Eddie Royal dives to recover his own fumble against the Jets. (AP Photo)

One thing is for certain – if the Denver Broncos are going to beat the San Diego Chargers this Sunday, they’ll need to play mistake-free football.

The Chargers defense has been much-maligned all season, but recently put together a string of games that has them moving in the right direction. They’ve forced eight turnovers in a three-game span, while the Broncos have coughed it up six times in that span.

Meanwhile, the Broncos sit among the bottom of the league in turnover differential – the defense is not turning the ball over to match the offense’s mistakes.

On the bright side, the Chargers had success against relatively weak offenses – the Raiders, Chiefs and Bucs aren’t scoring a lot of points this season, and none of them have a quarterback near the same caliber as Jay Cutler.

This is one aspect of the game that favors the Chargers, but luckily for the Broncos, it’s an aspect of the game of they can control. The Broncos have to do this in order to win, plain and simple.

“I think everyone is disgusted. Anytime you have an opportunity to win the AFC West, it is very disappointing. If you don’t feel that way then you are not made of the right stuff. From coaches to support staff, everybody is disappointed. The only thing you can do is look at the film and look at your mistakes. You have to look at the things you can do to get better and move onto San Diego. That is what I did. You come home and you can’t eat because you are disappointed considering everything you have worked for. There is only one thing to do and that is get on to San Diego and get the job done. We can still win the AFC West. We have to play a much better game but we have done it a number of times. Hopefully we can put it together this week.”

Denver Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan, on what he says to the team after a tough loss.

Source: DayLfe

Remember 2006? Denver had a bearded lumberjack named Jake Plummer slinging around the football until a young Jay Cutler replaced him. There were two Bells running around in the backfield, Champ Bailey had 10 interceptions on the year, and Denver actually had a defensive line. If your memory serves you right then you would remember that the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl that year. If your memory is even better than you’ll remember that the Colts finished dead last in run defense on the season. Thats right…  dead last. There wasn’t a single game that the Colts held an opponent to under 100 yards not even Denver who rushed for 227 yards in a loss against them. It’s hard to believe that a team with such a porous run defense could go all the way. That’s where Peyton Manning and the offense came through. Manning lead his team to win after win going 9-0 but only to finish 12-4. Great offense… terrible defense… if you’re a Denver fan all of this should start sounding familiar. Scan through all the statistics and you’ll find yourself thinking…  Are the 2008 Broncos the 2006 Colts?

Statistics and breakdowns after the jump

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Another week, another Broncos running back to the Injured Reserve.

Oh wait, this time there’s two.

Head Coach Mike Shanahan just announced in his weekly Monday press conference that running backs P.J. Pope and Selvin Young have both been placed on Injured Reserve, ending their respective years with one week left in the regular season and potential playoff berth with a win in San Diego on Sunday.

Pope tore his hamstring in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to Buffalo after rushing six times for 44 yards. Young ruptured a disc in his back in the third quarter.

Shanahan mentioned the Broncos would sign Cory Boyd back onto the practice squad, along with Alex Haynes, who was on the active roster earlier this season.

Pope and Young join Anthony Alridge, Michael Pittman, Andre Hall, Ryan Torain, and Peyton Hillis as other Broncos running backs to be placed on Injured Reserve this season. Did I forget anyone?

The Chargers and Broncos re-ignite one of the NFL's freshest rivalries on Sunday night. (Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos (8-7) will appear on Sunday Night Football for the first time this year as they travel to the San Diego Chargers (7-8) in the final week of the regular season. Kickoff is set for 6:15pm MST.

It’s effectively a playoff game for the two teams – the winner will be AFC West champs and survive to face the fifth seed Indianapolis Colts (11-4) in the first week of the playoffs. The loser will be eliminated from the playoffs.

The Broncos are facing the possibility of holding the sole division lead from Week One through Christmas only to lose it in the final week, a designation I’m sure Mike Shanahan has no desire to add to his resume.

I’m scrounging for tickets for this one, folks. The first Broncos game I ever saw was in this stadium when I was eight years old, and the Broncos lost (in 1992), so I’m aiming for payback, with 15 years interest.

Brandon Marshall had a field day the last time he faced Antonio Cromartie. (AP Photo)

I was as upset, angry, disappointed, sad, confused, and just plain pissed at Sunday’s 23-30 loss to the Bills as any of you out there. How the Broncos can collapse like they have the past two weeks is beyond me.

