Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson congratulate Darren Sproles in the third quarter after a touchdown.

For the thousands of fans inside of the San Diego Charger’s Qualcomm Stadium it was one of the biggest backhands a fan could ever endure. Denver never could get the upper-hand as San Diego took the reigns and ran with the game.

The Chargers didn’t even punt until the third quarter with thirty-seven seconds left.

The story for Denver was atrocious defense coupled with non-existent tackling an inability to get coverage and an overall bad scheme. A not there defense mixed with a couple of Jay Cutler turnovers made for a long night for fans.

The game was really over when Luis Castillo intercepted Cutler on a batted pass at the Broncos twenty-yard line and LaDainian Tomlinson was able to run for his third touchdown on the night.

Cutler finished 33/49 with two interceptions, one touchdown and 316-yards. While the surprise was Tatum Bell who ran eight times for 86-yards and two touchdowns, while Brandon Marshall went on to drop his 18th catchable target on the season.

We have a lot to look forward to this off-season and heading into the draft Nation. Keep your heads up, keep it here and we’ll bring it to you like only BroncoTalk can!

Here we go, Live Blog!!! Broncos, Chargers, Come Join!

DENVER BRONCOS AT SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
SUNDAY, DEC. 28, 2008
QUALCOMM STADIUM
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

GAMEDAY INACTIVES

DENVER

20         Marlon McCree           S
26         Jack Williams             CB
37         Alex Haynes               RB
38         Andrew Pinnock          FB
53         Niko Koutouvides        LB
72         Pat Murray                 G
85         Chad Mustard             TE
94         Jarvis Moss                DE

SAN DIEGO

6          Charlie Whitehurst      3QB
29         Michael Bennett          RB
34         Billy Latsko                FB
59         Brandon Siler              ILB
67         Kynan Forney             G
75         Corey Clark                T
80         Malcom Floyd             WR
98         Ian Scott                    DT

EXPECTED STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

DENVER
#36 Josh Barrett starts at FS for #20 Marlon McCree

SAN DIEGO
#22 Jacob Hester starts at FB for #35 Mike Tolbert

OTHER NOTES

DENVER
#30 RB Cory Boyd (6-1, 218, R, South Carolina) was signed to the active roster from the practice squad on Tuesday.
#37 RB Alex Haynes (5-10, 230, 2^nd Yr., Central Florida) was signed as a free agent on Tuesday.

SAN DIEGO
NONE

That’s right, we’re attempting to go Pre-Game with this and cut the episode as close to the game as possible. We’ve been planning on having Kyle on the show all week, but with the holidays and the fact that now Kyle’s actually going to be at the game- it proved a bit tough.

So tune in around 3:00 p.m. EST time and I will update this with a stream of the third episode of Broncos Nation Podcast.

We look forward to hearing from you and– Go Broncos!

EDIT:- It’s here!

Hit the link below to stream and read the topics we covered!

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

 

Brandon Marshall Chargers

There is a lot of animosity being spewed into the air just one day before the ultimate battle for the division. Asked on Jay Cutler Live by Vic Lombardi, Brandon Marshall said

“It’s personal, its not just football, its not just for the AFC West… it’s still business, it’s still friendship, but it’s personal.”

Lombardi further asked inquired the Cutler-Rivers rivalry being saying, “I get the sense that a lot of it is playful.” Marshall quickly responded

“No it’s not. It’s serious.”

From what Marshall says the offense seems to be fired up. After reviewing all the press conferences and interviews, in my opinion Daniel Graham says it best.

“We got Jay’s back he’s our captain, hes at war, we all support him, and we’re going into war with him…”

 

The Broncos aren’t the only ones fired up it seems like Chargers have a lot to say as well. The other day safety Matt Wilhelm called Cutler a punk.

“He is a punk,” Wilhelm said. “I’m just not a huge fan of his.”

Wilhelm continued by taking more shots Cutler and randomly Tony Gonzalez, which may imply underlying insecurities issues 

“But Jay Cutler,” Wilhelm said, “he and Tony Gonzalez are the biggest crybabies in the league.”

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Whether it be the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, all the world’s a stage and we are merely players. The whole offseason, it was hard to forget Jay Cutler walking backwards towards the Broncos bench with three Chargers players bunched together and screaming at him. It was hard to forget until that, “incomplete pass,” which San Diego fans love bring up- never mind the play after that or the two-point conversion (instead of going for the tie)…

No, see you don’t want to admit that your team lost, there’s usually a could have or would have. The thing is, Denver and San Diego finally get a chance to put up or shut up and it just happens to be back in at the sight of the original blood let.

