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By JACK CASSIDY

STATS Writer

 

(AP) -- Peyton Manning savored the moment when he set the NFL record for passing touchdowns last week. Then, with only a few days to prepare and the AFC West lead at stake, he and the Denver Broncos got back to work.

 

They'll host the San Diego Chargers on Thursday night.

 

Manning threw four touchdowns in a 42-17 rout of San Francisco on Sunday to pass Brett Favre for the top spot on the all-time list. Demaryius Thomas caught the record breaker, then later added a 40-yard TD reception to up Manning's total to 510.

 

That number could rise against San Diego, a team Manning has thrown a touchdown against in all 11 career meetings.

 

"We're playing a great team in the Chargers, a team we're very familiar with, as they are with us," Manning said. "They beat us last year, so we got to get ready on this short week."

 

Manning was 3-0 against San Diego with the Broncos before the Chargers defeated Denver 27-20 at Mile High Stadium on Dec. 12. Like the upcoming matchup, that game took place on a Thursday - a similarity coach John Fox dismissed, along with any implications for this contest.

 

"We don't live in the past," Fox said. "I've mentioned many times, you spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror, you crash, not looking ahead."

 

The Chargers, though, might spend some time dwelling on that victory as they prepare for this week. Philip Rivers threw only 20 passes, completing 12 of them for 166 yards, as San Diego punished Denver with its ground game. Ryan Mathews ran 29 times for 127 yards and a touchdown, and the Chargers outrushed the Broncos 177-18 in ending a four-game losing streak to Denver.

 

Mathews is sidelined with a sprained MCL, but Branden Oliver has successfully stepped into the lead role, rushing for 316 yards and two touchdowns while posting a 4.7 yards-per-carry average in three games as the feature back.

 

Oliver will face a Broncos run defense that ranks third in the NFL with 74.3 yards allowed per game, significantly better than the team's 101.6 mark of last season.

 

Most of the damage against Denver has come through the air. The Broncos rank 18th in the NFL with 242.5 passing yards allowed per game - a welcome statistic for Rivers, who is 10-7 against Denver in his career but has struggled recently in the matchup. He's thrown for more than 250 yards once and has seven touchdowns and six interceptions in the last four meetings.

 

Still, Fox knows better than to overlook him.

 

"He's a tremendous competitor," Fox said. "We go way back. When I was in the Carolinas, he played at N.C. State, so I had a chance to watch him perform. I know a lot about him as a competitor. I know myself and our organization and our team have great respect for him."

 

Rivers has 17 touchdowns, three interceptions and the third-highest passer rating in the NFL, but he is also coming off his least productive game of the season. He went 17 of 31 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 23-20 loss to Kansas City on Sunday.

 

The Chiefs limited Rivers' and the Chargers' opportunities by dominating time of possession 39:00-21:00. San Diego is fifth in the league in the category at 32:37.

 

"No one's trying to miss a tackle," coach Mike McCoy said of the Chargers' inability to get their defense off the field. "I think when you have talented players in space, at times there's going to be a mismatch. We've just got to do a better job of it. We got exposed in certain plays there that made it look really bad. It's the basic fundamental of football. We've got to do a better job with it."

 

San Diego had one possession in the third quarter and, apart from a final possession with 21 seconds remaining, two in the fourth.

 

It's a problem the Chargers could face again Thursday against Denver's high-powered offense. Ronnie Hillman, filling in for the injured Montee Ball, rushed for two touchdowns Sunday and Julius Thomas leads the NFL with nine touchdown receptions.

 

The Chargers may also be without cornerback Brandon Flowers, who will likely sit out after suffering a concussion last week.

 

Source: Hosted.Stats.com

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Chargers prolly gon' win.

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:Chargers: 31 (OT)

 

:Broncos: 28

 

Will come down to who gets the ball last.

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Chargers CB Jason Verrett (shoulder) is active for Week 8 against the Broncos.

It's a surprise, as Verrett was expected to be scratched. It's good news for the Bolts with Brandon Flowers (concussion) sidelined, though Verrett will undoubtedly be on a snap count.
Also inactive for the Chargers are RB Ryan Mathews, ILB Manti Te'o, RB Donald Brown, CB Steve Williams, OLB Jeremiah Attaochu and OLB Cordarro Law.

 

 

 

 

Broncos WR Cody Latimer is active for Week 8 against the Chargers.

It's the first time Latimer has been active since Week 1. He's expected to contribute mainly on special teams with LB Steven Johnson (inactive).
Also inactive for the Broncos are RB Montee Ball, RB Kapri Bibbs, CB Omar Bolden, OG Ben Garland, OT Michael Schofield and DT Mitch Unrein. Ball remains week to week.

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Intersted in Razor's assessment of Roby. So when you see this... answer me!

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We are way too banged up to deal with the Broncos on a short week, but still SCREW the officiating in Denver. They always do their best to make sure we lose. They push me towards conspiracy theories. Taking away Weddle's pick was an abomination.

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14 point loss. Expected a little better, San Diego. =/

Edited by Bay

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14 point loss. Expected a little better, San Diego. =/

I didn't. Not down top two corners, two pass rushers, and a starting linebacker with the refs doing everything in their power to help Manning and company. We didn't stand a chance after they took away two legit turnovers.

Edited by KempBolt
  • Upvote 1

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I didn't. Not down top two corners, two pass rushers, and a starting linebacker with the refs doing everything in their power to help Manning and company. We didn't stand a chance after they took away two legit turnovers.

Ah didn't realize San Diego was so banged up.

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In hindsight, it wasn't a fumble on the kickoff. And to be fair to the Broncos, they had a TD run called back on a hold. I'm not sure if the hold was the reason Hillman took it to the house, I can't remember. Weddle's interception was awesome, but Wright or Marshall held whoever the intended receiver would've been (though it would of been an INT regardless).

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We weren't facing the Chargers anywhere near the best, but they still gave us a good fight. They can use the pseudo bye to get healthy for the Dolphins, and then use the actual bye afterwards to get ready for the rematch against us.

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In hindsight, it wasn't a fumble on the kickoff. And to be fair to the Broncos, they had a TD run called back on a hold. I'm not sure if the hold was the reason Hillman took it to the house, I can't remember. Weddle's interception was awesome, but Wright or Marshall held whoever the intended receiver would've been (though it would of been an INT regardless).

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/10/broncos-chargers-fumble-replay-mike-carey-overturn-thursday-night

 

 

Looks like I'm wrong.

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Shouldn't have to look at it by the microseconds to confirm it. Even in that super slow-mo and the stills they put up as evidence, his arm looks down.

 

The biggest reason, however, that I don't think it was a fumble, is because Mike Carey said it was.

 

What we all can take away from this though, is that Cody Latimer should be starting over Andre Caldwell. Cody was active at least for the Chargers game. Hope he gets action against the Pats.

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The call should have stood as called. But the bigger issue was that the officials were calling the game really close when we were on defense, and really loosened up for the Broncos. The prime example being the holding call that took away Weddle's pick. If that was holding, then the Broncos were holding all day. It was an expanding strike zone. Typical Denver BS.

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What? like the previous 2 or 3 weeks we had more than twice as many penalties called on us as our opponents. Officiating sucks, but I refuse to believe that it's biased one way or another (unless we're talking about the Seattle defense). NFL officiating just sucks, and more and more rules are influencing games in an improper manner.

 

It just sucked at the wrong times for the Chargers :cigar:

Edited by theMileHighGuy

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I'm not saying that the Broncos generally get favoritism from the refs. I am saying that in this game, they did. And it's been an issue for the Chargers over the years when they've had to play there.

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