After preparing for an uncommon opponent in the Packers — a team they hadn’t faced in 4 years –- the Denver Broncos are now getting set for a meeting with a squad they’re very familiar with.
The division-rival San Diego Chargers travel to Denver Sunday and they enter the contest off to a hot start, boasting a 3-1 record.
“It’s definitely a better first quarter than we’ve had in the past years,” quarterback Philip Rivers said in a conference call earlier. “We still have to keep getting better. We certainly haven’t played our best yet, but it is nice to be winning as we are improving.”
Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner is equally excited about his team’s strong start and credits his players’ ability to find ways to win tight games thus far.
“I thought we had a good camp. I think we did a lot of things to emphasize, or talked about, playing better early,” Turner said. “The biggest thing is that we’ve just played good in the second half of our games and we’ve won close games.”
The Broncos are 1-3 to start the year, but Rivers and the Chargers know full well that early-season results don’t define seasons.
“Everybody last week wanted to get us caught up with the 0-3 Dolphins,” Rivers said. “It’s too early. We’ve been the 1-3 teams and we knew what we were capable of and that’s the same thing with Denver. This is a group that’s got the talent to go on a run and we know our work is going to be cut out for us this week.”
Toward the end of conference call, Rivers was asked to name the Chargers’ biggest AFC West rival.
His response: “All of them.”
But Rivers did mention that he always looks forward to the annual trip to Denver.
“My favorite place to play on the road in the division is in Denver,” Rivers said. “Just because of the challenge, the atmosphere. It’s a pretty stadium empty, just as you walk into the setting. When I come in off the bus, I go peek out of the tunnel. It’s an unbelievable stadium, with the atmosphere and the noise. It’s fun to play on the road when it’s really loud. It’s hard. But it’s a challenge.
“From that standpoint, I love going to Denver.”
Tags: Denver Broncos, Norv Turner, Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, Week 5
If the Broncos want to have any shot at winning on Sunday, they better hold the Chargers to less than 30 points, and preferably, under 20 points. During Phillip Rivers’ tenure as quarterback of the Chargers, San Diego has never scored less than 30 points when playing the Broncos in Denver. In all but one game, the Rivers’ led Chargers have been victorious.
Here are the Chargers-Broncos results in games played in Denver since Rivers took over as starting quarterback of the Chargers.
2006: 27-35 Broncos’ Loss (Shanahan)
2007: 3-41 Broncos’ Loss (Shanahan)
2008: 39-38 Broncos’ Win (Should have been a loss, but thank you anyway, Ed Hochuli.) (Shanahan)
2009: 3-32 Broncos’ Loss (McDaniels)
2010: 28-33 Broncos’ Loss (Studesville)
Guess it’s time for some payback for our friends the Chargers. I can’t wait to watch Doom and Miller knock that loud mouth Rivers on his back side. Hope he gets many oppurtunities for a new view of the stadium . Go Broncos.
It may very well be decided at the half. Orton has trailed by 3 or more at the half in his career 18 times. He is 0-18!
Even though a win would only extend the mediocrity of Orton at the helm, and alleviate the much needed pressure on actually making the much more relevant change, I would so like to beat the chargers. I mean, wow I hate phyllis and his bunch of choke artists and worthless chumps.
To add to RSH’s post:
2006 – Jake Plummer QB
Great Sunday night game and Broncos had a good lead that slipped away. The late D-Will had a pick 6 to put Broncos 2 td lead.
Defense couldn’t stop LT in 4th qtr.
2007 – Jay Cutler QB
A rainy day in Denver is all I remember about this one. Broncos were getting stomped when Glen Mtz showed some spunk to an almost empty stadium. I remember going home and listening to Rivers that night state his uniform was still clean…
2008 – Jay Cutler QB
Brandon Marshall came back from a 2 game suspension and set a record that day. Eddie Royal also caught end of game TD plus 2 pt conversion. Rivers & Cutler barely shook hands. (Hochuli for Mayor…lol).
2009 – Chis Simms/Kyle Orton QB’s
Knowshon Moreno’s goal line fumble seemed to take the air out of the tires after KO came in to move the Team. Simms was out of sync and totally ineffective. Rivers moved Chargers at will.
2010- Tim Tebow QB
Tim Tebow connected Brandon Lloyd for an early lead. Also hit Decker for a TD later in the game. D couldn’t contain Charger rookie RB Ryan Matthews. Vaughn returned a kickoff for 90 plus yds for TD. After onside kick, Tebow nearly brought us back… heck of an effort.
“I’m not suggesting that the fans shouldn’t have an opinion, but they’re not in the meetings, they’re not at practice, they don’t get a chance to truly evaluate it. We are full time and we evaluate it, and that has already been decided.”
Those are some arrogant words……
A Coach that has only won 3 games in 2 years is going to walk into our house and tell us point blank that WE (lifelong Bronco fans) don’t know how to watch a game of football and evaluate it!!!!!
What a SLAP IN THE FACE!!!!
That one is almost as bad as Orton saying that the FANS (lifelong Bronco Fans) are the last ones in the world that he wants to win over!!
I have spent the last 37 years of my life devoted to the Devner Broncos!!!!!
I will not stand quietly or go to games and cheer for people who do not belong in my house or in my family!!!!!
FOX and ORTON ARE NOT TRUE BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They Don’t care about Denver, or the Fans, or the Traditions or anything but a paycheck!!
They are very well compensated to do their job and they couldn’t care less about the fans and have no problem telling us over and over again with their snide remarks….
I was a Bronco fan WAY before Fox and Orton rolled into town and I will be here long after they have left the Rodeo…… It can’t be soon enough!!!!!!
