The NFL season is always loaded with twists and turns, but no division has had more changes in course than the AFC West. This Sunday, the San Diego Chargers face the Denver Broncos in a matchup of two division rivals heading in opposite directions.
Five weeks ago, these teams were in completely different places. San Diego started 4-1 and looked like the class of the AFC West. They were in first place early in the season, and San Diego was traditionally a strong closer down the stretch.
The Denver Broncos started out 1-4 and were in the basement in the division. It looked like another “rebuilding” season. Kyle Orton was playing disappointing football and the fans were clamoring for Tim Tebow to get a start, even though he was listed in third place on the depth chart.
Then everything changed.
The Chargers have lost 5 straight games to drop to 4-6, and tied for last place in the division. San Diego is ranked 28th in the league in points allowed, giving up 25.9 points per game. QB Philip Rivers is leading the league in interceptions with 17, on top of 6 fumbles – averaging 2.3 turnovers per game by himself.
“The book’s not over. We’ve still got work to do,” Rivers said, trying to rally the team going into this week’s game. “We really are going to determine the end to the story. A lot of people may have already put the book down, but we’re going to fight like crazy to make this a special season.
“The only way it’s going to happen is to win a game.”
The Broncos made the quarterback change to Tebow, who has gone 4-1 as a starter, with a lot of help from a Broncos defense rejuvenated by the strong play of rookie Von Miller. Tebow has gotten most of the headlines with the unconventional play of the Broncos offense and the come-from-behind victories, but Miller and the defense have at least as much to do with the Broncos changing fortunes. They have kept the team in games when the offense has sputtered for 55 minutes, to put them in a position for Tebow’s last second heroics.
Miller is fifth in the league in sacks with 9.5 and has forced 3 fumbles so far this season, on top of 48 tackles, 38 of them solo.
“We all knew that (Tebow) has substance,” Chargers linebacker Takeo Spikes said this week.. “Whether you like it or not, he is able to rally the guys around him.”
“I think he gets a lot of credit, but the entire football team is playing better on special teams and defensively to put him in position so he can chew up the clock and be able to make the plays in crunch time.”
The Broncos defense knows how critical their part of the effort is. Safety Brian Dawkins said, “We’re going to go out and play football, and do our best to keep the points down and grind. That’s all we do, that’s what we’ve done the last couple of weeks. We’ve been just grinding.”
The current momentum is all in Denver’s favor. Denver has a 3 game winning streak, during which they’ve been giving up less than 16 points per game. The Chargers has a 5 game losing streak, during which they’ve been giving up 30 points per game. Through the last 3 games, Tebow has thrown no INTs while Rivers has thrown 6.
All signs point to Denver pulling above 0.500 and staying in contention for the division title, while the Chargers stay in the basement. And with division leader Oakland, holding a one game lead on the Broncos, playing the 7-3 Chicago Bears, there’s a good chance that the Broncos could be tied for the division lead come Monday morning.
