DENVER (AP) — What was shaping up as a winner-take-all showdown Sunday between the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos has morphed instead into a study in contrasts.
“Our focus is this is a playoff game,” said Denver coach Sean Payton, whose Broncos (13-3) are one victory away from earning the top overall seed in the AFC playoffs and the all-important first-round bye that comes with it.
Los Angeles coach Jim Harbaugh is centered on giving his Chargers (11-5) the best chance to win a road wild-card game next weekend, so he's sitting out some of his starters Sunday, most notably quarterback Justin Herbert.
“He’s got bruises that need to heal,” Harbaugh said of his banged-up QB who has been playing with a broken left hand over the last month.
Trey Lance will make his sixth career start and first with the Bolts.
“Super excited,” said Lance, who last started in the Dallas Cowboys' regular-season finale last season. “Just thankful, very thankful. Get a win is the goal, keep guys healthy.”
Lance has appeared in 15 games throughout his NFL career, throwing for 1,153 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions to go along with 292 yards rushing and a touchdown.
“Trey is very capable,” Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. “He was in my draft class, as a matter of fact. He is a first-round pick with all of the intangibles and tools to succeed. We’re definitely not taking this game lightly."
Lance will face the league's nastiest pass rush.
The Broncos have an NFL-high and franchise-record 64 sacks so far, within striking distance of the 1984 Chicago Bears' record of 72 sacks, which was accomplished in 16 games and included a record dozen in their final game that season.
What the Broncos harp on, however, isn't necessarily the sack numbers but where they rank in the NFL in other categories such as yards per play (first), net yards rushing (second), third-down percentage (second) and red zone percentage (second).
Denver hasn't earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in a decade. The last time they did, they parlayed it into a trip to Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California — site of this year's Super Bowl 60 — and a win over Carolina for the franchise's third championship parade.
“It’s huge,” said Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who can tie Russell Wilson's record of 24 wins in his first two NFL seasons on Sunday. “I think that’s our main focus right now, the best chance, the best position we could put ourselves in.”
Last year, the Broncos faced a similar situation in Week 18 when the Kansas City Chiefs rested their starters — after having clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC — and the Broncos ran away with a 38-0 win that secured their first playoff berth since 2015.
Surprisingly, the Broncos are minus-5 in takeaways this season, something Payton said has to change for a successful playoff run.
“I know we’ve been reiterating punching the ball out and when the ball is in the air, attacking the ball," Surtain said. "We’ve preached that each and every week. I know that the turnovers are going to come in bunches soon. We’ll make that shift.”
The Chargers are coming off a 20-16 loss to Houston that spoiled their shot at the AFC West title in which they were 2 of 5 in the red zone while the defense allowed a pair of rare long touchdown passes to open the game.
Pro Bowl kicker Cameron Dicker missed a field goal from inside 40 yards for the first time in his career and pulled an extra point wide for the first time this season.
The Broncos are the first team other than the Chiefs to win the AFC West since 2016, but their celebration of that status has been muted.
“We just didn't really talk about it,” Payton said.
“You win the whole thing and that becomes another shirt,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton concurred. "It is part of the journey. If you lose, it becomes a reminder — if it’s the only shirt you have and you end up losing, it just becomes a reminder that you didn’t finish it all.
"You acknowledge it and say, ‘OK, we checked that box.’ Then you have to move onto the next one because there is more ahead. I know all the guys in that locker room will tell you that their goals are bigger than winning the AFC West.”
Sunday's forecast for the unseasonably warm Mile High City is 61 degrees at kickoff. That would make it the second-coldest kickoff in Denver this season. The coldest was 60 degrees for a Thursday night game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 6.
AP Sports Writer Beth Harris contributed from Los Angeles.
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Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton reacts during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Kansas City. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton (8) celebrates his touchdown with quarterback Justin Herbert (10) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday appointed the head of Ukraine's military intelligence as his new chief of staff, a move that comes as the U.S. leads a diplomatic push to end Russia's nearly 4-year-old invasion.
Announcing the appointment of Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to focus on security issues, developing its defense and security forces, and peace talks — areas that are overseen by the office of the president.
Zelenskyy had dismissed his previous chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, after anti-corruption officials began investigating alleged graft in the energy sector.
The president framed Budanov's appointment as part of a broader effort to sharpen the focus on security, defense development and diplomacy.
“Kyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to achieve results,” Zelenskyy said.
