Looking Ahead To Week 6: Broncos at Chargers

Now that the Denver Broncos schedule has been released, we are going to take a game-by-game look at the regular season that the Broncos have in front of them.

The Denver Broncos travel to San Diego for their second and final Monday Night game of the season. This is arguably the most difficult portion of the schedule after coming off a road game at New England. Luckily the Broncos have a bye after this game.

The Chargers are coming off a difficult road game against the New Orleans Saints at this point in their schedule. In 2011, the Chargers went 8-8, but really crashed and burned in the middle part of their season when they strung together six straight losses.

The Broncos and Chargers split games last season with the Broncos losing first (29-24) and then winning in a November overtime game (16-13).

The Chargers offense was 5th in the league putting up 25.4 points per game. They were 16th in rushing and 6th in passing, but many would agree that Philip Rivers had an off year.

Defensively, the Chargers were just slightly better than the Broncos. They were 22nd in points allowed (23.6), 20th in rush defense, and 13th in pass defense.

The Chargers lost Vincent Jackson in free agency, but they acquired Robert Meachem to make up some ground. They also picked up defensive end Jarrett Johnson and safety Atari Bigby.

After four straight years of winning the division, but not making it far in the playoffs, the Chargers have not made it into the playoffs for two straight years. It’s a wonder that Norv Turner is still the coach.

Early Prediction: Broncos – 30 Chargers – 24. Manning beats out Rivers in this one.

Chargers Leaders in 2011:

Tom Brady – 401-for-611 (65.6%), 5,235 passing yards, 39 TDs, 12 INTs

BenJarvus Green-Ellis – 667 yards (41.7 per game), 11 TDs, 0 fumbles

Wes Welker – 122 receptions, 1,569 yards, 9 TDs, 0 fumbles

Rob Gronkowski – 90 receptions, 1,327 yards, 17 TDs, 0 fumbles

Jerod Mayo – 95 tackles, 2 INT

Kyle Arrington – 7 INTs, 88 tackles

Andre Carter, Mark Anderson – 10 sacks each

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