It’s Denver Broncos gameday, this week against division rival San Diego. Philip Rivers and the Chargers will play host to the 10-3 Broncos and Peyton Manning, who have won three straight and are playing really good football on both sides of the ball.
The Broncos beat the Chargers earlier this season on Thursday Night Football, and have only lost once to them since Peyton Manning came aboard in 2012. That one loss came right around this time last season, when the Broncos hit a lull in their offensive dominance and the Chargers were able to come into Denver and get a huge win, leading to their playoff berth.
This year, the Chargers are in similar desperate need of a win against the Broncos in order to still have a good shot at the playoffs, likely a Wild Card spot again as the Broncos remain two games ahead in the divisional standings.
This is obviously a big game for both teams, as the Broncos are vying for the top overall seed in the playoffs once again, trying to win out this season and see if the Patriots might slip up. New England beat the Chargers in week 14, a game that both helped the Broncos and hurt them a little bit in their bid for that top seed.
As always, this divisional matchup has plenty of intrigue and some really great matchups and storylines. Here’s everything you need to know about the game as it pertains to TV information, online stream, and everything in between.
Who: Denver Broncos (10-3) vs. San Diego Chargers (8-5)
What: NFL Week 15 Regular Season Matchup
When: Sunday, December 14th — 2:05 PM MT (1:05 PM local)
Where: Qualcomm Stadium — San Diego, CA
Why: Because, football
TV Info and Map
Broadcast Crew: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
If you are in the red, you’re getting the Broncos game. If not, you’ll need to make alternate plans for the day.
Online Stream
NFL Mobile (Verizon Wireless)
NFL Game Pass
NFL Game Rewind (after the game)
Betting Odds
Broncos (-4)
Prediction
This is a game that both teams need to win, both for different reasons. The Chargers are pretty desperate at this point, and they are coming off of a very bad performance against the New England Patriots, who had their way defensively, it felt like. The Broncos are playing some of their best football defensively right now, getting after opposing quarterbacks and mixing things up with much better blitz schemes than we’ve been seeing all season long.
The Chargers boast a tough defense themselves, one that Peyton Manning and the Broncos really struggled with right around this time last year. The Broncos dropped a home game late last season to the Chargers, but that game had a much different feel. In that game, the Broncos didn’t seem confident, they were banged up, and it was on a shortened week (Thursday Night Football). If you’ll remember, Andre Caldwell was the offensive star of that game.
Not always a great sign.
This time around, the Broncos are actually getting healthier. They are getting back star linebacker Danny Trevathan, tight end Julius Thomas, and a much better week of practice from Demaryius Thomas.
What this game is ultimately going to come down to is whether or not the Broncos can do like they did the last time around, which is to force a couple of turnovers and make life a living hell for Philip Rivers in terms of their pass rush. Like any good quarterback in the NFL, if you give Rivers time to throw the ball, he will carve you up. The Chargers have also been very good on third downs this season, so the Broncos will need to make sure they are able to consistently get off the field on that money down to give the offense the edge in time of possession, another area the Chargers dominated in last year’s regular season win in Denver.
This is a game the Broncos should win, but they might need more from their passing game than they have gotten in recent weeks.