Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers: Complete Week 15 Preview for San Diego
The San Diego Chargers control their own destiny with three games left in the regular season.
They host the Denver Broncos at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday before finishing up on the road against San Francisco and Kansas City.
At 8-5, the Bolts currently have ownership of the last wild-card spot in the AFC even with the loss to New England last week, but any more losses could spell trouble for their postseason hopes. Philip Rivers stressed the importance of that control in Wednesday's news conference.
"Shoot, we've been in the position where we've needed some help in past years and we've gotten it, but it's nice not to have to depend on it," he said. "Where we stand right now is we don't need any help—we need Chargers to help."
And help they will if they're able to put away their AFC West rivals on Sunday. The Broncos had to overcome an 11-point deficit and hold off a late charge to preserve a 24-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills a week ago. Kyle Orton capped a 90-yard scoring drive with a short touchdown plunge to bring the Bills within seven in the final minute of the game, but the Broncos recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal it.
A win or tie against San Diego would clinch the AFC West for the Broncos. Furthermore, a Miami win or tie against New England would move Denver (10-3) into the No. 1 seed in the playoff picture.
The Chargers have lost three straight at home against the Broncos and fell 35-21 in Denver earlier this season.
Here is this week's preview for San Diego.
Chargers Week 14 Recap
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After Darrell Stuckey's fumble return for a touchdown gave the Chargers a 14-3 lead over the Patriots with 11:06 to go in the second quarter, the threat of the Justin Bieber curse looked to be taking its toll on yet another victim...until Tom Brady led two scoring drives to bring New England within one at the half.
San Diego's defense held on in the third quarter, keeping the Pats scoreless, but a Stephen Gostkowski field goal put New England ahead by two in the final stanza and Julian Edelman's 69-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown concluded the scoring for a 23-14 victory on the road.
Rivers went 20-of-33 for 189 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while Malcom Floyd caught three passes for 54 yards and a 15-yard score—San Diego's lone offensive touchdown. Ryan Mathews looked to have New England's number in the ground game early on, but he was tripped by Patriots corner Kyle Arrington in the first half and played sparingly the rest of the way, finishing with 11 carries for 44 yards. Ladarius Green was also injured for the Chargers after Brandon Browner delivered a jarring hit that left him concussed.
Defense was a bright spot for San Diego, putting aside the two touchdowns allowed. In four red-zone trips, New England only managed one touchdown—a 14-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski. Stuckey and Manti Te'o forced a pair of turnovers, and Melvin Ingram had a stud performance that included six tackles, a sack and three tackles for loss. Corey Liuget was in the conversation as well with a seven-tackle outing and three run-stuffs.
San Diego's window for victory stayed open well into the fourth quarter, but empty drives on offense contributed to a lackadaisical second half.
News and Notes
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Chargers lose Scifres to shoulder injury, McBriar in as replacement
San Diego confirmed on Monday that Mike Scifres suffered a fractured clavicle in the loss to New England on Sunday night. Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego reported that Scifres had surgery on Monday morning and could potentially return in January if the Chargers reach the postseason.
In the meantime, veteran punter Matt McBriar was added to the roster as Scifres' replacement. McBriar lives in the area and shares ties with fellow Australian and former Chargers punter Darren Bennett, who has mentored McBriar throughout his career.
Time to move on from Mathews?
The ankle injury that Mathews suffered over the weekend is just one of many health issues the former 12th overall pick has had to deal with since he was drafted in 2010. In this the final year of his rookie contract, Mathews is on pace to play a career-low nine games—he missed seven games earlier this year with an MCL sprain.
Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego acknowledges Mathews' talent in a recent post, but doesn't see the Chargers hanging onto damaged goods after this season, no matter what the running back accomplishes in the last three games of the regular season.
Manning not himself lately
Peyton Manning has never gone three consecutive games with less than 200 yards passing, but that's exactly what's on the line when he takes the field in Week 15 against the Chargers. The Broncos quarterback has looked pedestrian in his last two outings, completing 17 passes for 179 yards against Kansas City in Week 13 and just 14 passes for 173 yards against Buffalo.
