San Diego Week!

[cdumler7]

Figured it is time to move on to San Diego! This really to me is our final hurdle before the playoffs. Obviously there is more season to play but beating San Diego guarantees the playoffs and the AFC West Crown is ours. Plus gives us another big road win to add to the resume that maybe we are better suited now than say 6 weeks ago to go on the road and win against a quality opponent.

Looking at this game this should be another interesting match up. San Diego is once again another top-10 defense for us to match up against. So far we have played 8 of the 10 top defenses in total yards (Broncos taken out of the equation so 11th place counts in this). We are 7-2 in those games (2 against KC). Much better showing than even what we had last year with our record breaking offense.

Offensively San Diego has not been that great. They are a middle of the pack offense so should give our defense a great shot to have another dominating game. Now given Philip Rivers seems to raise his game in divisional games so could get interesting but I think with their hurting offensive line Del Rio will test it early and often like he did last week against the Bills.

Anyway I do see this game as an opportunity to get the passing game back on track. Listening to Bronco radio this week they seem to think the issue for the passing game has been Peyton is essentially learning a new offense with how we have been playing. It is taking him a bit of time to adjust considering he has played a very similar offense most of his career so to now be making a change takes some time. If anybody can get it figured out though Peyton is the guy. Plus most likely this week Julius Thomas is back. I don't think it is a coincidence that our passing game went down and running game went up with Julius out of the lineup. He is a match up nightmare in the passing game so getting him back opens up quite a bit especially around the red zone where we have struggled to score passing. I look for Peyton to have a 4-touchdown game in this one. That is my bold prediction I guess you could say.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Figured it is time to move on to San Diego! This really to me is our final hurdle before the playoffs. Obviously there is more season to play but beating San Diego guarantees the playoffs and the AFC West Crown is ours. Plus gives us another big road win to add to the resume that maybe we are better suited now than say 6 weeks ago to go on the road and win against a quality opponent.

Looking at this game this should be another interesting match up. San Diego is once again another top-10 defense for us to match up against. So far we have played 8 of the 10 top defenses in total yards (Broncos taken out of the equation so 11th place counts in this). We are 7-2 in those games (2 against KC). Much better showing than even what we had last year with our record breaking offense.

Offensively San Diego has not been that great. They are a middle of the pack offense so should give our defense a great shot to have another dominating game. Now given Philip Rivers seems to raise his game in divisional games so could get interesting but I think with their hurting offensive line Del Rio will test it early and often like he did last week against the Bills.

Anyway I do see this game as an opportunity to get the passing game back on track. Listening to Bronco radio this week they seem to think the issue for the passing game has been Peyton is essentially learning a new offense with how we have been playing. It is taking him a bit of time to adjust considering he has played a very similar offense most of his career so to now be making a change takes some time. If anybody can get it figured out though Peyton is the guy. Plus most likely this week Julius Thomas is back. I don't think it is a coincidence that our passing game went down and running game went up with Julius out of the lineup. He is a match up nightmare in the passing game so getting him back opens up quite a bit especially around the red zone where we have struggled to score passing. I look for Peyton to have a 4-touchdown game in this one. That is my bold prediction I guess you could say.

Remember about week 4 when people were questioning Tom Brady and wondering if age was catching up to him? (Me included). What happened once the Patriots' offense came back on track? Same thing could be happening here. Once Manning adjusts, this could be an offense even more lethal than last year's version. How do you defend against an offense that can gash you on the ground and in the air? Not very easily.

 

[cdumler7]

Remember about week 4 when people were questioning Tom Brady and wondering if age was catching up to him? (Me included). What happened once the Patriots' offense came back on track? Same thing could be happening here. Once Manning adjusts, this could be an offense even more lethal than last year's version. How do you defend against an offense that can gash you on the ground and in the air? Not very easily.

This right here. I know this season has been a bit frustrating at times watching our team struggle certain weeks on both the offense and defense. I think though this team has viewed these games as a chance to really test out what works and what doesn't. Elway said at the beginning of the year that we needed to find a way to win without Manning having to do it all. We are now doing that and some people seem to be complaining and thinking Manning is washed up...No we have just switched to a philosophy on offense that fits better come playoff time and while the running game has taken over the passing game has to adjust to that. It just takes a bit of time and I would rather Manning be struggling right now but learning how to function better in this new style of offense than get to the playoffs and then try to figure out a run game and have the whole system struggle.

Same for the defensive side of the ball. If you watch closely Del Rio has switched between an off-man style early in the year, to then a zone scheme for a bit, mixed in some nice games with blitzing such as the San Fran game, and now we are seeing a bit more press-man style with a very interesting mix of blitzes. So again the defense has been having to learn what works and what doesn't. It seems like we have now settled in a bit more with what works with this group and are seeing them play a lot more aggressive and a lot more comfortable with what they are being asked to do.

