Week 8 v. SD

[TDs3nOut]

Not really a fan of the Thursday night games, since it seems more often than not at least one of the teams looks ill prepared. For example, last December, when the Chargers played in Denver on a Thursday night, it was the Broncos who played an uninspired game.

Definitely looking forward to tomorrow night's matchup. Very optimistic that the team makes up then for its flat game in last year's Thursday night meeting of the two.

 

[cdumler7]

Not a fan of our team playing on Thursday other than it guarantees the game is on tv for me. Usually these are the games that either you get an awesome performance by your team or just a flat out bad showing. Obviously last year we were the latter of the two and it was not a fun rest of the week. These are also the games because players haven't had as much time to recover where you can see some injuries happen and usually these are the games you want more depth to be able to keep guys rested but with the short week more people seem to miss this game...


On that note here are the injury reports for the two teams


Broncos--Players missing practice on Tuesday were Montee Ball, Steven Johnson, Brandon McManus, and Omar Bolden. Right now it looks like none of them will play on Sunday except McManus. Not a huge blow to our offense or defense but could be a huge blow to our special teams as both of them have been some of our best.


All other players were full participants.


For the Chargers...


The players who did not practice are Donald Brown, Brandon Flowers, Ryan Matthews, Manti Te'o, Rich Ohmberger, and Dwight Freeney. Right now Brown, Flowers, Matthews, and Te'o most likely will not be playing in the game.


Attaochu and Verrett were limited with Verrett possibly not be ready to go as he missed the Chiefs game after being limited all week.


Very interested to see the injury report for today and see if any of those Charger players are bumped up a bit more otherwise they really could be hurting bad on that defensive side of the ball.

 

[cdumler7]

Just some cool stats to add before this game...


1) Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware said that they planned on having more sacks combined than that of some NFL teams. Right now just the two of them are tied for 16th in the NFL so beating half the teams in the league.


2) Manning is on pace right now through 6 games to have 51 touchdowns and 8 interceptions finishing actually as a better statistical season than what he even had last season.


3) We have 2 receivers in the top-10 for receiving yards and 2 in the top-5 for receiving touchdowns right now in the NFL with us having played one less game than many of those receivers ahead of them.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Those are some cool stats, cd. I particularly like the first one, about our pass rush, which seems to be heating up nicely. After getting only seven sacks in our first three games, we've recorded thirteen in our last three. Hopefully that trend continues going forward, beginning tomorrow night!

 

[cdumler7]

Those are some cool stats, cd. I particularly like the first one, about our pass rush, which seems to be heating up nicely. After getting only seven sacks in our first three games, we've recorded thirteen in our last three. Hopefully that trend continues going forward, beginning tomorrow night!

They do seem to be heating up with each passing week. Von Miller just seems to find a way to look better with each week. I don't know how he is doing it considering most thought he wouldn't be his old self until half way through the season if ever. Same with Chris Harris. Even Harris had said he didn't think he would be 100% until half way through the season so I can't imagine how he plays any better than he has considering he has allowed the worst quarterback rating in the NFL when thrown his way. He is allowing a crazy 33.5 QBR when quarterbacks come his way. Sherman in comparison is allowing a 94.7 quarterback rating this season. Another crazy stat for Harris is since our Bye week he has only allowed 3 catches for 21 yards. He has yet to give up a 100 yards total for the season and only 12 receptions through 6 games.

 

[cdumler7]

Just some more cool stats to add to all of this...sorry on a stats kick today as work has been crazy so today is my first slow day in about 3-weeks so trying to catch up on not doing some Bronco research.


Broncos right now on Football Outsiders DVOA (considered one of the better stats sites on the web) has our offense ranked #1 in the country and our defense ranked #2.


Just to give some perspective on how amazing that is the Broncos right now are possibly in the running for best team in the history of their rankings. The 2007 Patriots actually have the best mark and will be hard to beat.


Also the Broncos are only the 6th team in history to be ranked #1 and #2 on both offense and defense at the same time after week 5. The Broncos have done it the last 3 weeks straight of being in that category. Only one team in history has actually finished with that distinction and it was the 2007 Colts with Manning (very underrated team because of the undefeated Patriots).


The stat that is actually considered the "Mother of all stats" is that of quarterback rating differential. Pretty much this is take what your quarterback rating is for the offense compared to that of what the defense is giving up and you can usually see the top teams in the league. The Broncos right now are 2nd to of all teams the Green Bay Packers. San Diego is 2nd on these so should be a pretty huge match up this Thursday of which one gives first.


