DENVER — The game was the understudies versus the underwhelmings.

The second-string Chargers against the … wait a second, the top-seeded Denver Broncos only generated 240 yards and failed to score an offensive touchdown?

Such is the AFC this season, filled with teams who flash one week and fizzle the next.

Sunday’s regular-season finale — which the Broncos won, 19-3 — was far more competitive than it should have been, especially considering the lopsided incentives.

Whereas the Chargers were playing for pride and only modestly consequential postseason seeding, Denver’s stakes were two miles high: a free pass to the second round, and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.

How unsettling that the Chargers could even make the game interesting, having rested 14 starters, including Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert.

The Chargers now turn their attention to a first-round game at the 14-win New England Patriots, who have averaged 34.4 points in the five games since the beginning of December, on Sunday at 5 p.m. PST.

It’s another opportunity for Herbert to notch his first playoff victory. In his six seasons, the Chargers have had two one-and-done appearances — an epic collapse at Jacksonville in the 2022 season and a four-interception loss at Houston last season.

“With the way he’s played this season, this could be a breakthrough,” receiver Keenan Allen said. “Everything we want is still right in front of us.”

That’s not exactly true. Allen reeled in two hefty items on his wish list. He needed nine more receiving yards for a $250,000 contract bonus, and six more receptions for a $750,000 payout. He finished with seven catches for 36 yards — jackpot!

“It’s nice to get that out of the way,” he said, smiling broadly.

Allen was one of the few seasoned Chargers veterans to set foot on the field. Watching from the sidelines were offensive starters Herbert, Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and the entire starting offensive line.

So backup quarterback Trey Lance, making a rare start, had a collection of blockers that was even more hodgepodge than usual — and going up against the NFL’s sack leaders, no less. The Broncos came into the game with a club-record 64 sacks.

They got to Lance four times, and although that might be impressive, the Chargers collected four sacks of their own, two by backup defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia.

“That was dope,” star edge rusher Khalil Mack said of the performance by second-stringers.

Mack sat out, as did All-Pro safety Derwin James Jr., linebacker Daiyan Henley and safety Elijah Molden. All will be back for the Patriots game.

The Chargers have beaten the Patriots in their last two meetings, including a 6-0 win two years ago in Foxborough. This is the first time the teams have played with these head coaches, Jim Harbaugh and Mike Vrabel.

“That’s the kind of game that defines your season,” Harbaugh said. “Our focus and attention is on that.”

Sunday’s game was a foregone conclusion before kickoff. Yes, the Chargers were 5-0 against AFC West opponents, but their primary aim was to stay fresh for the playoffs.

The Broncos, meanwhile, were so laser-focused on securing that No. 1 seed that coach Sean Payton instructed the videoboard operators to scrap the goofy games during breaks in the action. He wanted the crowd thinking about decibels, not distractions.

Denver running back RJ Harvey is tackled by Chargers defenders during the second half Sunday.

(C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)

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From the start, Denver looked on track. On their first possession, the Broncos drove from their 13 to the Chargers’ six, setting up the first of four field goals by Wil Lutz.

Who would have suspected that, after those 81 yards, Denver’s offense would generate only 31 more the rest of the half?

Put simply, Denver is a weird team. The Broncos have trailed in 12 of their 14 wins, and this was the second time this season they won without scoring an offensive touchdown. Naturally, there were incentives Sunday to staying as vanilla as possible on offense as not to reveal more to future opponents, although this is a team that already has put 17 games on video.

This game was either an offensive stinker or a defensive masterpiece, depending on your perspective.

Both quarterbacks led their team in rushing. Lance completed 20 of 44 passes for 136 yards with an interception. Denver’s Bo Nix was 14 of 23 for 141 yards.

Top Milwaukee Brewers prospect Frank Cairone was hospitalized after being involved in a serious car accident near his New Jersey home on Friday, the team announced.

“Frank is currently being cared for at a hospital in New Jersey with the support of his family,” read a statement from the team, via MLB.com. “The Brewers’ thoughts and prayers are with Frank and his family during his difficult time.”

