Week 11: Broncos vs. San Diego Monday Night Football Preview

Last Sunday was a great day for the Broncos as they put a whooping on the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver with a 49-29 win. The Broncos now face another division rival, the Chargerettes in San Diego... on Monday Night Football. If this isn't a big game, I don't know what is. Denver has a lot on the line, several key players are still out with injuries including a new one & we're up against a team that has caused us big problems in the past. As much as I HATE Philip Rivers, he somehow manages to get the job done. That's as nice as I'll be about him. Here we go.

Offense:

Kyle Orton & Philip Rivers meet for the third time this coming Monday in a AFC West showdown. The two QBs are also the top 2 passers in the league right now with Orton (unfortunately) taking second to Rivers. Bleh. Monday's game will be a deciding game with the season on the line for both teams. It will be a heated, emotional, high-energy, crazy, wild & nasty game. ahaha, I can't wait. So Mr. Crybaby himself is just 138 passing yards ahead of Orton, a 3.3% better completion rate, 3 more overall TDs & INTs and a 6.5% better overall QB rating.

Clearly, these two are not that far apart in stats which means this could very easily be more of a close game rather than a blowout by one. I hope to see another strong presence by our defense when going up against Rivers. Denver's D hassled Matt Cassel all day and it helped out our cause. We need to put 10 times the pressure on Rivers cause he will see through us or find a way around our stand to get the win. This is the one game of this 2nd half of the season we HAVE to win.

Our running attack was actually an attack for once this season against the Chiefs, who oddly enough have (should say had, haha) the #1 run game in the league. Not no mo. lol This Monday night we will have obstacles to face & overcome in every aspect a football team can have. While SD's #1 go-to RB Darren Sproles hasn't had a rushing TD all season, they have 2 other RBs that have bested him, Mike Tolbert & Ryan Matthews. Tolbert has 87 rushing attempts for 395 yds and 7 TDs and Matthews is 87 rushing attempts for 382 yds & 2 touchdowns.

Catch is San Diego along with a lot of other teams have the option of using multiple RBs while we have to rely on one because Moreno is solely the best we got when it comes to putting together a run game. Our 30th ranked rush defense has got to hold down San Diego's entire run game otherwise we'll get run over by a bulldozer... that might be a better idea than me having to watch this team get stomped on.

Knowshon Moreno had his best game of the year & his 2 years in the NFL landing his first 100-yard rushing game. And since we'll be facing the league's 4th best rush defense, 3rd ranked pass defense & 2nd best defense in yards allowed... we got our hands full.

A little bad news for Denver but also good news for us regarding Antonio Gates. While neither one is confirmed yet, both Denver's Eddie Royal and San Diego's Antonio Gates are injured with both players facing the likely possibility of not playing in Monday night's game. Even though that would be a big hit to SD, Rivers still has plenty of options to look to for their passing game. Denver has been strong in receivers with Brandon Lloyd finally finding his place in the NFL along with Jabar Gaffney and rookie Demaryius Thomas getting plenty of reps.

Interesting note: Both Lloyd & Gaffney have caught 48 passes and Royal has 43. Very possible with Royal out, Thomas will get some more action on offense. And with the possibility of Gates out for SD, Rivers will have to rely on Patrick Crayton, Malcolm Floyd, Buster Davis & Jacob Hester to test out Denver's secondary. Also, the best thing this offense can do in this game is get out to another early lead.

Defense:

Even with Cromartie out of the picture in San Diego, their defense has proven to be one of the best in the league right now yet they stand at 4-5, third place in the AFC West. Our Oline will need to be in top shape again for 3 particular players in Shaun Phillips (7 sacks), Kevin Burnett (5 sacks) and William Garay (4 sacks). Orton has been sacked 21 times this season (Rivers 22) and we need to cake on the pressure on Rivers while our Oline does their job at giving Orton all the time in the world in the pocket, when needed.

Denver's defense seemed to rectify themselves against KC with a stellar performance stopping them at the goal line at least twice that I remember including one goal line stand that just blew me away. My heart was pounding like a washing machine in the 3rd quarter, its 42-10 Denver when the Chiefs got down to the goal line and Denver stopped them again & again, making remarkable goal line stand. Truly amazing to see them do that. I would love nothing more than for our defense do the same to Rivers.