Another interesting stat for the Chargers is they have had the 24th easiest DVOA up to this point in the season. The rest of their schedule is the 2nd hardest so we could see the Chargers be in a world of hurt coming up. Kind of like last year where the Chiefs were looking like this unstoppable force to only come crashing down when they started playing legit teams we could be seeing that again.

 

[cdumler7]

Some not so good stats for the Broncos is Peyton Manning's quarterback rating since 2002 against a Chuck Pagano defense is almost 14 points lower than that of his average against everybody else in the NFL. So Pagano does seem to be a tough out for Manning. I'm interested to see though if Flowers and Verrett are out what Manning can do against this defense.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Some not so good stats for the Broncos is Peyton Manning's quarterback rating since 2002 against a Chuck Pagano defense is almost 14 points lower than that of his average against everybody else in the NFL. So Pagano does seem to be a tough out for Manning. I'm interested to see though if Flowers and Verrett are out what Manning can do against this defense.

John or Chuck? We are playing SD, not Indy, right?

 

[cdumler7]

John or Chuck? We are playing SD, not Indy, right?

Whoops my bad...saw the Pagano name and of course Chuck just came to my head. You are right John Pagano.

 

[cdumler7]

Bronco players have said they have a very different attitude compared to last year. Players last year kept talking about how tired they were and how much they hate Thursday night games because the body doesn't have time to recover. This year they have changed that mindset to "There are no excuses." Knighton said one player came into the locker room complaining about being tired and he went up to the player and said "I don't want to hear it." The team realizes this is a great opportunity to really seize the AFC West and they are not going to overlook this one like last year.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Bronco players have said they have a very different attitude compared to last year. Players last year kept talking about how tired they were and how much they hate Thursday night games because the body doesn't have time to recover. This year they have changed that mindset to "There are no excuses." Knighton said one player came into the locker room complaining about being tired and he went up to the player and said "I don't want to hear it." The team realizes this is a great opportunity to really seize the AFC West and they are not going to overlook this one like last year.

Interesting. I don't know why, and perhaps I'm wrong, but I just have a feeling that the team is going to play very well tomorrow. Guess it's because I feel like we played our best game so far last week, we get Trevathon back, SD lost last week, they are a little banged up, and they have to travel on a short week.

In fact, I'm leaning toward picking us to cover the spread and even play our defense in my fantasy league! LOL

 

[cdumler7]

Yeah I really do like our chances in this one. The defense just does seem to be getting better with each passing week and I just see our pass rush making life hell for Rivers tomorrow. Throw in the Chargers being beat up especially at the corner spot and that doesn't usually end well against a team with the weapons that we have and Manning playing probably his 2nd best year in his career (hard to beat that 2004 year).

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

we get Trevathon back

I may be misunderstanding your statement TD, but Tre wont be back for at least 4 more games after tomorrow.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Some not so good stats for the Broncos is Peyton Manning's quarterback rating since 2002 against a Chuck Pagano defense is almost 14 points lower than that of his average against everybody else in the NFL. So Pagano does seem to be a tough out for Manning. I'm interested to see though if Flowers and Verrett are out what Manning can do against this defense.

The Chargers seem to be beat up in the secondary. The Chargers pass rush was awful against K.C.. The only chance the Chargers have is if they do the same thing they did last year in Denver. It's possible, but not likely. The 4th string RB is going to be good, but I just don't see the Chargers being able to control the clock the way they did last season.

 

[cdumler7]

The Chargers seem to be beat up in the secondary. The Chargers pass rush was awful against K.C.. The only chance the Chargers have is if they do the same thing they did last year in Denver. It's possible, but not likely. The 4th string RB is going to be good, but I just don't see the Chargers being able to control the clock the way they did last season.

Yeah honestly I am a little saddened with how beat up the Chargers are right now. I loved the idea that the Broncos and Chargers could be 1-2 when it comes to AFC teams and getting to see a classic AFC West run to the end of the season and see who comes out on top. Not saying that can't still happen just was hoping for this game to see 2 powerhouses go at it. If Flowers and Verrett were playing (haven't heard on Verrett yet whether he is a go) I would say the Chargers stood a decent chance as the Broncos and Thursday night games have not been the best recipe for success lately but I just think Manning is going crazy with options of what he can do in this one.

