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          Broncos catch Chargers on a roll, try to avoid rock bottom

          Von Miller and the Broncos walked off the field in Carson, California, last season having suffered their first shutout since 1992. Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
          • Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterNov 13, 2018, 01:00 PM
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              Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
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          ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos are getting used to playing hot teams.

          The Broncos have seen a couple of the league's best -- the Rams and Chiefs (twice) -- both of whom are 9-1. And that streak continues this week when the Broncos face the Los Angeles Chargers at StubHub Center.

          "They're playing great, we know what's waiting there," Broncos defensive tackle Domata Peko said. "We have to come back out of this bye ready to get after it."

          The Chargers handed the Broncos their first shutout since 1992 when they visited last season. It was a low point in a season filled with low points. It was the Broncos' second loss in what eventually became an eight-game losing streak and rock bottom for an offense that never really found its footing.

          The Broncos are wobbly again at 3-6, having just tried to piece some things together during their bye week. They have not won an AFC West road game since 2015, when Peyton Manning was the quarterback and the Chargers were still in San Diego.

          "We've got to win one in a row," Broncos quarterback Case Keenum said. "I think that's how you start a streak ... we're not going to focus on what's happened and we're not going to focus on what's going to happen. We're going to focus on one week, that's all we can control."

          The Chargers, on the other hand, have won six in a row to rise to 7-2 in their chase of the Kansas City Chiefs. So, it means the Broncos will once again try to regain their balance this season against a team that already has a pile of momentum.

          The Chiefs were 3-0 the first time the Broncos faced them this season and had won six of seven games the second time the Broncos faced them. Other teams on a roll when they faced the Broncos: The Los Angeles Rams were 5-0 in Week 6, the Houston Texans had won five in a row in Week 9, the Chargers have won six in a row, and if the Pittsburgh Steelers win at Jacksonville on Sunday the Steelers will come to Denver with a six-game win streak in Week 12.

          "It shows you, before the season everybody said we had an easy schedule because of last season [a 5-11 finish], but now you look at it and we have had one of the hardest," Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. "I still think we beat ourselves with some things and mistakes, but when you play teams like we have, you don't have any margin to mess up."

          And in a season when the Broncos have already felt the sting of high-end passers such as Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson, the Chargers' Philip Rivers might be putting together his best all-around season of his 15-year career.

          Rivers has thrown at least two touchdown passes in every game and 21 total, and no defense has sacked him more than twice. For the Broncos, it all means starting a little faster and not falling behind.

          "Our football team has to get out of chase mode and get into lead position," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. "So we can rush and cover and we can call plays without having every call be so tight on coordinators. I've been there before with teams and that's tough to call a game when every single call that you make has to be a perfect call because every play matters."

          The Broncos have led 30.6 percent of the time in their nine games, and in one of their three wins -- Week 2 against Oakland -- they weren't leading until they kicked the game-winning field goal with seconds remaining.

          "We're fighters," Keenum said. "I think every guy in this locker room understands what we can do and what we need to do ... so we keep fighting."