Drew Lock almost did it again. 

The Broncos’ second-year quarterback led a furious comeback Sunday against the Chargers for the second time this season. In Week 8, Lock helped the Broncos come from behind 21 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Chargers, 31-30. Sunday, he led them from down 13 in the fourth to tie the game with only 2:47 remaining. 

This time, though, Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert upended Lock’s comeback, as the host Los Angeles Chargers made a 37-yard field goal with 41 seconds remaining to win the game 19-16. Lock showed poise down the stretch, but his mistakes in the first half proved costly for the Broncos. 

In many ways, Lock’s up-and-down day represents  the roller-coaster season he’s had so far. 

“It’s just like you said, it was a microcosm of the season. There’s a lot of good and there’s some that’s got to get cleaned up and disappear,” coach Vic Fangio said after the game. “You can’t throw red zone interceptions, especially one that wasn’t really much there, or throw it sloppily out there.”

Two throws defined Lock’s day against the Chargers.

The first is the one Fangio is alluding to, which came on Denver’s opening drive. Lock’s side-armed throw on the run to DaeSean Hamilton was tipped into the air and picked off. After the game, Lock said it’s a pass he just “has to throw away.”

The second came on the Broncos’ second-to-last drive in the fourth quarter. Lock similarly rolled out of the pocket, but this time hit tight end Noah Fant with a bullet on the run for 19 yards, which set up the game-tying 52-yard field goal by Brandon McManus. 

Those plays represent what Lock’s become: a streaky player. The interception is the sort of mistake he has to eliminate, while the throw to Fant is how he needs to play for 60 minutes. 

And Lock knows this. 

“It is all about consistency at this position and at this level,” Lock said. “I’ve got to find a good balance of being level, but quite honestly, I’m going to try to be hot all the time. I understand what I could do with the football. I’m starting to see the speed and know this offense well enough to go out and feel really confident to go in there and make the throws, see the defense and put the ball where it needs to go.”

Lock finished Sunday 24-of-47 passing for 264 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions — the second one coming on a last-second Hail Mary. The Broncos’ loss certainly wasn’t all on Lock, with rookie wide receiver Jerry Jeudy dropping five passes, including one of which that would’ve been a touchdown and another that would’ve set up a field goal to send the game to overtime. 

“We threw a red zone interception, we missed a field goal — that’s six points right there, at least,” Fangio said.

His offense was shut out in the first half for only the second time this season, with the other being against the Saints when the Broncos played without a quarterback.

“We’ve got to come up with points when you get into the other team’s territory, and obviously we didn’t do a good job of that today,” he said.

With only one game left this season, Lock remains arguably the biggest question mark in the Broncos’ future. In 17 starts for Denver, he has an 8-9 record. This season, in 12 starts, he’s thrown 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, being one of only four quarterbacks who have played at least 10 games to throw more interceptions than touchdowns this season. New England’s Cam Newton, Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz and New York Giants’ Daniel Jones are the only others to do so. 

Lock will almost certainly be on the Broncos’ roster next season, barring a cut or trade. But with the Broncos quickly moving up the draft board to No. 10 and possibly moving up to as high as No. 7 with a loss to the Raiders next week, some wonder if Denver will make move for a quarterback this offseason through the draft, a trade or a free agency signing. 

Either way, Lock feels he’s making strides in the right direction. Though, they may be small strides at times, he believes he can be “the guy” moving forward as he said earlier in the week. 

“I feel a lot better, I’d say, than at the beginning of the season,” Lock said. “But it is about me finding the steady tempo of a game. I think sometimes, because I am the big-play guy and put it downfield, that when I do take a check-down here and there, that it kind of comes off as being cold. You’re used to me taking deep shots and going down the field to where, myself included, I need to be OK with just getting it down and extending drives.”