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| San Diego's game plan was to feed Ryan Mathews the ball, and it worked. Mathews gained 128 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries in Thursday's win. |
Cory Puffett
Denver’s defense could not stop Ryan Mathews, and when you
give up a lot of rushing yards and your offense has a few 3 & outs, it
makes it difficult to pull out a win.
The Broncos got close, but San Diego handed Denver its first
division loss since Peyton Manning joined the team last season. The Chargers
controlled the ball for 39 minutes of the game by gaining 178 rushing yards.
Philip Rivers helped keep the clock running by completing 12 of 19 passes for
166 yards and two touchdowns, both to Keenan Allen.
Denver gained just 18 yards on 11 carries and by the time
Denver gave up on the run and turned things over to Peyton Manning, it was just
about too late. He tried his hardest to pull the game out for the Broncos, but
when he was hit in the pocket and the ball found Thomas Keiser in the
secondary, there just wasn’t enough time.
Manning did close the gap on Tom Brady’s single-season
record for touchdown passes by recording two more on Thursday night. He now
just 47 this season and is just three away from tying the record and two away
from tying his career best.
Andre Caldwell led the Broncos with 10 targets and had six
catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns, playing in place of Wes Welker who was
not cleared in time to play after suffering a concussion on Sunday against
Tennessee.
San Diego keeps their slim playoff hopes alive with the win,
which pushes their record to 7-7.
In Week 10, San Diego held Denver to 28 points, the best any
defense had done against them all season. The next week, Kansas City held
Denver to 27 points, but San Diego took back the top spot for fewest points
allowed to the Broncos’ juggernaut offense on Thursday.
The Broncos are now 11-3 and are in danger of losing
home-field advantage for the postseason. If New England wins in Miami on
Sunday, the Patriots take over the top spot in the AFC based on the
head-to-head tiebreaker. The good news for Denver is that neither of their last
two games are likely losses, as they play at Houston and then at Oakland.
Final Score:
San Diego Chargers – 27
Denver Broncos – 20
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