Time for Denver's defense to take another stand and make their division run. Fight for it boys. I'll be looking for Champ to have a good game and get his 2nd INT of the season. Mario Haggan (3 total sacks) was on fire against KC, sacking Cassel & forcing a fumble in the same play to get Denver's first defensive TD of the year. A truly awesome performance by Haggan (and to Jason Hunter for picking up that ball and taking it 72 yards for the TD). Well done men. Keep the momentum and for the sake of this season, carry that into this Monday night's game and rip Rivers apart... I'm begging!! Take him down... bury him alive 6 ft under... bury him some more and make him cry... grrrrrrr. Yeah, I think I'm ready for Monday night. :D

Special Teams:

If there's one area we can get a handle on San Diego it could be special teams. Their punter Mike Scifries has had 4 blocked punts this season and their go-to guy for returns, Darren Sproles has yet to be able to take one back for a TD. In fact, their opponents have 2 kick returns touchdowns and 1 punt returned for a TD. Its unfortunate that we could be without Royal but it could and should give rookie Syd'Quan Thompson a fair chance to take on return duty in this game. And with that in mind, its very likely he could have a big return.

We won't know until he's given the chance. C'mon McD, play the rookie on returns and let him stomp on the Chargerettes. Our ST has slowly been getting on track... what better way to make it explode onto the scene than have a rookie take it all the way back?? Give him a shot and leave Thomas on the field with our offense. We'll need him there more than on ST.

As for San Diego, both Sproles and Patrick Crayton haven't had much success on punt returns with both of them having 13 yard returns as their biggest gain. Sproles has 24 catches on kick returns (longest gain 39 yds). Not much to say about it other than we gotta keep a tight rope on Sproles. He could break free at any moment in a game, don't give him that chance. Kick it out of the park. lol


Injuries:

Not likely to return just yet but LB Robert Ayers was back on the practice field this week after dealing with a foot injury; also back at practice was Safety Darcel McBath (ankle). CB Andre Goodman (hip) is still not ready to practice, don't count on his return anytime soon but also don't count him completely out for the season. New to the Broncos' injury list is WR Eddie Royal (hamstring). Didn't practice on Friday, don't expect him to play on Monday night.

Denver could get lucky again with the possibility of San Diego's TE Antonio Gates (toe) and RB Ryan Matthews (ankle) missing the game. Both have not practiced lately. This could be a big break for us but we still have to stay alert and not let Rivers pick us apart. Safety Steve Gregory (shoulder) is also listed as did not practice. WR Malcolm Floyd (hammy), DE Travis Johnson (shoulder), WR Legedu Naanee (hammy) and TE Kris Wilson (back) were all limited in practice.

I think we have a legitimate chance at winning this game. Never an easy task going onto someone else's turf to get a win but this is where we need to shine and take over. We need to let the division & NFL know we mean business and that when we win games, it isn't just a fluke. We won the KC game fair & square (a few questionable calls, like the replay was inoperable for KC's first challenge??) but we came out fighting in that game and we didn't let our guard down till the 4th quarter.

We should've kept putting on the points and if a similar situation happens with San Diego, they won't give us room to let our guard down. We have to put up points left & right to secure this win. Rivers will play till that clock says 0:00 which is the way it should be done. Defense stayed strong and kept a 20 point lead but Rivers & Co., won't be so generous. They will find a way to take us down if we let them. Go into San Diego and let them know we mean business. Go get 'em boys... 28-20 Broncos. Show no mercy on that no-good punk Rivers. I want to see him mad as..... well, ya know.

Broncos-Chargers on Monday Night Football Preview

Trivia Time: Use Google or something to find the answer to #3, you'll need it! lol

1) Against what team did wide receiver Rod Smith post his lone 100-yard receiving effort in 2003?

2) What Broncos' player was selected as the AFC squad's "need player" for the Pro Bowl following the 2003 season

3) Against what team did the Broncos record the lone 50-point game in franchise history in 1963?

More highlights from Denver's big week 10 win over KC:

Awesome catch by Lloyd

Haggan Sacks Cassel Numero Uno

Haggan Sacks Cassel: Part 2

Tebow’s First NFL Passing TD

Broncos-Chiefs Highlights 

By BroncoPrincess7