Winners: Denver Broncos
Do away with the whole “Chargers are a threat” thing
Last season the San Diego Chargers seemed to have the formula for competing – and sometimes beating – the Denver Broncos. Control the clock, smother Peyton Manning, rinse, repeat.
So as the San Diego Chargers got off to a nice 5-2 start, people circled this past Thursday’s game on their calendars, assuming the Chargers would successfully employ the same idea to this game. After all, the Chargers were the new power in the AFC West, right?
Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. The time of possession was almost evenly split, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw two picks (after having only three over the previous seven games) and the ground game stalled out early. On top of that, the Broncos offense was even more efficient and deadly than it was last year and the defense (which was upgraded this offseason) is phenomenal.
The Broncos aren’t perfect by any stretch, but they absolutely showed they are the class of the AFC.