After Denver’s first three possessions on Thursday night, the Broncos had three touchdowns and an 11-point lead on the Los Angeles Chargers. But the remainder of the game yielded only two field goals for Denver, and the Broncos missed an opportunity to clinch a postseason berth with a 34-27 loss.

“We had a fast start,” Denver coach Sean Payton said. “I was encouraged by that. And uncharacteristically this season, we didn’t finish or play nearly well enough in the second half, both offensively and defensively. Time of possession, the third-down numbers, our rushing numbers fell off in the second half.”

After three possessions, the Broncos had gained 73 yards on 11 rushing attempts and quarterback Bo Nix had completed 13-of-17 passes for 146 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

For the rest of the game, Denver gained 37 yards on 10 rushing attempts and Nix completed 16-of-23 passes for 117 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Three-for-three on third down in the first three possessions, Denver converted 2-of-10 in the remainder of the game (although the Broncos did convert twice on fourth down). Nix completed passes on seven of those third-down snaps, but only two gained the necessary yardage.

The Broncos got the football trailing by three points twice in the fourth quarter, but Denver produced only one first down on the two possessions.

“For whatever reason, couldn’t get going,” Nix said. “A few drives sputtered. It’s not an excuse. We got to move the ball better.”

A former Pinson Valley High School and Auburn quarterback, Nix finished the 15th start of his rookie season at 29-of-40 passing for 263 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and three carries for 25 yards.

Nix surpassed 3,000 passing yards for the 2024 season in the first quarter.

“He’s competing, playing well, preparing,” Payton said. “He’s a fighter. Made some plays, like he does each week, with his feet and puts us in a good position to win, so he’s doing really good.”

Nix threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Michael Burton as Denver took a 14-7 lead with 12:17 left in the second quarter and a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devaughn Vele as the Broncos went up 21-10 with 6:22 remaining in the first half.

Denver would have secured a playoff berth with a victory. But at 9-6, the Broncos still could be in the playoffs by the end of this week’s games, if the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals all lose on Sunday. Miami plays the San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis plays the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati plays the Cleveland Browns.

For Denver to miss the playoffs, the Broncos will have to lose their two remaining games while the Dolphins and Bengals win their remaining three games.

Denver plays the Bengals at 3:30 p.m. CST Dec. 28 at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, then completes its regular-season schedule against the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 5.

“Everybody in that locker room, every guy wants to already play next week at this point,” Nix said. “We’re all competitively frustrated, and I think we’re excited for this opportunity. We know this next one’s the most important, and we just want to go out next week and not feel this way again.”

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.