Injured Hopkins The Hero As Chargers Sink Broncos

Dustin Hopkins (6) kicks an overtime field goal to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 19-16 win over the Denver Broncos Harry How

Text size

Injured kicker Dustin Hopkins slotted an overtime field goal as the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Denver Broncos 19-16 in a gritty divisional battle on Monday.

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.

The win sees the Chargers improve to 4-2 while their AFC West rivals Denver drop to 2-4.

Hopkins’ overtime winner was his fourth field goal of a dour game that saw both offenses 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.

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson had another disappointing outing, finishing with a meagre 188 passing yards and one touchdown.

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.

The Barron’s news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This story was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com.© Agence France-Presse