Kiszla: How do you like him now? On one good leg, Teddy Bridgewater redeems himself as QB too tough to quit.

In a stadium where five years of pent-up frustration finally caused the most loyal fans in the NFL to crack, they booed Teddy Bridgewater and his Denver teammates off the field. With only one good leg to stand on, the veteran quarterback stared into the abyss.

Broncos Country was ready to quit on Bridgewater, run coach Vic Fangio out of town, and bury a team guilty of breaking hearts.

On a desperate Sunday that safety Justin Simmons knew “this is it, this is the season,” the Broncos pumped fresh life into their playoff hopes and beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 28-13.

After destroying the trust of the Denver fan base for ducking his head and refusing to make a tackle after a turnover the last time he suited up in Empower Field at Mile High, Bridgewater redeemed himself by leading his team to victory despite a painful shin injury that forced him to the bench early in the game.

As he stood alone on the sideline near the 25-yard line for much of the first half, uncertain if he would return to action, Bridgewater tried playing mind tricks. “Psyching myself out,” he said. “Reassuring myself that, ‘Hey, man, you can get out there and do this.’ I just wanted to be out there for the guys.“

After X-rays confirmed no serious structural damage, Bridgewater shuffled back to the field at the outset of the third quarter, looking as unsteady on his feet as professor Albus Dumbledore.

But on an afternoon when the Drew Lock experiment finally was blown to smithereens, with a what-the-heck interception late in the second quarter that set up a Chargers’ touchdown drive and reminded us all why Lock has no future as the quarterback with this team, coach Vic Fangio was going to play Teddy B even if the banged-up veteran had to sit in the pocket and throw passes from a La-Z-Boy recliner.

With the Broncos clinging to a 14-7 lead, Bridgewater re-entered the huddle for his team’s opening possession of the third period, and in a scene we’ve all seen way too many times this season, the series imploded. A conservative run went nowhere on first down. A holding penalty on second down pushed Denver far behind the sticks. And then Teddy Two Gloves dinked and dunked two short passes, both of which fell incomplete.

Sick and tired of watching the same old stuff, fans were angry enough to boo Bridgewater, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and probably Santa Claus himself.

“That’s the problem with the world,” Bridgewater said, “everybody’s trying to find the negative.”

I’ve seen a lot of weird, crazy things at Broncos games since John Elway and I arrived in this dusty old cowtown back in 1983. But I never thought I’d see the sunny disposition of Denver fans turn into the bitterness of the booing blowhards who have made Philadelphia infamous, especially with the home team still ahead by seven points.

But I certainly understand the frustration. And Simmons gets why a loss to the Chargers would’ve caused paying customers to turn on a franchise that has seemed lost and directionless since winning Super Bowl 50 more than five years ago.

“We know the winning tradition and culture that has been set here for years, years beyond even when I was born,” said Simmons, who celebrated his 28th birthday earlier this month. “All we want to do, contrary to belief, is go out there and win football games … We want to play ball that Broncos Country is proud of coming to games and watching.”

If all goes according to plan for general manager George Paton, the team’s starting quarterback in 2022 will be Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers, not Bridgewater.

But let me be the first to raise a toast to the grittiness of Teddy B, who led an 80-yard touchdown drive in the second half on a gimpy leg and finished with 129 yards passing on a day when running backs Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams ground down L.A. and pounded the Chargers into a pulp as soft as fresh-squeezed California oranges.

“Teddy’s toughness is unquestioned,” said Fangio, who previously criticized Bridgewater’s lack of effort, allowing Philadelphia cornerback Darius Slay to scoop and score with a fumble in an embarrassing home loss to the Eagles.

Back from the abyss, Teddy B now leads Denver to Kansas City with first place on the line in the AFC West. The Broncos might get clobbered. Bridgewater, however, deserves credit for spitting out all the dirt we (me included) have thrown on him and showing the resilience that inspired teammates.

“He’s our quarterback,” Fangio said.

On an afternoon when he could’ve quietly limped away from Denver, never to be heard from again, Bridgewater was celebrated in a winning locker room so raucous the cheers could be heard far down the hall, where ink-stained wretches like me waited in the auditorium for postgame interviews.

“We’ve got work to do,” Bridgewater said.

A full 30 minutes after the victory, after most teammates had showered and dressed, Teddy B still hadn’t removed his uniform, a quarterback grateful for redemption and every last minute he gets to wear orange and blue in a city still crazy about football after all these maddening years.