The Broncos will be on primetime once again and this time facing a division rival. Oddly enough the chargers are the one division team the Broncos have beaten in the decade of 2020. They have split the last 2 years where each team has won at home. That trend of winning at home will have to come to an end if the Broncos want to push their record back to .500. This is certainly a winnable game as the Chargers have been very inconsistent throughout this season. Winning this game would put Denver back in the thick of things with the rest of the AFC and second in the AFC west believe it or not. As bleak as things look now a win here really can go a long way. Here's how they can do it:
Running and more running. The Chargers are once again a poor run defense giving up 130.4 yards per game on the ground. This would be the perfect game to get this run game on track as so far it has been underwhelming as the Broncos are ranked 19th in total yards per game at 112.6 yards per game. We will get to see how effective Latavius Murray will be in his first action as a Bronco. The game plan for Denver is to keep the Chargers' 9th-ranked scoring offense on the sideline on the offense and let their 30th-ranked scoring defense determine whether they win the game or not.
The Broncos' defense must continue its dominance. The player that scares me this week is not Justin Herbert. It's Austin Ekeler. He has logged 263 yards and 3TDs in his last 2 games and Denver has been susceptible to giving up big numbers as they gave up more than 200 yards on the ground a few weeks ago to the Raiders. Overall Denver ranks 14th against the run giving up 112.4 yards per game. Not terrible not great either. It is important to make the Chargers one-dimensional and force Herbert to beat the 1st ranked passing defense who is just giving up 176.6 yards a game through the air. Those numbers should continue with the return of Justin Simmons and Micheal Ojemudia this week.
A little deja vu could take place. The Broncos in 2012 head into Monday Night vs the Chargers with a 2-3 record and comeback down 24-0 to win 35-24 and win 11 straight games to finish the regular season. The Broncos in 2022 are on the road on Monday Night in the week vs the Chargers with a 2-3 record. Just a little fun fact for you guys! Here we go!
Prediction:
Broncos 23-20
Russ: 250 yards and 1 TD
Gordon and Murray: 150+ yards and 1 TD
Defense: 4+ Sacks and 1 INT
Sources: https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/team/_/view/defense/table/passing/sort/netPassingYardsPerGame/dir/asc
Great article as always Arjun!Loved the fun fact!