The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Thursday’s 34-27 win over the Broncos at SoFi Stadium: 

Quarterbacks: A

Justin Herbert, wearing an ankle brace the size of a canned ham, opened three-and-out, and in a moment found himself in a 7-0 hole. But he got into it on the next drive, leading his guys to a tying score. Accurate for nearly two quarters, he threw a terrible pick in the end zone at the end of the half. But he was good later, throwing a terrific TD to Derius Davis for the lead. And he ran when he wasn’t supposed to be able to.

Running backs: B

Gus Edwards bullied his way for the first score to tie it. He had a monster 44-yard run at the end. Hassan Haskins made himself useful, catching a short pass for the clinching score.

Receivers: B-

Joshua Palmer took a nice pass 24 yards to the 3 and later had a brilliant catch on the two-pointer. Ladd McConkey gained 27 on his first catch, later a 21-yarder, then more. Tight end Stone Smartt continues to catch passes; fellow TE Hayden Hurst had a large catch. Quentin Johnston dropped a big one.

Offensive line: C

Didn’t block a soul on Herbert’s first sack, nor on his second. Jamaree Salyer blew his block on third and inches. Good enough.

Defensive line: C-

Denver, which hasn’t had a 100-yard game rusher for two years, came out trying to run — and succeeded early, scoring the first TD almost entirely on the ground. Everybody got blocked, but it was nicely corrected.

Linebackers: C

Khalil Mack, always trying, not always successful, batted down a pass. But, fact is, stars Mack and Joey Bosa haven’t done much, but Bosa finally got a sack in the second. Tuli Tuipolotu got his name called.

Secondary: C-

Thinned, what with two starters — corner Cam Hart and safety Elijah Molden — sitting in the nurse’s office. Safety Marcus Maye went down early. Tony Jefferson got busted for a personal foul that wasn’t. Derwin James blew it, taking a bad angle on a 55-yard throw, but made a big stop at the end of the third. Dean Leonard made a big play. Tarheeb Still got away with an uncalled PI.

Special teams: A

Cameron Dicker The Kicker hit a 37-yard field goal after his offense failed on fourth-and-inches, and on the last play of the half had a the NFL’s first free kick field goal since 1976. The 57-yarder made it a one-score game. Nick Niemann recovered Denver’s onside kick at the end.

Coaching: A

Jim Harbaugh, who met with Larry David before the game, will not curb his enthusiasm.  He was aided by a mile-high stack of Denver mental errors. Got his team to rally from awful first half.

Next opportunity — at New England: B

The Patriots have stunk since Tom Brady bailed, but that doesn’t matter much these days. Harbaugh’s kids can either be bad or good, and apparently being told “so be good for goodness sake” doesn’t always sink in.