 

[Broncosr0k]

A benefit to shifting our game around so late in the season is, come playoff time, teams will not have nearly as much film of our current style.

Remember what some seahawk players said after the game this year. We surprised them and came back by doing things they had never seen.

 

[HammerDown]

Will this be the last NFL game in San Diego?

 

[Broncos6482]

Will this be the last NFL game in San Diego?

Could be. Didn't realize this was their last home game of the season.

 

[BigKen]

After watching the Chargers play the Pats last week, I wouldn't be too quick to discount them. They held the Patriots to 1 TD in the Red Zone and forced the Patriots to kick FGs in the 3 other times. The Chargers offense is suspect and I guarantee that John Fox and his staff are reviewing the Patriots defense very closely. I think that the Broncos have the edge but San Diego has a lot to play for and hanging a loss on the Broncos would pretty much make their season, very much like last year.




If you watch the game, the Patriots played a 4-2-5 defense pretty much all night. When they switched out, they played a 5-6. They sacked Rivers 4 times, hit him 16 times and made him throw the ball away a lot. I'm sure that Fox won't deploy the Broncos like that but he'll set it up to look similar and Rivers will have to do much better because the Broncos defense is much faster than the Patriots.

 

[TDs3nOut]

After watching the Chargers play the Pats last week, I wouldn't be too quick to discount them. They held the Patriots to 1 TD in the Red Zone and forced the Patriots to kick FGs in the 3 other times. The Chargers offense is suspect and I guarantee that John Fox and his staff are reviewing the Patriots defense very closely. I think that the Broncos have the edge but San Diego has a lot to play for and hanging a loss on the Broncos would pretty much make their season, very much like last year.




If you watch the game, the Patriots played a 4-2-5 defense pretty much all night. When they switched out, they played a 5-6. They sacked Rivers 4 times, hit him 16 times and made him throw the ball away a lot. I'm sure that Fox won't deploy the Broncos like that but he'll set it up to look similar and Rivers will have to do much better because the Broncos defense is much faster than the Patriots.

Couldn't agree more. Winning at SD will be tough. NE had to play very well in order to get that done. No reason to think that Denver won't have to do the same.

 

[cdumler7]

How have any of us discounted them BigKen? I said they are a top-10 defense and that Rivers has given us trouble in the past. We all know how good San Diego can be. Heck they put up 30 points against the Seahawks before they started having injuries so they can hang with just about any team in the league with the balance they have on both offense and defense. Throw in this being a home game for them (although Bronco fans show up in masses as San Diego fans are about fair weather as the weather in San Diego).


Anyway this is a big game for both teams so I expect both to come out looking for blood. San Diego realizes losing this week pretty much ends their season while for the Broncos this game wraps up the division and makes it where all they have to focus on is position for the playoffs. Both teams know each other very well so yeah I could see this one going either way. I like how the Broncos are playing right now though with the defense beginning to turn it up and playing like a top-3 defense in the NFL and the offense being able to beat teams now multiple ways. Plus the Broncos look to be getting a bit healthier with their defensive leader possibly returning this week in Danny Trevathan plus on offense it looks like J. Thomas should be a go for this one. Gives us our Red Zone threat back.

 

[cdumler7]

Injury report for the day does not look good. Looks like the Broncos are trying to let guys heal up at this point in the season.


Players who did not practice on Wednesday are...


CJ Anderson, Montee Ball, Quinton Carter, Paul Cornick, Cody Latimer, Jacob Tamme, D. Thomas, and Wes Welker


Guys who were limited...
David Bruton, Ronnie Hillman, Malik Jackson, Julius Thomas, Juwan Thompson, and Kayvon Webster.


Couple of promising things from that though are Ronnie Hillman practicing again as well as Julius Thomas practicing early in the week. Also good to see Kayvon back on the field even if just limited.


From what I have read D. Thomas, Wes Welker, an Anderson were more just letting the guys have a day off to heal up a bit more. At this point in the season missing a practice or two shouldn't worry us too much as we did have the early bye so players are a little dinged up right now.

 

[randymon]

I wish if Denver beats SD and clinches they didn`t have Pats in way of home field so Denver could rest some more banged up guys but it is what it is. I agree also Cd that I have more confidence in Denver going into Foxborro with this new found running game. So beat SD and let the chips fall where they may

 

[DownSetHutch]

I'm glad that the Broncos will have the extra motivation of wrapping up the AFC West against the Chargers this week. I'm not sure, but it seems like we lost to them late in the season in one of the more recent seasons when we had the better team, but they had more motivation to win due to being on the bubble for the playoffs. At this point in the season, however, the team should be stepping up the focus and intensity for the playoffs and shouldn't get caught taking any teams lightly, least of all a division rival fighting for a playoff spot.

