offense

Tyler Higbee has played in 12 NFL playoff games during his 10-year career, so the veteran tight end knows, better than perhaps any other Rams player, what lies ahead.

Higbee was part of two teams that advanced to the Super Bowl.

“Don’t listen to the outside noise,” Higbee said when asked to describe the formula for a Super Bowl run. “You don’t look at the ifs, the what-could-be’s. You just come in, work, and take it a day at time. … Keep peaking week after week.”

The Rams, seeded No. 5 in the NFC, begin the playoffs on Saturday against the No. 4 Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Higbee, who returned from injured reserve and starred in last Sunday’s season-finale victory over the Arizona Cardinals, figures to be a key player as the Rams attempt to avenge a Week 13 loss to the Panthers.

Higbee was scheduled to play limited snaps against the Cardinals, but with rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson a late scratch because of a hamstring issue, Higbee played 48 snaps and caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in a 37-20 victory.

“I was just excited the ball found me,” he said. “Glad I could contribute to help us get a win.”

Coach Sean McVay was happy to have Higbee back.

“You could just see there’s a swag,” McVay said, “there’s a confidence.”

Higbee, 33, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2016 and has been an integral part of the offense ever since McVay was hired in 2017. Higbee and right tackle Rob Havenstein, an 11-year veteran who is on injured reserve, were members of McVay’s first team that have been on the roster for all seven playoff appearances under the ninth-year coach. Long snapper Jake McQuaide, a 15th-year pro who was part of McVay’s first four seasons, was signed at midseason.

Higbee has 386 career catches, 27 for touchdowns.

But Higbee’s value to the Rams goes beyond production.

“It’s just the human being too,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “The human being that celebrates for everybody.”

Midway through this season, the Rams evolved from an offense that primarily utilized one tight end to a scheme that utilizes as many as three at a time.

“Everybody has their own flavor,” Higbee said, “their own things that they’re great at.”

In 10 games, Higbee has 25 catches, three for touchdowns.

Colby Parkinson has 43 catches, eight for touchdowns, both career bests. Davis Allen has 24 catches, three for touchdowns, and Ferguson has 11 catches, three for touchdowns.

“We’re all very selfless,” Parkinson said. “No one is out there looking for individual success. We’re out there looking for team success.”

With Stafford at the controls, a receiver corps that includes stars Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, the running back duo of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and four productive tight ends bolstering the offensive line, the Rams averaged a league-best 30.5 points and 394.6 yards per game.

“This is the deepest tight end room I’ve ever been a part of,” Higbee said. “We’ve got the guys to do it, and we’ve shown that we can do it and the offense can go while we do it.

“And that will just present more opportunities.”

Higbee has 31 postseason receptions for 302 yards and two touchdowns, including one against the Philadelphia Eagles in last season’s divisional-round defeat.

Higbee did not play in the 31-28 loss to the Panthers on Nov. 30 because of the ankle injury suffered two weeks before against the Seattle Seahawks. So he is looking forward to making an impact any way that he can on Saturday for a team stocked with players that he said play for each other.

“At this level,” he said, “the more you can get guys that want to play for each other rather than just their families and the name on their back, makes a tighter team and in my opinion makes for a better team.”

DENVER — Sometimes, the punching bag punches back.

That was the case Sunday as the Chargers, playing their backups, put up an impressive fight against the division-rival Denver Broncos, vying for the top seed in the AFC.

The Broncos won, 19-3, but both teams were smothering on defense while failing to establish anything close to an offensive rhythm.

The seventh-seeded Chargers (11-6) will play a wild-card game at second-seeded New England (14-3), which rolled over Miami, 38-10, in Sunday’s finale.

Denver (14-3) gets a week off and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. The other AFC playoff matchups feature No. 6 Buffalo (12-5) at No. 3 Jacksonville (13-4) and No. 5 Houston (12-5) at the winner of Sunday night’s game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Sunday’s game was far more competitive than the rollicking crowd at Empower Field might have suspected, with the second-string Chargers defense battling them at every turn.

On an unseasonably warm afternoon, the Broncos were disturbingly cold.

The Chargers rested 14 of their starters, including quarterback Justin Herbert, who has played his way into the Most Valuable Player conversation. But they couldn’t generate much offense with backup Trey Lance at the helm.

Lance completed 20 of 44 passes for 136 yards with an interception. He led all rushers with 69 yards, however, and in the waning moments had his team in position to score the game’s only offensive touchdown.

The outcome was never really in doubt because Denver’s defense didn’t budge. But the Broncos offense never got in sync.

Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II catches a pass against Denver Broncos safety P.J. Locke during the first half Sunday.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

Denver failed to score a touchdown on offense — their lone such score came on a pick-six — and got four field goals from Wil Lutz.

It was the lowest-scoring game for the Broncos since a 10-7 win over Las Vegas in Week 11.

The matchup was the Chargers’ Next Man Up versus a down Bo Nix, who threw for 141 yards with a lackluster 78.4 passer rating.

Each quarterback was sacked four times.

Denver came into the game with the NFL’s second-ranked defense, behind Houston, with a club-record 64 sacks already in the books. The Broncos wore throwback uniforms from 1977 — blue helmets, orange jerseys, white pants — and their defense swarmed like those “Orange Crush” days of yesteryear.

Granted, it’s now a 17-game season, but the Broncos got to 14 victories for the first time since 1998, the final season of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.

But these Chargers are no pushovers. They were looking to go undefeated in AFC West games, and got to 5-0 with an array of understudies, particularly along the offensive line.

This game was only huge for one Chargers regular: receiver Keenan Allen, who needed six receptions and nine yards to hit contract bonuses totaling $1 million. He achieved both.

Besides Herbert, members of the Chargers offense who didn’t play included receivers Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston, and the entire starting line.

On defense, the Chargers sat starters Derwin James, Khalil Mack, Daiyan Henley and Elijah Molden.

Denver running back RJ Harvey is tackled by Chargers defenders during the second half Sunday.

(C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)

Basically, they had no business being in this game, and the score was 10-3 at halftime. The Broncos rolled up 81 yards on their opening drive… and a total of 32 yards the rest of the half.

With so much at stake for his team, Broncos coach Sean Payton was determined to keep precision football the focus. That included an extra padded practice in the week leading up to the game, and no crowd-distracting games on the videoboard. He wanted the crowd to be as loud and zeroed-in as possible.

At once, the Broncos were uncompromising — they were determined to win — and unconvincing.