The left-handed pitcher turned 18 this past September. He was drafted out of Delsea Regional High School in Franklinville, N.J. at No. 68 overall in the 2025 Draft. 

News of the Brewers’ young prospect’s accident came shortly after the team announced it was not in contact with several players in Venezuela after U.S. military strikes in the country and the capture of its President Nicolás Maduro. 

MLB TEAM UNAWARE OF STATUS OF PLAYERS IN VENEZUELA AFTER US MILITARY STRIKES

Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold revealed the team is unaware of the status of the players in a statement Saturday.  

“We don’t have much info at the moment but are trying to follow up,” Arnold said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We know the airports have been shut down but not much beyond that.”

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The team’s players in Venezuela include star outfielder Jackson Chourio, infielder Andruw Monasterio and catcher Jeferson Quero, according to the outlet.

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It might be time to write a folk song about the demise of City Section basketball using the music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the new title, “Where Have All the Players Gone?”

The talent level clearly has hit rock bottom only a year after Alijah Arenas was a McDonald’s All-American at Chatsworth High and Tajh Ariza led Westchester to the City Section Open Division title. Because their parents went to City Section schools, Arenas and Ariza stuck it out. Then Arenas graduated early to join USC and Ariza left for St. John Bosco, then prep school.

Westchester is where Ed Azzam won 15 City titles in 42 seasons until his retirement in 2021. Crenshaw is where Willie West won 16 City titles and eight state titles. Taft is where Derrick Taylor won four City titles and coached future NBA players Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. Fairfax is where Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, won four City titles and two state titles and earned most of his nearly 1,000 victories. He was followed by Steve Baik and Reggie Morris Jr., each of whom won City championships before leaving.

None of the City schools once considered among the best in Southern California are even close to resembling their glory days, and they aren’t alone. The City Section has lost most of its talent, and it was truly Hall of Fame talent: Marques Johnson and John Williams at Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich at Sun Valley Poly; Willie Naulls at San Pedro; Dwayne Polee at Manual Arts; Gilbert Arenas at Grant; Trevor Ariza at Westchester; Chris Mills at Fairfax. There were decades of success.

There’s no one person to blame. You can’t even place the downfall solely on the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose high schools compete in the City Section.

But LAUSD has done nothing to reverse the trend and didn’t help matters by opening so many new schools in such rapid fashion that longtime legacy schools lost their luster amid declining student enrollment. Things became even more disruptive by the rise of charter schools and private schools taking away top athletes. Adding to that, the loss of veteran coaches frustrated by bureaucracy issues and rules that force programs to secure permits and pay to use their own gyms in the offseason helped further the exodus.

Westchester is 2-8 this season and an example of where City Section basketball stands. Two top players from last season — Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard — are now at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn’t even have a roster posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew won its first City Open Division title in 2024 under coach Lloyd Webster. This season Webster sent his senior son, Josahn, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew is 4-10.

Charter schools Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills have separated themselves in virtually all City Section sports including basketball. They have no enrollment boundaries as long as there’s a seat for a student. Palisades lost so many students after the wildfire last year that transfers have been big additions for its teams this school year. Online courses are being offered to help students enroll and compete in sports at charter schools.

The old powers from the inner city — Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont — experienced big changes in demographics. Many coaches are walk-ons and not teachers. The legacy schools have to compete with charter schools View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. When young players are discovered and developed, rarely will they stay when one of the private schools or AAU coaches searching for talent spots them in the offseason.

So what’s left? Not much.

Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland look like the three top teams this season. All three added transfers to help buck the downward trend. And yet their records are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, against mostly Southern Section teams.

Maybe this can be a fluke one-year plunge to the bottom and the climb back up can begin, aided by coaches who recognize their job is to teach lessons in basketball, life and college preparation. Parents need a reason to send their kids to a City Section school. It’s up to LAUSD and principals to help change the trajectory by finding coaches with integrity, passion and willingness to embrace the underdog role.

There are plenty in the system doing their best. It’s time to start hearing and answering their pleas for help.