CARSON, Calif. -- For those inclined to tabulate such things, the start of the Denver Broncos' bounce-back may have come in a soccer stadium hundreds of miles from their home, roughly half-filled with their fans.
That is, if the Broncos (4-6) can do something to build off Sunday's 23-22 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the StubHub Center.
The rest of the story is still to be told, especially if the Broncos' momentum ends against the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday, but for one weekend in the Broncos looked like the team they've been telling everyone they could be. They were a hard-nosed, gritty bunch on defense who could get to the quarterback, create turnovers and put their offense in position to score.
"We'll see, it's one game," said Broncos coach Vance Joseph. "Our motto after the bye was one game at a time, winning the day, so we'll see about that."
"It just so happened we got on the good end," said running back Phillip Lindsay.
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers had not been sacked more than twice this season, but the Broncos sacked him three times. They intercepted Rivers twice, too, and those picks came from the biggest names on the defensive marquee: Chris Harris Jr. and Von Miller.
And in the end, with Brandon McManus' 34-yard kick as time expired, they, finally, closed the deal.
While they didn't really keep Rivers under their collective thumb -- he finished with 401 passing yards, his 11th career 400-yard game -- they did unsettle him at some opportune times. On third down the Broncos' defense was also less than stellar as the Chargers converted 7 of 9 third-down attempts in the first half and 8 of 11 by the end of the third quarter. But in the final quarter that number dropped to 1-of-4.
And much like the Broncos have done throughout this season's struggles, they continued to play hard for Joseph. The coach's name has been ever present with those on the "hot seat."
"This team deserves a win, we've been fighting so hard," Harris said.
"We did it in dramatic fashion," wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. "… But one game at a time, we're trying to get this thing turned around."
The Broncos have pushed the Kansas City Chiefs (twice), the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Texans to the limit, but didn't get much reward, having lost all four of those games by the total of 16 points. Yet here they were Sunday, having exited their bye week with the fight, grit and just enough points to win a slug-it-out day.
Make no mistake, they cannot pronounce themselves cured, not by a long shot. Their offense was a mish-mash of struggle for much of the day, so much so that punter Colby Wadman had the longest completion of the day -- 12 yards -- through the end of the third quarter.
They still refuse to be who they are at times, a team that can move the ball when they beef up a bit with some of their bigger personnel groupings. They get a little too infatuated with their three-receiver set, especially in their post-Demaryius Thomas-trade life.
But they pounded the ball a bit on offense down the stretch Sunday, Keenum saved his best for last with 149 of his 205 passing yards in the fourth quarter alone, the defense swirled around Rivers just enough, a replay review fell their way to turn what could have been an Emmanuel Sanders fumble into an incomplete pass and the Broncos finally, 10 games into the season, took something home for their efforts.
"We had no choice," Keenum said. "… Our goal this week was 1-0. And it took all 60 minutes and it was worth it."
And with the Raiders, Browns, 49ers, Bengals and a second shot at the Chargers to close out the season, there is an argument to be made the Broncos could make something of this.
The Steelers are next and if the Broncos show a little more than they did Sunday perhaps they'll get a few more folks to pay attention to what they've been saying. For one day, however, the Broncos kept their word.