Philip Rivers had just thrown an interception on the Chargers’ first drive of the second half, and he immediately raced down to the side judge nearest the play, yelling and gesturing for a defensive pass interference call.

His histrionics elicited only deaf ears from the referee, and the Broncos used the Bradley Roby pick as a momentum boost toward a 24-21 victory at Sports Authority Field at Mile High that dropped the Los Angeles quarterback to 6-7 all-time in Denver on a night in which Rivers was never able to comfortably settle in until it was too little, too late.

“It just felt like we didn’t have any rhythm (in the first half),” Rivers said. “It wasn’t that we were playing terrible. It was just that we weren’t making any plays.”

Following Rivers’ 11-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Gordon late in the second quarter that tied the game at 7-7, the Denver defense consistently leveraged its will upon Rivers in the pocket. The quarterback’s line entering the third quarter — 8 of 14 for 60 yards and a 61.6 rating — demonstrated as much.

BOX SCORE: Broncos 24, Chargers 21

Throughout the first half and into the third quarter, Rivers could be seen pulling his linemen aside after missed blocks and consistently changing the play at the line amid the thunders and rumbles of a near-capacity, orange-crazed crowd. One of those audibles — on Los Angeles’ second possession of the second half — led to a monstrous sack by Shaquil Barrett that punctuated the difficulty of competing in Denver for opposing quarterbacks, who, coming into this season, had a collective 32.8 winning percentage at Sports Authority Field since it opened in 2001. Related Articles September 20, 2020 WATCH: Broncos’ Jeff Driskel’s touchdown pass to Melvin Gordon vs. Steelers

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“This was as loud as I can remember this place,” Rivers said. “I felt like we handled it — we had a false start the first play of the game, but we didn’t have any more silly penalties like that. But it was definitely a home-field advantage, and noise was definitely a factor. It was as hard to communicate as I’ve ever had here. That’s what makes it both so awesome and so challenging.”

The quarterback known for his fiery emotion began to rally the Chargers in the fourth quarter, throwing his second touchdown of the night on a 5-yard strike to Keenan Allen that cut the Chargers’ deficit to 24-14 following the lone interception of the night by Broncos’ QB Trevor Siemian.

A Jamaal Charles fumble on the Broncos’ preceding possession led to another Rivers’ touchdown strike, this time a 38-yard pass to Travis Benjamin that further quieted the home crowd. But Rivers wasn’t able to complete what would have been his 23rd career fourth-quarter comeback, as Los Angeles’ final drive ended with a blocked field goal by Shelby Harris to seal the Broncos’ win.

“He settled us down real good, and the line started picking up the blitzes and the blocks,” said Allen, who finished with five catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. “We finally started moving the ball in the fourth, I think it just took us too long to get moving on offense because we could have made a lot more plays early on.”

Rivers finished 22 of 33 passing for 192 yards with three touchdowns, an interception and a 99.6 rating.