patient relative to how we run the ball, and it was that type of game.” The 2024 Broncos are a different team but Payton may get a similar sentiment watching the film from this one. He knew it had to be a focus on the short week. Even wrote it on his play sheet. His offense dictated early on. Then let it get away. The effect was palpable. The Broncos are built around their veteran offensive line. That group reveled in the early game bully ball. McGlinchey grabbed Estime by the helmet and screamed with joy after an early run. And then it evaporated. The task over the final two regular-season games is two-fold: Stick with what works and stick with who works. By the end of Thursday night’s game, the playing time looked like this: Williams 52%, Estime 20% and Watson 16%, though that got tilted late because Denver trusts Williams most in pass protecting and Denver found itself chasing points. Estime finished with nine carries for 48 yards and the touchdown and, according to Next Gen Stats, finished with 15 yards over expected. That’s more than Williams has logged in any game this season, though the fourth-year man from North Carolina did have 6 over expected on four carries Thursday night. There’s more that goes into being a running back than carrying the ball, but Estime’s rushing numbers are better than Williams’ in just about every category. He’s averaging 4.6 yards to Williams’ 3.6. He’s averaging 0.6 yards over expected per carry to Williams minus-0.3. He’s at 3.9 yards after contact per rush compared to Williams’ 2.7. The NFL is a week-to-week league, but how Payton designs and implements his run plan the next two weeks will go a long way toward determining whether his team makes noise after that. One small thing I liked: Welcome back, Drew Sanders. The Broncos’ second-year linebacker played his first defensive snap since tearing his Achilles in April and made the most of it. He shot through the middle and sacked Justin Herbert on an important third down midway through the fourth quarter. What’s also interesting: Sanders went through warmups with the inside linebackers after it looked like he’d return to action this fall as an edge player. The Broncos have good depth at outside linebacker, including a quality second line in Dondrea Tillman and Jonah Elliss. They don’t have that kind of depth and certainly not Sanders’ athleticism in the middle. Denver could risk stunting Sanders’ development if they keep moving him back and forth, but a team with playoff aspirations is going to do what can help immediately. That’s getting the 2023 third-round pick on the field in pass-rush situations. Can he give Vance Joseph’s group more than that in the middle of the field? Seems like a long shot, but it’s not impossible he gets a chance after the starting group of Cody Barton and Justin Strnad struggled against the Chargers. One small thing I didn’t like: We covered it some Thursday night as well, but the end-of-half playcalling sequence for Denver with 41 seconds remaining was a baffling one. Payton explained it spot on. “Typically, you’d be pretty conservative,” he said. “We were going to have the ball (to start the second half).” The Chargers were going to let the half run out after a first-down screen went for minus-3. The Broncos didn’t have to even run a second-down play. They didn’t call timeout but they also rushed to the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball with 13 seconds left from their own 15-yard line. To what end? Why? Denver led by 11. They were getting the ball to start the third quarter. Rookie quarterback, on the road, trying to clinch a postseason spot. There just wasn’t a need to try to play fast from that spot on the field. No doubt, the execution on the punt/fair catch/penalty/free kick sequence was bad. But it didn’t need to get to that point in the first place. Related Articles Denver Broncos | Broncos stock report: Denver ILB Justin Strnad’s performance to forget against Chargers Denver Broncos | Broncos’ Tremon Smith laments “dumb” penalty that led to fair-catch free kick for Chargers Denver Broncos | Broncos report card: Sean Payton picked a bad time for a bout of bad clock management before halftime vs. Chargers Denver Broncos | Broncos ILB Justin Strnad on unnecessary roughness penalty vs. Justin Herbert: “I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do” Denver Broncos | PHOTOS: Denver Broncos fall 34-27 to Los Angeles Chargers in NFL Week 16 One trend to watch: Let’s set up the weekend scoreboard watching. Even if the Broncos lose their final two games, they’d essentially be a coin flip to make the playoffs. The rooting guide is pretty easy for Broncos fans: Cheer against Cincinnati, Miami and Indianapolis. If each of those teams loses or ties over the final three weekends, Denver’s in regardless of its final two games. If either the Dolphins or Bengals win out and the Broncos drop their final two, Denver will be out. The Colts can only get in with a three-way tie at 9-8 but they do have a manageable final three games. The Bengals play Cleveland, the Broncos and then Pittsburgh. The Dolphins have San Francisco, Cleveland and the Jets. Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.