Chargers Shock Broncos with Electric Win at Mile High

There was a Ryan Mathews sighting in Denver Thursday night. He was drafted with the 12th pick in the 2010 draft as a replacement to future Hall of Fame RB Ladainian Tomlinson. His career has been plagued with injuries and never lived up to the hype.

AP Photo/Joe Mahoney

If Thursday Night Football was a preview of the Ryan Mathews to come, then they may finally have the RB they wanted when they drafted him out of Fresno State. Matthews finished Thursday night with 127 yards on 29 carries with one TD on a 23-yard run early in the 3rd quarter. Matthews has eclipsed 100 yards on the ground in his last three of his last five games including two straight, also scoring 3 TD's in that span. QB Phillip Rivers was able to manage the game the entire time, controlling the ball for over 38 minutes. Rivers had a decent statistical game only throwing for 166 yards but he did have 2 incredible TD passes to rookie WR Keenan Allen.

The Broncos had a tough outing on both defense and offense, with the defense allowing the Chargers to rush for over 100 yards in both games this year. (131 yards in the first game, 177 yards Thursday). The Chargers ran the ball 44 times against a good Denver defense that is 10th in the league in opponents rush yards per game, giving up on average 105.4 yards per game. The run game was a huge factor to why the game ended the way it did. Peyton Manning did not look like the MVP candidate he's been all season, only throwing for 289 yards, two TD's and one INT, which would be a good game for most QB's in the league but for Peyton, who has won the previous 13 at home, it was a disaster.

Having Wes Welker out with a concussion may have been the key piece to this loss, with Welker leading the league at the slot position on targets, receptions, yards and 1st downs. Both teams are #1 and #2  in the NFL in percentage of offensive drives ending in points this season (DEN 47.0%, SD 43.7%) which is why it was no surprise for both teams to put up the 27 total points in the 1st half, but just two TD's the entire second half for two teams that are both in the top 5 in passing offense did catch me by surprise.

The Broncos got off to an early lead, scoring on their first possession with a TD pass to WR Andre Caldwell. The TD catch was Caldwell's 2nd of the season and first since Week 1, he would score another TD early in the 4th quarter. The Chargers would score a field goal on their next possession, but was answered with a field goal by the Broncos before the end of the 1st quarter. The Chargers would score on 2 TD passes to Keenan Allen in the 2nd quarter while holding Manning and the rest of the Broncos to 3 straight 3-and-outs to end the half. That would be part of 21 straight points for the Chargers, scoring on the Mathews TD I was talking about earlier, before Manning would throw his 2nd TD of the night to Caldwell to bring the score to 24-17 early in the 4th quarter. San Diego LB Thomas Keiser picked off Manning on his next possession to set up a field goal by the Chargers with 2:31 remaining. Manning would direct a drive that set up a 42-yard field goal by K Matt Prater but it wouldn't be enough and San Diego would go on to win the game.

AP Photo/Joe Mahoney

Prediction:

SD over DEN 28-27

Final Score:

SD over DEN 27-20

This game has some effect on the playoff hunt for both teams with San Diego keeping their playoff chances alive and will need Baltimore and Miami to lose this weekend to propel them back into a wild card spot. Denver is now 2nd in the AFC behind the New England Patriots, who will be playing Miami this Sunday, and now has a lot smaller of a window to win the AFC West but luckily for them their last 2 games are against two teams with a combined record of 6-20 (@HOU, @OAK).

Did you enjoy this? If so,then check out all of my NFL Week 15 2013 - Previews and Predictions

Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89
Thank you for reading and come back for more Sports News & Analysis as well as Fantasy Football advice throughout the week. Also check out more of my other posts for some more great insight into the mind of a Sports Fanatic.
Share it, Like it, Tweet it, Vine it, Instagram, whatever social networking tool you use, spread the word so everyone else has the opportunity to bask in all of this Sports Stats and News!