There was an 11-point shortfall to stand up to, Cameron Dicker had converted the NFL's first fair catch kick in nearly half a century, and Ray Wersching was suddenly abuzz on social media.
It was easy to forget Justin Herbert was playing with an injured ankle when he began a resounding rally.
Herbert captained three second-half touchdown drives -- one of them concluding with a sensational touchdown pass to Derius Davis -- to lead the Los Angeles Chargers to a stirring 34-27 comeback win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
Never lacking in colorful praise to describe his quarterback, head coach Jim Harbaugh was beaming about Herbert, who finished with 284 passing yards (23 of 31), two touchdowns, one interception, and also carried the ball eight times for 28 yards -- a statistic sullied by three losses for negative-17 yards as the Chargers ran out the clock.
"He has the strength of 10 men," Harbaugh said of Herbert's play despite his ankle injury, which the signal-caller has been dealing with since Week 14 against the Kansas City Chiefs. "I know I've said that before. I truly believe it.
"He's definitely one of those guys that willed us to victory. It's incredible what he's able to do."
It was, as Harbaugh and Herbert each noted, a team effort to rally the Chargers (9-6) past the Broncos (9-6), but the quarterback's fortitude and phenomenal play couldn't be overlooked.
Once Dicker converted a 57-yard fair-catch free kick for a field goal, the first made since Wersching hit one for the San Diego Chargers in 1976, L.A. trailed Denver, 21-13 at the half.
The Broncos regained an 11-point lead on a Wil Lutz field goal in the third stanza.
That's when Herbert and the offense really found a rhythm, marching 70 yards on 10 players, the last a Gus Edwards 5-yard touchdown run.
Another scoring drive followed on the Chargers' next drive, this one covering 78 yards in seven plays and equating to eight points and a 27-24 advantage.
Having hooked up with Ladd McConkey over the middle for a 17-yard gain down to the Denver 19-yard line, Herbert then sought out Davis.
Scrambling to his left, Herbert contorted and winged a throw into the end zone as he was hit and taken down. It was Davis' first career TD catch, and one amazing throw and effort by Herbert.
"Justin made a perfect strike," Harbaugh said. "The greatness of Justin Herbert."
Herbert wasn't even certain if he got six until he heard the crowd's reaction as he came up off the SoFi Stadium turf.
"I was down on the ground and facing the other way," he said. "I threw it and had hopes he was going to be able to come down with that. I really didn't get to see where I put it. So, hopefully I didn't it make it too hard on him. It might have been a tough catch. It's one of those plays you don't script."
Note yet done, Herbert followed with a laser over the middle that Josh Palmer somehow, someway caught at the back of the end zone -- tipping the ball to himself with one hand, securing it with two and tapping his toes for possession as he fell to the ground.
Though L.A. punted on its following drive, Herbert and the Chargers delivered the game-winning salvo via a fourth-quarter march that encompassed 90 yards. It ended with Herbert connecting on a short pass over the middle to Hassan Haskins, who rumbled through bad Broncos tackling for a 34-yard score.
This was the kind of game, having allowed the Broncos to score touchdowns on their first three drives, that most likely would've been a loss -- probably of the lopsided variety -- for the Chargers in past seasons. After all, it was a year ago and change that the Chargers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, 63-21, in a Week 15 Thursday night game with Herbert sidelined by an injury and Harbaugh preparing his Michigan team to win a national title.
On this Thursday night, however, it was again apparent of just how drastically matters have changed for the Chargers.
In the first half, the Broncos were putting on an offensive masterpiece, but it was the moxie and magnificence of Herbert that won the night and has L.A. holding a 97% probability to make the playoffs.
"We talked about it all week how important these games are, especially, in December and January," said Herbert, who helped to prevent the Broncos from clinching a playoff berth on Thursday. "We knew the implications of it. We emphasized all week that this is a playoff game for us. It's the environment, it's the team. They are very talented and an incredible team. So, for us to be able to pull away with one there, I thought it was awesome for us."
