The Denver Broncos have suffered their third-straight loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers in overtime 16-19 as prized recruit Russell Wilson continues to come under fire.
Wilson had another disappointing outing on Tuesday (all times AEDT) including going 3 of 11 passes for 15 yards in the second half with no touchdowns.
It saw the Chargers improve to 4-2 while their AFC West rivals Denver dropped to 2-4.
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Wilson was traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Broncos earlier this year for a huge bounty of two first-round picks, two second rounders, a fifth rounder, Drew Lock, Shelby Harris, and Noah Fant.
Wilson then signed a five-year, $245 million ($388m AUD) contract extension with Denver last month.
But the veteran quarterback has struggled to make the impact the Broncos would’ve hoped for since they acquired him that had them widely tipped to be a title contender.
Injured kicker Dustin Hopkins meanwhile slotted an overtime field goal as the s Chargers defeated the won Tuesday’s gritty divisional battle.
Hopkins, who spent most of the game with his right thigh heavily strapped after hurting himself on a second quarter extra-point, made no mistake from 39 yards to seal victory at SoFi Stadium.
Hopkins’ overtime winner was his fourth field goal of a dour game that saw both offences struggle to get on top.
The 32-year-old veteran drilled kicks from 37, 31 and 35 yards before nailing his winning effort.
“I was hurting pretty good,” Hopkins said afterwards, revealing that he had tweaked a hamstring with his first kick.
“It was weird. I felt good. But then that first extra point I felt a pop and it went downhill from there,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins had been presented with his shot at glory after a howler from Denver’s rookie receiver Montrell Washington, who muffed a punt to surrender possession to the Chargers in kickable range.
Like Wilson, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert also struggled, passing for 238 yards with no touchdowns.
The Broncos took a 10-0 first quarter lead after a 51-yard Brandon McManus field goal was followed by a 39-yard Wilson pass to Greg Dulcich for a touchdown.
But the Chargers hit back at the start of the second quarter when running back Austin Ekeler powered over from six yards.
Hopkins kicked a field goal to pull the Chargers level shortly afterwards but Denver regained the lead five seconds from half-time with a second McManus three-pointer.
Hopkins’ second field goal of the night were the only points added in the third quarter as the Chargers tied it at 13-13.
McManus kicked Denver back into the lead from 48 yards but Hopkins slotted his third field goal of the night to knot the scores at 16-16 before the game went to overtime.