 

[cdumler7]

we get Trevathon back

I may be misunderstanding your statement TD, but Tre wont be back for at least 4 more games after tomorrow.

Yeah was wondering this myself as he cannot return to the field until week 15. He can return to practice after 6 weeks of being gone but actual playing on the field is week 15. Honestly wouldn't want him back until then anyway. I do think they rushed him back a little this last time and his knee just wasn't quite ready for the impact of the game. This gives him a full almost 10 weeks to let the knee heal up fully and get back into somewhat game shape then have a few games of actual play before the playoffs to get fully in game shape and ready to push for the playoffs.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

Yeah honestly I am a little saddened with how beat up the Chargers are right now. I loved the idea that the Broncos and Chargers could be 1-2 when it comes to AFC teams and getting to see a classic AFC West run to the end of the season and see who comes out on top. Not saying that can't still happen just was hoping for this game to see 2 powerhouses go at it. If Flowers and Verrett were playing (haven't heard on Verrett yet whether he is a go) I would say the Chargers stood a decent chance as the Broncos and Thursday night games have not been the best recipe for success lately but I just think Manning is going crazy with options of what he can do in this one.

I'm not CD, I guarantee no one felt sorry for us last year when we lost Chris Harris, Rahim Moore, Von Miller, Vickerson, Wolfe and Clady. Today's NFL is all about how you deal with injuries and the depth a team has.

As far as the game is concerned the Broncos Defense is playing much better than earlier in the season. Von looks like the Von of 2012 and we got the D Ware of 2011. The run D is ranked 3rd in the NFL and is no fluke. I can see a bit of an aerial game breaking out but the Broncos passing offense and our skill people at virtually every position are better. Rivers always seems to play well in Denver but the only thing that really worries me is Thursday night. Broncos pull away late 31-20.

 

[TDs3nOut]

we get Trevathon back

I may be misunderstanding your statement TD, but Tre wont be back for at least 4 more games after tomorrow.

Yeah, I don't know why I was thinking that. Just getting old, I guess.

 

[cdumler7]

I'm not CD, I guarantee no one felt sorry for us last year when we lost Chris Harris, Rahim Moore, Von Miller, Vickerson, Wolfe and Clady. Today's NFL is all about how you deal with injuries and the depth a team has.

As far as the game is concerned the Broncos Defense is playing much better than earlier in the season. Von looks like the Von of 2012 and we got the D Ware of 2011. The run D is ranked 3rd in the NFL and is no fluke. I can see a bit of an aerial game breaking out but the Broncos passing offense and our skill people at virtually every position are better. Rivers always seems to play well in Denver but the only thing that really worries me is Thursday night. Broncos pull away late 31-20.

For me it is more about getting this team tested early on in the season. I like that we are playing a much tougher schedule and having to be a very physical team to continue to be successful. To me I liked the opportunity for Sanders and Thomas to have to go up against 2 Corners ranked in the top 5 of PFF for this week and just see how they do. That is why I like seeing teams at full strength. No I don't feel bad for the Chargers to an extent just wanted the challenge more than anything. I mean I will gladly take the win and a big 2 game lead in the division plus going 2-0 in probably our toughest stretch of the schedule with @NE next.

I don't usually do final scores for games but hey might as well give it a shot this week...I have us once again putting up 42 with defense giving up 20 in this one with the Chargers scoring a late garbage time touchdown. Broncos get 2 picks against Rivers and a Fumble recovery as well.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

For me it is more about getting this team tested early on in the season. I like that we are playing a much tougher schedule and having to be a very physical team to continue to be successful. To me I liked the opportunity for Sanders and Thomas to have to go up against 2 Corners ranked in the top 5 of PFF for this week and just see how they do. That is why I like seeing teams at full strength. No I don't feel bad for the Chargers to an extent just wanted the challenge more than anything. I mean I will gladly take the win and a big 2 game lead in the division plus going 2-0 in probably our toughest stretch of the schedule with @NE next.

I don't usually do final scores for games but hey might as well give it a shot this week...I have us once again putting up 42 with defense giving up 20 in this one with the Chargers scoring a late garbage time touchdown. Broncos get 2 picks against Rivers and a Fumble recovery as well.

Yeah CD, I was being a bit of a smart a$$. I like the Broncos playing the best teams at full strength. It tells you something about yourself and the games tend to be better.

I know, I know I'm spoiled but this years home schedule wasn't the best I have seen. The away schedule would have been awesome to see at home.