Chargers are back on top

The wins just keep coming for the Chargers who have now won five straight games. The latest victory is perhaps the sweetest of the season to this point. Sweet because it came against their arch division rival Broncos in Denver and the game wasn’t even close as the Chargers rolled to a 32-3 blowout win, which gave them sole possession of the AFC West.

It was a rough day for Denver quarterbacks as the Broncos tried to use Chris Simms and the injured Kyle Orton to get their offense going, neither had success against an attacking Chargers defense. It all started on the games opening drive, which began with some hope for the Broncos. Using the running backs for the first seven plays of offense the Broncos moved the ball from their own 26 yard line to the San Diego 17. Things were looking good until Simms dropped back for his first pass attempt of the game, got sacked, and fumbled the football. It was all down hill for Denver from there.

The Chargers wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover. LaDainian Tomlinson got things going with a 21 yard run and Phillip Rivers completed three of four passes with the biggest of the three being a two yard touchdown pass to Legedu Naanee. For the second week in a row Tomlinson looked strong, rushing for 73 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown and he got a lot of help from his running back mates as well. Mike Tolbert added 58 yards, Jacob Hester had 46, and Darren Sproles chipped in 24 giving the Chargers running games over 200 yards rushing for the afternoon.

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Denver got their only score of the game with their first drive of the second half, a 23 yard field goal by Matt Prater. After that the Chargers took total control. LT scored a touchdown to make it 20-3. Nick Kaeding tacked on a pair of field goals to widen the gap to 26-3, and late in the fourth quarter Mike Tolbert busted loose for an eight yard touchdown run for what would end up being the game’s final score 32-3. As expected, the Chargers offense racked up a bunch of point, but what was probably most impressive was the way their defense shut down the Broncos.

The Chargers defense finished the day with three sacks, two fumble recoveries, and one interception. They held the Broncos passing game to 181 yards and contained Moreno and Correll Buckhalter on the ground. Although Charger fans love their offense they have to be extremely excited about the way their defense is coming together. Everyone knows that it’s defense that wins championships, and if the Chargers can continue to play this way they have to like their chances of finally going all the way. Before the season started the Chargers were thought of as one of the teams to make a serious run at the Super Bowl. After five games they were sitting at 2-3 and the chances of making it to the big dance seemed like a pipe dream. But now with the way things are falling into place, including first place in the west, the Chargers will have to be taken seriously again.

Throughout the remainder of the first half the Chargers defense continued to dominate. They sacked Simms a second time and forced Denver to go three and out on their next two possessions following the Simms fumble. Late in the second quarter Kyle Orton limped onto the field and gave Bronco fans a glimmer of hope with two long completions that brought them to the Charger four yard line. But all the air went out of Invesco Field when Knowshon Moreno fumbled the ball at the San Diego one yard line. The Chargers went into the half with a 13-0 lead.

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