Budanov, 39, said on Telegram his new position is “both an honor and a responsibility — at a historic time for Ukraine — to focus on the critically important issues of the state’s strategic security.”
In his evening address, Zelenskyy announced further changes to his team, saying he had proposed Mykhailo Fedorov, the current minister for digital transformation, as the new minister of defense.
Fedorov, 34, is credited with spearheading the introduction of drone technology in Ukraine’s army and introducing several successful e-government platforms in his current role.
He replaces Denys Shmyhal who took up the post last July in a major government shake-up. Zelenskyy thanked Shmyhal and said he would be taking up another role in government. He also credited the ministry for reaching a target production of more than 1,000 interceptor drones per day in December.
Earlier, Zelenskyy appointed Foreign Intelligence Service head Oleh Ivashchenko to replace Budanov as intelligence chief.
Budanov is one of the country’s most recognizable and popular wartime figures. He has led Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, since 2020.
A career military intelligence officer, he rose through the defense establishment after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. He also took part in special operations and intelligence missions linked to the fighting with Moscow-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine before the full-scale invasion of February 2022. He reportedly was wounded during one such operation.
Since the full-scale invasion, Budanov has become a prominent face of Kyiv’s intelligence effort, regularly appearing in interviews and briefings that mix strategic signaling with psychological pressure on Moscow. He has frequently warned of Russia’s long-term intentions toward Ukraine and the region, while portraying the war as an existential struggle for the country's statehood.
Under Budanov, the GUR expanded its operational footprint, coordinating intelligence, sabotage and special operations aimed at degrading Russian military capabilities far beyond the front lines. Ukrainian officials have credited military intelligence with operations targeting Russian command structures, logistics hubs, energy infrastructure and naval assets, including strikes deep inside Russian territory and occupied areas.
His appointment to lead the office of the president marks an unusual shift, placing an intelligence chief at the center of Ukraine’s political and diplomatic coordination.
Ihor Reiterovych, a Kyiv-based independent political expert, noted that Budanov had participated in the talks with the U.S. and “will fit much more naturally into the overall context" of the negotiations.
“Unlike Yermak, he has both experience in this field and has worked in a relevant position,” Reiterovych said, adding that the GUR also has had certain contacts with Russia on issues such as prisoner exchanges.
Russian authorities said Friday the death toll from what they called a Ukrainian drone strike on a cafe and hotel in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region rose to 28. Kyiv strongly denied attacking civilian targets.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman of Russia's main criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, said those killed in the village of Khorly, where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year's Eve, included two minors, while 31 people were hospitalized.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff, Dmytro Lykhovii, denied attacking civilians. He told Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne on Thursday that Ukrainian forces “adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law” and "carry out strikes exclusively against Russian military targets, facilities of the Russian fuel and energy sector, and other lawful targets.”
He noted that Russia has repeatedly used disinformation and false statements to disrupt the ongoing peace negotiations.
The Associated Press could not independently verify claims made about the attack.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process.”
The U.S. efforts has faced a new obstacle earlier this week, when Moscow said it would toughen its negotiating stand after what it said was a long-range drone attack against a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in northwestern Russia early Monday.
Kyiv has denied attacking Putin’s residence, saying the Russian claim was a ruse to derail the negotiations.
In his New Year’s address, Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “90% ready” but warned that the remaining 10% — believed to include key sticking points such as territory — would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live.”
Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck a residential area of Kharkiv with two missiles Friday, Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram page, adding that Moscow's forces "continue the killings, despite all the efforts of the world, and above all the United States, in the diplomatic process.”
At least 19 people in the eastern city were injured, including a 6-month-old, said regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied launching any strikes with missiles or other airborne weapons on Kharkiv on Friday and suggested, without offering evidence, that the damage could have been caused by the detonation of ammunition at a weapons depot.
Earlier Friday, Russia conducted what local authorities called “one of the most massive” drone attacks at Zaporizhzhia. At least nine drones struck the city, damaging dozens of residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure but causing no casualties, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional administration.
Overall, Russia fired 116 long-range drones at Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air force, with 86 intercepted and 27 striking their targets.
The Russian ministry said its air defenses intercepted 64 Ukrainian drones overnight in multiple Russian regions.
The Russian city of Belgorod was hit by a Ukrainian missile, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Two women were hospitalized after the strike, which shattered windows and damaged an unspecified commercial facility and a number of cars in the region that borders Ukraine, he said.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.(AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits perform drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits perform drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
FILE - Ukraine's military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov speaks during press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits perform drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits perform drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
