Any talk of a letdown by the Denver Broncos after their Sunday Night Football upset win over the New England Patriots has been erased by a dominant first half in San Diego.
After 30 minutes of football, the Broncos lead the Chargers 17-3 on the scoreboard. Things are almost that lopsided in stands, as well.
it's like 60-40% #Broncos fans to #Chargers… Maybe even 70-30% https://t.co/4xP63YmDur
— Nick Griffith (@NickGriffithTV) December 6, 2015
All three phases of the game scored points, first with an eight-play, 76-yard touchdown drive by the offense. The defense answered next with a Danny Trevathan interception returned for a touchdown. Brandon McManus got the special teams unit involved with a field goal in the second quarter.
Denver nearly had two defensive scores in the half when Chris Harris intercepted Philip Rivers, but Harris was flagged for defensive holding on the play.
Perhaps most promising in the half was that Demaryius Thomas got back on track after a tough week against New England. Thomas had three catches on three targets for 31 yards and a touchdown.
San Diego finally got on the board late in the second quarter on a 51-yard Josh Lambo field goal. Lambo missed a 48-yard attempt in the first quarter.
Rivers, who entered the game averaging 319.2 yards per game is off his pace for the season, throwing for just 104 yards in the half. He was just eight of 17 and sacked twice.
San Diego suffered two injury setbacks during the first quarter, losing wide receiver Dontrelle Inman and cornerback Brandon Flowers.
The Chargers had a chance to make things interesting when Eric Weddle had a potential pick-six bounce off his hands on Denver’s final possession of the half. San Diego will receive the second half kickoff, which could have put them in a position to tie the game. That’s about how things have gone for San Diego this year.
Here’s how some of the top storylines from the first half played out on social media via the MHS team and some of our friends in the Denver media…
On DT getting back on track on first drive…
Had DT wide open there. Thought for sure first play would be to get him involed early and often after last week
— Nick Griffith (@NickGriffithTV) December 6, 2015
Demaryius Thomas' first target is a catch. Off to a good start after last weekend.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) December 6, 2015
A brilliant drive ends in a 3-yard Demaryius TD catch … some well-conceived plays, playfake boots, an offset I formation with a FB.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 6, 2015
With that TD, Broncos WR @DemaryiusT has moved into a tie for 4th place in team history w/44 career receiving TDs (Moses & Taylor).
— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) December 6, 2015
Trevathan gets a pick-six…
Jackson with the pressure … the errant throw right to Trevathan, who goes to the house, delighting the majority of fans here.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/MikeKlis/status/673621080171384832
INT TD by @Grindin_59 is the 5th defensive TD by Broncos this year. Denver has scored 65 pts off takeaways this year (24% of total pts).
— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) December 6, 2015
Four pick-sixes for @Broncos this year. They need just one to match the club record of 5 (set in 1997, 2000 & 2012).
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 6, 2015
On Chargers injuries…
Tough injury to Chargers WR D. Inman after a first down catch, he's being carted off. Hope it's nothing serious. #DENvsSD
— cover32 Broncos (@cover32_DEN) December 6, 2015
Brandon Flowers now being treated on the field. Looks to be in agony. Held left knee.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 6, 2015
Chargers taking a knee around a fallen teammate for second time in 1Q. Tough sight, tough day.
— Mark Kiszla (@markkiszla) December 6, 2015
On defense limiting Chargers options on offense…
That's all the Chargers can do. Run receivers deep, hope Rivers can buy time, dump to RB's on delayed forward handoffs.
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) December 6, 2015
Only two of Rivers' 14 attempts have targeted WRs, per @CBSSports. Eight to TEs, four to RBs.
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) December 6, 2015