We need to go out and whoop some Charger ass!

 

[cdumler7]

Last year actually would be the one you are thinking. We had a late home game against them on a Thursday night and it just looked like we walked into the game just thinking we were the better team and would win. They came out with a fire and destroyed us especially on both sides of the line. Other than the Super Bowl and maybe the St. Louis game it was probably one of the worst games I have seen out of this team.


To me I really like that we have had this tough schedule and have had to fight every week for a win at least compared to the last few years. No taking a week off and really every win is needed. I mean if you look it is not like we have a Bye week wrapped up yet. It is not just a matter of fighting for the #1 seed but Indy has an easy schedule to close things out, Cincinnati could just as easily get the win against us and advantage closing out the season. So again we are fighting just to keep those teams away from our much needed week off. I think this season that Bye Week is needed more than others with such an early Bye Week in the season. So yeah lots to play for. Thankfully over the last 7 games the Broncos are 6-1 against Rivers and the Chargers. Hopefully we can get that to 7-1 on Sunday.

 

[WalkerBoh]

I'm less afraid of the Bengals than I am of the Chargers. SD tends to play Denver tough, and even though we beat them fairly easily in the playoffs, they didn't go away. Cincy, on the other hand, is having some problems stopping the run w/out Burfect in the lineup, and Dalton is now banged up.


I like having the extra motivation against these next two opponents though. Going into SD with the AFC West on the line will hopefully keep this team focused. Going into Cincy with that bye week on the line should help there too.

 

[cdumler7]

Looks like Hillman is getting close to being back. Also D. Thomas, Wes Welker, and CJ Anderson were all back at practice after missing yesterday.


Trevathan is once again practicing but no word yet if he is going to be taken off IR and going to play in this game.


Also Julius Thomas looks a lot better this week with cutting on his ankle.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Looks like Hillman is getting close to being back. Also D. Thomas, Wes Welker, and CJ Anderson were all back at practice after missing yesterday.


Trevathan is once again practicing but no word yet if he is going to be taken off IR and going to play in this game.


Also Julius Thomas looks a lot better this week with cutting on his ankle.

Hillman likely won't start again unless Anderson is injured or has a sudden case of fumblitis. Will be nice to have the depth back though.

 

[cdumler7]

Hillman likely won't start again unless Anderson is injured or has a sudden case of fumblitis. Will be nice to have the depth back though.

Yeah Hillman won't get the starting role back but I am hoping they find some kind of role for him as he does have explosive ability when healthy. I am a little worried that this foot injury will have taken some of that explosion away but I guess we will see. I will say I think Hillman could have had a big game against the Bills this past week. A Bills fan had said they are vulnerable on the edges for giving up big chunks of rushing yards and with Hillman's speed I think he could have taken that Thompson run to the house. Just adds another weapon to our already great arsenal on offense.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

There is no doubt that we will get SD's best shot. They will be a desperate team and if you compare the Ravens & Chargers schedule, the Ravens have an easier schedule.

 

[braves66boy]

The entire division of the Ravens have benefited from playing the 2 weakest divisions in the nfl. Next year, I believe any team from that division finishes at .500 should win it because they go through the NFC West and AFC West. The should all get beat up because of the physical nature of most of those teams. I believe we should clinch our division this weekend.

 

[iknowftbll]

I think we're definitely going to get the Chargers' best shot. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Broncos sling the ball around a bit in the first half, then transition to a run oriented game in the second half. If the Chargers have been looking at the film, they may load the box from the opening snap, and that could set up some good pass plays against a depleted secondary.

The Chargers are not going to roll over and play dead. While they are far from eliminated with a loss, they extend their AFC West title chances another week with a win and remain in the driver's seat for a playoff spot as a wild card at worst. But with a loss they are in the heard, and may not even be in the driver's seat anymore depending on the tie breakers.

I am always nervous for a divisional rivalry game. At the same time, I have a lot of confidence in this Broncos team. The defense has been very good of late, beginning with the 2nd half of the Dolphins game. JDR has got to be salivating at the Chargers issues at O-line and I will be screaming for his head on a platter if he chooses to not send Von and Ware early and often.

The Broncos have run a gauntlet this season. This game isn't going to be easy. This is a team that can really use a first round bye, and they are on the brink of earning it. But there are some major hurdles to clear still and the Chargers loom large.

Here's to 11-3 by Sunday night! Go Broncos!