Strike 3: Following the heartbreaking loss in Indianapolis, Denver quarterback Bo Nix was quick to point out how it had now become doubly important for the Broncos not to “let one loss turn into two.” Like everyone else at Dove Valley, Nix knows that losing on Sunday to the already 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers in the season’s third week would indeed deal a significant blow to Denver’s chances to unseat Kansas City in the suddenly wide open AFC West.
A win over Denver for the Chargers in LA would suddenly make them the new kings of the block. They’d have already beaten all three of their AFC West rivals.
As everyone in Broncos Country already knows, LA’s Jim Harbaugh has gotten the best of the Broncos’ Sean Payton thus far. The Chargers won 11 games last season (beating Denver twice) to finish second in the AFC West behind the Chiefs. The difference in both games was LA’s brute force. In the first match up at Empower Field, LA got out to a 23-0 third quarter lead largely behind the running of current Bronco J.K. Dobbins. On the flip side, the Broncos leading rusher was their QB, Nix. It was in the second match up that Broncos coach Sean Payton infamously wrote “Run It!!!” on his play sheet. That idea didn’t make it to halftime.
Harbaugh’s smash-mouth style of play was what earned the Chargers a pair of wins over Denver a season ago. A year later, the question is simply, “Are the Broncos up to the task of meeting LA where they live? Can they physically match and take down the new neighborhood bully?”
Let’s be honest. This kind of football is not the Broncos best thing. Using the term “finesse” to describe a football team is sort of ridiculous given the violent nature of the game. But it’s obvious to everyone who watches that Denver would rather throw it than run the ball between the tackles over and over again. The Broncos offense won’t try to bully anyone as much as they will work to out scheme the other guy. Create mismatches, get a fleet receiver on a slower defender, things like that.
The Chargers – long known as a wide open, throw it all over the place franchise (think “Air Coryell” and all that went with it) – have been transformed under Harbaugh. The former Michigan and Chicago Bears QB would be quite happy to hand off and run the ball down any opponent’s throat on the way to the end zone. Passing too often is for cowards.
Okay, maybe that’s extreme, but the fact is the Chargers really like to play bully ball, and the Broncos will have to stop it.
Can they?
Never mind the poor games last weekend for Patrick Surtain II and Alex Singleton. The Colts beat the Broncos in the trenches. Football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage, period. The group that establishes physical supremacy up front will win nine out of 10 times. In last Sunday’s loss, the Broncos “elite” defense was roughed up not just by the Colt’s runners and receivers. The best unit on the field last Sunday was the Indianapolis offensive line.
Can the Broncos well compensated o-line win the line of scrimmage against the Chargers, who can legitimately and statistically lay claim to being more of an “elite” defensive unit than Denver? Can the Broncos run the ball effectively for more than just a quarter or a half? If the situation comes up, can the Orange and Blue protect a narrow lead late in the game by running the ball during the “four minute drill?”
That’s what Sunday’s game will come down to: Can Denver match or exceed LA’s physicality. Because the tougher team will win.
It’s hard to call any game in September a must-win, but with the AFC West already in flux and LA having gotten the jump on the rest of the field, this game may come as close as it gets to a must-win. It’s time for the Broncos to get physical.
