Top 5 Reasons Why it is Awesome the Clinching Win Came Against the Chargers

[iknowftbll]

Clinching the AFC West again is awesome. Doing it at the expense of an AFC West rival makes it even better. Here's my list of why the Broncos AFC West clinching win over the Chargers makes the whole thing more special than any other:

5: Recency bias: The Broncos have had storied rivalries with the likes of the Raiders, Chiefs, and even Seahawks. The rivalry with the Chargers was very much an "also ran." However, since 2004 the Chargers have actually been the Broncos most stout competitor in the division. And in the early half of this 10 year stretch they even got the better of the Broncos more often than not. To take a mild-turned-stout rivalry up a notch, the two teams even met in the playoffs for the first time last season. The Broncos 24-17 win in that game was not as close as the final score looked: the Broncos pretty much controlled it from the start. It is awesome to see the Broncos take control of this series again and remind the Chargers the AFC West belongs to the Broncos: The Chargers are just there as a formality.

4. Chargers fans: Remember back when the Broncos signed Manning? Remember how all we heard from Chargers fans was that "Manning was 1-5 (or something like that) vs the Chargers?" They weren't worried about the signing at all, even lampooned Broncos fans because we had the audacity to be excited about it. Now, with the Broncos sitting pretty at 6-1 over the Chargers since signing Manning I wonder how they feel. Manning as a Broncos has proven to be a horse of a different color than Manning as a Colt!

3. Immediate implications: Not only did the win secure the Broncos their 4th straight AFC West title, but it knocked the Chargers out of the playoff picture. They can still get in, but they are going to need the right combination of wins and losses from a couple teams and most likely have to win out. This loss puts a serious dent in the Chargers playoff hopes.

2. Long term implications: Not only did the Broncos seriously deal a major blow to the Chargers playoff hopes, but with 8 wins already the Chargers are out of position for a prime draft pick. If you miss the playoffs but still don't have a prime draft pick...it's kind of no man's land. The team will be challenged to get the right value for their greatest needs, which means they may struggle to address some of their most glaring weaknesses this off season.

1. Friendly "home" crowd: SAN DIEGO IS BRONCOS COUNTRY!

Let's hear your reasons!

 

[Broncosr0k]

4. Chargers fans: Remember back when the Broncos signed Manning? Remember how all we heard from Chargers fans was that "Manning was 1-5 (or something like that) vs the Chargers?" They weren't worried about the signing at all, even lampooned Broncos fans because we had the audacity to be excited about it. Now, with the Broncos sitting pretty at 6-1 over the Chargers since signing Manning I wonder how they feel. Manning as a Broncos has proven to be a horse of a different color than Manning as a Colt

This one always baffled me. The chargers that were beating up the colts are a far cry from the chargers present when Manning came to Denver. LT, Sproles, V-Jax, Merriman, Philips, and Gates were all there and were in their prime. Now it is an old Gates, banged up RBs, and some defensive pieces that are not quite there. They never had any reason to compare games.

 

[Broncos6482]

Love it. Here's my top reason.

1. Sticking it to Rivers. That guy has been a thorn in our side since he took over for Brees. He tormented us, frequently shredding our defense and and getting off to a 9-2 start in his career against us. But starting with the Tebow led overtime win late in the 2011 season, Rivers is 1-7 against us. Making it even sweeter is that he said he was glad Manning was coming to the AFC West because he looked forward to the competition. Well it's been pretty one-sided so far, and I love it.

 

[MileHigh64]

I had a long debate with a Chargers fan 3 years ago about Manning's health. His contention was the ole "he's one hit away from a broken neck after all those surgeries". Funny, haven't heard that for a while. Where are all those broken neck naysayers now?

I like beating the Chargers to win the AFC West again because I like beating AFCW rivals every time. Victory is so much sweeter when we shove a divisional foe down the hill! Also becoming fun to see opponents know that the Broncos are going to run the ball and they still are unable to bottle our RBs up.

I can't wait for Monday night. Go Broncos!

MH64

 

[cdumler7]

Another great reason is sticking it to McCoy. I will give the guy credit as he helped make the Tebow offense at least functional but I hated listening to him in interviews because he always seemed annoyed that anybody would ask him questions and always seemed like he thought he was the smartest man in the room. He has done decent with the Chargers since he got there but Fox still showing he is the class of the AFC West when it comes to coaches.

 

[cdumler7]

Also another sweet thing about this victory is it ties a long held record of the 49ers of 12 straight road wins against divisional opponents! Unfortunately we have to wait till next year to see if we break the record but that is just down right impressive especially considering in that run our own division has had a decent number of winning season teams. So not like we are just going up against scrubs each time (well other than Oakland of course).

 

[MrDoc420]

I hate Phyllis Rivers more than any player in the league.

I love watching him throw hissy fits when we play them. Last year's was the best though, when he got all riled up and flipped during a timeout. Shaun Phillips then mocked him on national TV. Went viral for weeks

 

[Broncos6482]

I hate Phyllis Rivers more than any player in the league.

I love watching him throw hissy fits when we play them. Last year's was the best though, when he got all riled up and flipped during a timeout. Shaun Phillips then mocked him on national TV. Went viral for weeks

It was actually Robert Ayers who mocked him.

 

[randymon]

Hate is a strong word. I def understand the dislike of his ( Rivers) on field antics but for me anyway, the guy has always been respectful before and after games including the Broncos games. Lets just say he`s quite a character for sure My least favorite Qbs and their "personnas" if you will, would be of course Cutler ( because of his lack of passion mostly), Flacco, Kappy, A. Smith, Orton, Superman and Ryan. Now, there`s no hate there at all, just certain things they say, do, don`t do that rubbed me wrong way at one time or the other or always. Just cause alright!!!