Ding dong, the Broncos season is dead. And, so likely, is Vance Joseph’s tenure in Denver.

The Denver Broncos defense frustrated and forced Phillip Rivers into two first quarter interceptions, but the home team couldn’t overcome their rival Los Angeles Chargers in the season finale as LA won 23-9.

Denver’s defense, like usual, led the way for the team, picking off Rivers twice early. First, it was Isaac Yiadom on the outside, jumping in front of a pass. Then, it was Will Parks picking off Rivers; but the Broncos offense couldn’t turn either of those turnovers into points.

In fact, the inverse was the case. Case Keenum threw the ball behind the line of scrimmage to Royce Freeman, who couldn’t secure it, and LA’s Kyle Emanuel took it to the house for the score and 7-0 lead.

The Broncos offense — which was atrocious all day long — was able to push downfield and into field goal range, faltering due to play-calling and Keenum holding onto the ball too long for a sack that ended the drive.

So, at halftime, the Broncos trailed 7-3, still in the game despite awful offensive play.

But in the second half, Denver evened up the turnovers 3-3 when Tim Patrick was stripped inside the Broncos red zone. Rivers led his offense on a touchdown drive, connecting with Mike Williams for the score, pushing the lead to 14-3.

Finally, late in the third quarter, Denver scored when Keenum connected with fullback Andy Janovich for his first receiving touchdown. But on the 2-point conversion, Casey Hayward picked off Keenum and returned the ball 102 yards for a 2-point score, making it a 16-9 Chargers lead.

LA answered with a lengthy, touchdown drive of their own as Austin Ekeler pushed across the goal line to make it 23-9 in the fourth quarter. That was all good for the Chargers besides the fact that Melvin Gordon went down with an ankle injury during that drive. Gordon is a key member of Los Angeles’ offense, and they’re getting ready to play in the AFC Wild Card round next weekend.

Denver pushed their turnover total to four on the day when River Cracraft fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff.

Rivers finished the game 14-24 for 176 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Case Keenum went 31-48 for 292 yards with one touchdown and one pick.

The Broncos fall to 6-10 on the 2018 season, and they’ve also fallen to 11-21 all-time under Vance Joseph. If he’s not fired soon, it would be a surprise to many.