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury | Status |
| Ryan Carrethers | DT | Elbow | Questionable |
| Dwight Freeney | OLB | Not injury related | Questionable |
| Ladarius Green | TE | Concussion, Ankle | Questionable |
| Corey Liuget | DE | Ankle | Questionable |
| Ryan Mathews | RB | Ankle | Questionable |
According to the team's website, Green, Liuget and Mathews did not practice Wednesday and Thursday. Carrethers was a limited participant this week, and Freeney was given Wednesday off per usual.
Liuget went down early in last week's game but returned a couple of plays after getting his ankle re-taped on the sidelines. He has ground his way through all 13 starts despite ankle and knee injuries this season, and that won't change here in Week 15.
Green is one of a handful of Chargers to have suffered a concussion this year, and those previous cases took time to recover. His status will probably be updated closer to game day.
According to U-T San Diego's Michael Gehlken, Mike McCoy explained that Mathews was "a little sore" on Wednesday, leading to his absence for that session, but it carried over into the next day. San Diego will need him to establish some sort of running game against the league's second-ranked rush defense.
*Courtesy of CBS Sports.
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X-Factor and Matchups to Watch
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Brandon Flowers vs. Emmanuel Sanders
San Diego was without its No. 1 corner in Week 8 due to a concussion he suffered in the previous game, but rest assured that Flowers will be on the field for his matchup with the speedy Sanders come Sunday.
Sanders burned Jason Verrett, ex-Charger Richard Marshall and Shareece Wright for one touchdown apiece en route to 120 yards receiving in last October's meeting, while Flowers has been relatively good at holding his matchups to minimal damage this season. Julian Edelman got the better of him last week for a 69-yard touchdown on a slant pattern in the fourth quarter, but Flowers held Baltimore Ravens receiver Steve Smith to one catch for two yards the week prior.
C.J. Anderson vs. Chargers run defense
As if Manning and the passing game weren't enough to worry about, the emergence of Anderson has transformed the Broncos from a pass-first offense to a balanced attack. In the past three games, he has seen 20-plus carries and rushed for 393 yards and three touchdowns—he's also a decent receiver out of the backfield (22 catches, 238 yards and two scores).
San Diego, meanwhile, has only allowed one 100-yard rusher since the bye week (Justin Forsett in Week 13) and zero rushing touchdowns by opposing backs in that span.
Chargers offensive line vs. Broncos pass rush
Rivers has been mauled the last four games, getting hit 20 times and sacked another 11. King Dunlap has done well to care for Rivers' blind side, but the rest of the O-line has struggled to maintain a clean pocket around San Diego's quarterback.
The Broncos had only two sacks on Rivers last time out, but they punished him for six hits, including three from star pass-rusher Von Miller. If the Chargers are to come away with a W, they'll need to give Rivers time to make that happen, as the last few weeks have produced far too many empty drives on offense.
X-Factor: Chargers offense
The collective effort by the offense following Malcom Floyd's touchdown last week was awful. The next 10 drives produced seven punts, an interception and a turnover on downs. Only three of those drives went past 20 yards, and four resulted in three-and-outs. The opportunity to beat New England was there with a 14-3 lead in the second quarter, but the offense failed to capitalize. That can't happen against the Denver, which had to overcome a 14-3 deficit of its own last week against Buffalo.
Prediction
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The Chargers are 3.5-point underdogs at home to the AFC's second-best team this weekend. Looking back at their previous matchup, San Diego only trailed 14-7 at halftime, but the Broncos pulled away with three straight touchdown drives to start the second half.
This time around, however, Manning will find it a bit more challenging to throw from the pocket with the improvements San Diego's pass rush has seen in recent weeks. Ingram is coming off one of his greatest games in his young career, and we saw how his pressure along with Liuget's spooked Brady last Sunday. The presence of Flowers in the secondary will also provide a boost that wasn't there last time.
The defense stalled both the Ravens and Patriots in the red zone the past two weeks, and I'm curious to see if that trend can continue against the Broncos, who rank second in red-zone offense with a conversion rate of 67.3 percent.
But that means nothing if the Chargers can't score points. According to Tom Krasovic of U-T San Diego, offensive coordinator Frank Reich referred to last week's offensive flaws as weird glitches attributed to miscommunication. If those same issues persist, Sunday could end up being another long day for Rivers and the offense.
In order to keep the road to the playoffs simple and scenario-free, the Chargers should look at Sunday as a must-win game. Therefore, I see San Diego coming out on top for the sake of staying in control of its own destiny.
Prediction: Chargers 23, Broncos 20
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