Chargers enter Denver with first place on the Line

The Chargers will visit Mile High Stadium this Sunday with a chance to take over sole possession of the AFC West, a feat that seemed highly improbable only a month ago. San Diego had once trailed the Denver Bronces by three games, and in the NFL that’s a lot to overcome. But it all happened so fast, as the Chargers won four straight games, coinciding with three losses in a row for the Broncos. Now both teams have a record of 6-3 and are poised to battle it out for ownership, at least temporarily, of the west.

All the momentum seems to be with the Chargers this time around, a complete reversal from their first match up this season when Denver was off to a 5-0 start and the Chargers (2-2) were just trying to stay above the 500 mark. The Broncos controlled that game for the most part and handed the Chargers a 34-23 defeat. But as the Chargers have proven, divisions aren’t won in the first month of a season. They proved it to Denver last year when they stole the AFC West away from the Broncos on the final game, and they’re hoping to prove it once more.

One of the main reasons for Denver’s success in the early part of the year was their defense. Through the first six games they gave up an average of 11 points per game. Since then the defense has tapered off, surrendering a little over 28 points per game in losses to the Ravens, Steelers, and Redskins. The Chargers scored more points than any of the teams that lost to the Broncos in the first six games with 23. San Diego will try to take advantage of a slightly weakened Denver defense with an offense that is very capable of scoring consistently throughout a contest.

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Perhaps the best thing to happen to the Chargers last week besides getting a win against Philadelphia was the performance of Ladanian Tomlinson. Tomlinson had his best game of the year with 96 yards rushing and two touchdowns. If LT can produce like that again, combined with the way Phillip Rivers has been playing this year, the Broncos could be in for a long day at Invesco Field on Sunday. Rivers managed only one touchdown pass in the previous game against Denver and was sacked five times. If he can get some more help from his running game this week chances are he’ll have a couple more touchdown passes as well.

Speaking of touchdown passes, it doesn’t look like the Broncos will have their starting quarterback, Kyle Orton, under center for the Chargers game. Orton injured his ankle against the Redskins and will likely not play this Sunday. In his place will be Chris Simms who has played very little football in the past few years and didn’t look good when he took over for Orton at Washington. This could be another big break for the Bolts, especially since their defense has been coming on strong recently and getting plenty of pressure on opposing QBs.

Things appear to be set up so well for the Chargers that a loss would not only be surprising, but potentially devastating. A defeat to the Broncos would in effect put them two games back of first with only six games to play because Denver would own the tie breaker. But even still you wouldn’t be able to count this Chargers team out. They have demonstrated mental toughness time and time again in recent years. And they have shown that in order to win a division crown you must play well over the course of an entire season and not just in its first month.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com San Diego Chargers Correspondent