“Jay Cutler, being the guy that he is, made some shrewd comments to SP [Shaun Phillips] and myself,” Matt Wilhelm recalled of [last Christmas Eve’s] in-game dialogue.  “Brandon Marshall was making comments throughout the game. All these comments are being made, and they’re not making plays. Yet they’re the ones going home, and we’re preparing for our playoff game. It was essentially a wave to him good-bye and hopefully have a great offseason.”

Take that, the article was cleverly titled “Cutler is a punk[?]”. I thought Matt Wilhelm was a BMXer… Who knew he played special teams for the Chargers, a two sport athlete and quite the talent I assume. I know that there are two Wilhelms, just to go ahead and cut some of Southern California’s finest from speaking in the comment section.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Calling all Southern California Broncos fans – are you going to the Broncos’ regular season finale in San Diego this Sunday?  Because I am, and would love to meet with the fantastic BT readers!

Leave a comment here if you’re going to the Denver Broncos – San Diego Chargers Week 17 game and we’ll try to coordinate a pregame get-together.  I’ll be with my father and two brothers, all in Broncos jerseys, while I’ll be rocking my brand-spanking new Ryan Clady #78 jersey!

Live Blog fans, fret not – East has offered to run the live blog in my stead, so for those watching from home, be sure to keep it locked here on Sunday!

Go Broncos!  KILL the Chargers!

Week 17, I can’t remember who asked me, but someone asked me- Who I thought had a better chance of making the playoffs this weekend: Tampa Bay or San Diego?

Tampa, I said.

Why Tampa? they asked.

Because San Diego has to play Denver.

Complain all you like, but just like Jay Cutler said- if you would have told the players on the Broncos in the beginning of the season that they would be playing in week seventeen for a chance to make the playoffs…. They would have been ecstatic.

So, Nation… Why so sad? serious?

We’ve got the national game, Sunday Night Football, a chance to rub December 24, 2007 in the Chargers faces, not once, but twice in the same season.

I said it back in September, there’s something in the heir. Back then Denver had a horrible defense and no running game too. Not much has changed since week two and now except for the win/loss record. However, with a win and you’re in game, the records could just as easily be 14-1/14-1 instead of 8-7/7-8.

Today isn’t the same as any other day, for as William Shakespeare’s Antonio said in “The Tempest” Act 2, Scene I,

What’s Past is Prologue.

We cannot dictate the events of the past, no more that we can decide what the future will bring.

Match-ups and Keys after the bang.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

From Jonathan, Earl, Josh, Ian, Chris, East, and myself, we want to wish you a hearty Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas! We hope you stay safe and are near family and friends this holiday season!

The BroncoTalk staff might not be around the computer as much for Christmas, but Ian’s weekly scouting report — including the latest episode of the Broncos Nation podcast — will drop tomorrow as a Christmas gift to you!

While many fans’ spirits are down after the recent turn of events, just remember that there wasn’t a Broncos fan out there who wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to be playing for the division this week. It’s been a wild season, for certain, but we have plenty to be thankful for. It all comes down to this.

Again, stay safe, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a huge Happy Broncos Holiday to all of our great readers!

Tony Scheffler celebrates his second touchdown against the Chargers in Week 2. (AP Photo)

“Scheffler Sunday in Denver!” CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg exclaimed after Denver Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler caught his second touchdown pass in the first half of the Broncos’ Week Two game. Denver took a 21-3 lead over the San Diego Chargers with the score en route to a controversial 39-38 victory.

The Broncos will need some more magic from Scheffler on Sunday. With the division at stake, and the Broncos on their eighth set of running backs, Jay Cutler will need Scheffler’s versatility to move the chains and attack the Chargers’ 28th-ranked pass defense.

What’s more, the Broncos are a perfect 6-0 when Tony Scheffler has four or more catches this season. They’re a putrid 2-7 when he was two catches or less.

Scheffler insists the Broncos will need to bring the proper attitude as well. In his postgame press conference after the Week 2 victory, Scheffler talked about the team’s preparation for San Diego. “We came out with the attitude that we were not going to lose the game. We worked hard all week in practice preparing for San Diego and the hard work and preparation paid off.”

Do it again, Broncos. Prepare like you know you can beat them, get Tony the football (especially in the red zone), and finish the AFC West.

The Denver Broncos officially added running backs Cory Boyd and Alex Haynes to the active roster Tuesday, a day after putting Selvin Young and P.J. Pope on Injured Reserve. Young and Pope were the sixth and seventh running backs placed on IR this season.

I think Boyd has a chance to make some noise, and might even be in better “football shape” than Tatum Bell. Check out more info and highlights of Cory Boyd here. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Alex Haynes at fullback for a bit. The press release is after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »