If this past Sunday was about the ceiling, this one’s about the floor. Broncos quarterback Drew Lock getting outplayed by Patrick Mahomes is a pain. Drew Lock getting outplayed by Justin Herbert is a problem.
Kansas City 43, Denver 16 was a snowball to the face of just how far the gap remains between the Broncos and the defending Super Bowl champs. No matter what Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles thinks.
(Exhibit B from Week 7: Kyle Shanahan 33, at New England 6, a scoreline that knocked several layers of shine off Vic Fangio’s victory in Foxborough the weekend prior.)
It’s back to middleweights (Chargers, Raiders, Dolphins) and lightweights (Falcons) through Thanksgiving. Although some middleweights are more fascinating than others. And few are more curious than Sunday’s opponent, the Bolts, whose 2-4 start includes overtime losses at home to Kansas City (6-1) and at New Orleans (4-2).
For all the psychic wounds ripped open and laid bare during a 10th consecutive defeat to the Chiefs, Los Angeles might be the better, truer yardstick for where the 2020 Broncos, and Lock, are heading. For better or worse.
Especially at quarterback. Especially given that Herbert, the rookie out of Oregon, has spent the month turning more heads than a Bugatti Chiron.
The kid had Mahomes on the ropes at home. The Chargers rookie threw for 311 yards in a contest that saw Los Angeles lead Kansas City 17-9 late in the third before falling, 23-20. The Broncos haven’t had to figure out a way to manage a third-quarter lead against the Chiefs since Week 4 of 2018.
Herbert’s already steered the Chargers to fourth-quarter cushions over Tom Brady in Tampa and against Drew Brees in the Big Easy.
Last Sunday, he outdueled Jacksonville’s Gardner Minshew, 39-29, in a battle of former Pac-12 gunslingers. In the process, he joined Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as the only rookie quarterbacks to throw for 300 yards and three scores while running for a touchdown in the same contest.
Herbert’s the only player since the 1970 merger to pile up 1,500 or more passing yards and a passer rating of 100 or better over his first five games in the league. He’s tied with Russell Wilson for the most touchdown throws this season (eight) on tosses of at least 20 yards downfield.
The Chargers are beat up. Their kicking game’s a hot mess. They don’t know how to close. But they’re content to hand the keys to a 6-foot-6 cannon with a 35.5-inch vertical leap and zero fear.
Like the Broncos, they’re using this fall to see what a young quarterback has in the tank. Like the Broncos, they’re good enough to scare the big boys, yet still not good enough to finish what they start.
It’s a fairer fight, on paper, than Week 7. Over nine NFL starts, in the only stat that truly matters, Lock’s record is 5-4. Herbert’s just 1-4.
Of course, the latter’s also only the second rookie quarterback in NFL history to open up his career by throwing for at least 250 yards in five consecutive games.
The first? Mahomes.
Oh, doctor.
“The last guy I can remember who gave me that feeling?” former Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti told Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel in October 2018 when asked about Herbert.
“(Andrew) Luck was one of them. (John) Elway is a guy who really stood out. They could throw the bullets across the field and make throws on the line.”
No one expects No. 3 to go drive for drive, haymaker for haymaker, with Mahomes quite yet. But if you can’t keep up with Herbert, more questions are going to be asked. And Lock isn’t going to be crazy about the answers.