It’s hard to even care about the team after such an emotional letdown. The Broncos were up 13-0 in the second quarter against a team boasting a 1-7 record in their past 8 games. Suddenly, Buffalo’s offense could not be stopped. They scored 30 points to our 10 and the Broncos didn’t do their part on a freezing cold “Fan Appreciation Day.”

In response, most fans have thrown in the towel. Going into San Diego and beating the Chargers in their stadium, at face value, seems like an insurmountable task. It’s a match against two teams going in different directions.

But I awoke this morning with a renewed vigor. A renewed focus. The Denver Broncos will go into San Diego and beat the Chargers on their own turf and keep the AFC West lead they’ve held all 16 weeks this season. And you know why you should care?

F*** the Chargers, that’s why. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Brandon Stokley has the game winning touchdown knocked away by Reggie Corner.

Fans knew from the start of the game, that the season could fall apart at the conclusion of this game. The Buffalo Bills represented a team, down on their luck, a team that the Denver Broncos should beat on paper. However, this has been the death certificate for the Broncos their entire 2008 season.

Denver jumped out to an early lead off of their opening drive, capped off by a Jay Cutler two-yard touchdown run. Followed up by a Matt Prater field goal, the Broncos soon jumped out to a 10-0 lead to finish off the first quarter and capitalizing on the coldest home game in Bronco history (17 degrees at kickoff).

The Broncos mistakes were just too self-consuming though, by halftime the score was even 13-13. Coming out of halftime the Bills received the kick and things only got worse for Denver… Gone was Marshawn Lynch, re injuring a shoulder that had kept him out of practice; enter backup Fred Jackson, who tore the Broncos a new one. Jackson would finish the game with 70-yards receiving and 40-yards rushing and one touchdown.

Cutler, with a chance to tie, over-threw Brandon Stokley once from Buffalo 15-yard line. Then went to him again, only to have it batted away on 4th and 5 by Bills corner Reggie Corner. The Broncos look ahead to travel to San Diego, to face the Chargers for their right to play in the AFC Playoffs in the weeks following. It’s put up or shut up and like Brandon Marshall said in the press conference following the loss to the Bills…

“We’re going to see what some of the guys in the locker room are made of.”

vs.
23   –   23
4Q

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Donte Winter lays Laveranues Colees out during a play in the first quarter of the Buffalo Bills/New York Jets game (Ray Stubblebine- Reuters)

Week 16, while week 15 didn’t turn out quite like the Broncos had hoped, it didn’t turn out at all like the Buffalo Bills would have liked. They’re knocked out- like Denver, if they were to lose their next two and the San Diego Chargers were to win their next two. They’re playing like a team full of Girl Scouts suffering from the recession- vindictive, their only goal in life, at this point, is to make sure that the Denver Broncos do not make the playoffs. Keep in mind that they nearly beat Broncos in the first game last season. There are more than a few things worth mentioning: the Bills starting quarterback J.P. Losman is now their third-string quarterback, after throwing three interceptions against the New York Jets the team feels that Losman should be negated to third-string duty. Quarterback Trent Edwards will most likely get the start against Denver, even though he was listed as, ‘Limited Participation,’ in the Wednesday practice.

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Ryan Clady (AP Photo)

The Denver Broncos have been ravaged by injuries all season long and all over the football field, with one exception – the offensive line. After Sunday’s 10-30 loss to the Carolina Panthers, however, that was no longer the case. Ryan Clady, who might not be a Pro Bowler but is still the best damn left tackle in the league, along with right guard Chris Kuper, both suffered injuries that could threaten their respective appearances in Sunday’s regular season home finale against Buffalo.

Both players were held out of practice Wednesday.

Clady hurt his ankle on the last play of Sunday’s game, but is hopeful to play. Kuper broke his left hand and is wearing a soft cast similar to the one he wore throughout training camp on his right hand.

Head Coach Mike Shanahan said the players will need to practice in order to play. “We’ll find out over the next couple of days,” Shanahan said. Rookies Tyler Polumbus and Kory Lichtensteiger are listed below both players on the depth chart and would likely start if either or both players can’t go.

“It’s just sore,” Clady told reporters Wednesday. “I should be able to play.” Kuper also said he was hopeful to play Sunday.

The first play after Kuper went out with his hand injury, Lichtensteiger gave up the Broncos’ ninth sack of the season. If that doesn’t show how important these guys are, I don’t know what does. We need Kuper and Clady healthy to beat the Bills and continue our playoff push. Hopefully they’ll practice today and get ready for a snowy, snowy Sunday.