Los Angeles Chargers vs. Denver Broncos final predictions for Week 6

The Jim Harbaugh era for the Los Angeles Chargers could take a turn one of two ways on Sunday during the Week 6 AFC West game against the Denver Broncos.

Win, and those questions about Harbaugh’s approach limiting Justin Herbert and the Chargers as a whole disappear in a hurry.

Lose…those questions get louder.

Fair or not, that’s how it goes in the NFL. Harbaugh’s Chargers started 2-2 before the bye week, thumping teams with losing records (Las Vegas, Carolina) before dropping a pair of games to teams with winning records (Pittsburgh, Kansas City).

There’s more that goes into it than that, of course. But Harbaugh isn’t going to get a lot of credit for limping to 2-2 and playing the Kansas City Chiefs within seven points in a loss while Herbert battled an ankle injury, offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater were injured and the post-bye injury report remains an extensive list.

The Chargers, after all, have underwhelmed offensively under coordinator Greg Roman, with Herbert throwing for just 578 yards with five touchdowns, averaging just 6.4 yards per attempt. The run-based offense hasn’t made a ton of headway on the ground and rookie Ladd McConkey has been the only serious threat through the air.

New defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, at least, has his unit playing at a high level even with Joey Bosa out with another injury. Khalil Mack is still a force on the edge and savvy bargain-bin pickups like pass-rusher Bud Dupree, cornerback Kristian Fulton and tackle Poona Ford have excelled in the scheme.

Herbert’s offense will need to pick up some of the slack in Denver. The Broncos have won three straight and the two losses on record have come by a combined total of just 13 points. Polarizing or not, Broncos head coach Sean Payton has rookie passer Bo Nix playing win-worthy ball while backed by the third-ranked defense. Nix hasn’t thrown a pick since Week 2 and just totaled three touchdowns in Denver’s last win.

Still, Nix is a rookie and even if Bosa doesn’t play, Mack and others should be able to hit home and disrupt the timing of the Broncos offense as it trots out an injured offensive line. Harbaugh is old school and wants to win in the trenches, so this is an opportunity to get a little proof of concept that what he’s doing will work in Los Angeles.

The Chargers don’t usually go into Denver and win. Heck, they don’t usually win this matchup at all—Denver has won seven of the last 10. But the hope has to be that these are different Chargers under Harbaugh. Herbert’s ankle improvement should lead to the offense opening up and Minter has shown he can be trusted to get after a rookie passer like Nix behind an injured offensive line.

Prediction: Chargers 28, Broncos 23

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