I can’t believe that Elway hired such a contrite, arrogant, spit in the face of the fans kind of coach….
Fox, this one is for you……..
I DO KNOW HOW TO RECOGNISE TALLENT!!! AND YOU DON’T HAVE IT!!!
well, i know bay isnt around till later in the week but im going to go ahead and say while i feel like we SHOULD win on sunday, with the Chargettes and Phyllis having experience winning tough close games this season, and our Broncos having experience losing the tough close ones this year, im going to have to say that I dont think we pull this one out! Again, I think we SHOULD win but im not sure we are ready. guess it depends on how well our QB1 plays. I forsee a 4th quarter Int that seals our fate. We lose in the 4th quarter by less than a touchdown.
broncos – 24
chargettes – 28
here is to hoping they pull it out tho!
QQ = Rocket Science.. no wonder us fans cant figure it out!
GO BRONCOS
All I can say about the way Fox is handling this team this year is this “I have been watching Andrew Luck youtube videos”.
I seriously doubt that anyone is a Orton fantatic. More less, they just don’t understand how starting Quinn or Tebow would be any better than our current situation. In their eyes, they see Orton as the most knowledgeable QB working the system that our offense has spent all off season working on. They don’t see how bringing in Quinn or the struggling Tebow makes anything better. What they see is that Orton is at least quality back up talent wise, and they feel that as long as the D and the rest of the offense play well that he is good enough to help us be competitive. Which is a decent point of view with logic and thought put behind it.
What they don’t see, and what they refuse to see is the Tebow/bench Orton side of this debate.
Tebow fans (such as myself) see a QB with an upside. He has leadership, mobility, and he makes the game exciting. His attitude and work ethic are incredible. And he is the ultimate competitor. No Tebow fan is ignorant enough to believe that he is an amazing QB at this current time. No one is ignorant enough to believe that he has a better grasp of the offense than Orton. What they see is a player that will lay everything out on the line for his teammates, a player who will excite his teammates, and a player who has the work ethic and upside to maybe become a great QB. And they feel that the excitement Tebow brings rubs off on the rest of the team. The last 3 games last season were so completely different with Tebow under center. The fight in the team, the intensity, and the overall attitude were significantly better.
Is there a chance Tebow starts and gets worse week after week? Of course there is. There is also the chance he improves week after week. The problem is that we will never know until he gets a shot. Most of us Tebow fans are scared he will never get that shot. I am not convinced that Tebow is part of the future plans. And I want him to at least have a chance to show what he can do.
I understand that Orton is technically the best QB on the roster and the best chance to win because he knows the system more than Quinn or Tebow. But the guy is playing just good enough to get beat. I just feel that we need to change it up. Our defense is making strides and that excites me. Yes we got blown out Sunday, but it was the Packers. Miller, Moore, having Doom back, Champ, Wilhite. It excites me. It would just be nice to have a QB that instills that kind of excitement into the offense. I do believe it would make a difference in our season.
But to each his own. Personally the whole debate is exhausting. It is great, however, to see the amount of people (myself included) that get emotionally invested on this blog. It shows that ALL of us care and love the Denver Broncos. At the end of the day we are all on the same team. We are just on different sides of the line of scrimmage
denver0723: That is one of the most well thought out and intelligent views I have read on any of these blogs. WTG!!! It should also be pointed out that the entire team is not very good right now nor will it be any time this year no matter who starts where.
new blog btw
“Chargers QB Philip Rivers represents a lot of bad history for the Broncos”
“The Broncos have had great rivalries with teams that have gotten people’s blood boiling.
And the Broncos have played against players who have been Hall of Famers and Super Bowl champions”.
“Then there’s Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
Rivers represents a headache-filled slice of history for the Broncos, going 8-2 in starts against them. He’s 4-1 against the Broncos in San Diego and 4-1 against them in Denver. Led by Rivers, the Chargers have scored 52, 48, 41 and 35 points (twice) against the Broncos. Rivers has beaten the Broncos even when they have intercepted him twice (2006) and sacked him five times (2010)”.
“Rivers is tough to rattle. Even when the Denver defense has gotten to him, he has made plays”.
“Rivers is such a confident quarterback, he’s not afraid to challenge Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey in one-on-one coverage situations. Bailey has won a lot of those battles, as you would expect from a 10-time Pro Bowler, but the fact that Rivers targets Bailey so much shows you the pedal-to-the-metal mind-set Rivers has when he plays against the Broncos”.
DP Article by Jeff Legwold
Orange_Crusher i thought i was harsh U need to take a sip of the Suck for luck cool aid me and Elway r drinking.
i’ll go and watch the video to see what fox says. I used to watch every video on the broncos page but haven’t really been doing so this days not worth my time.
Elway has a plan and Fox is a part of that plan. Orton is to but not in a good way if u r rooting for the Broncos to compete. At this rate what maybe 5-11:\ more like 4-12. I say if we go 1-15 we pick up Luck in the draft and next seasons hope for 8-8 9-7 hell that sounds pretty good this days?
Fox will have our D up to shape and in two years we’re back in the playoffs.
How about them Broncos S/L
I think Orton has forgotten that sooo many fans in Denver and outside of Denver that support the broncos money wise is where he gets his pay check
so for him to say that fans are the last on his mind says allot about him….
Don’t you just think its time to put this tebow/orton thing to bed. We all have our preferences, but for the good of the team we need to support whoever is on the field. hard to know what the rest of team feels when the fans are calling, Tebow, Tebow but I don’t think it helps. We, as fans, have no voice in the decision so lets just agree to support the Broncos.
I hope that we have a little more work for Tebow this week. It is such bs when we have him in for one play that is a qb keeper. I can’t even call it a sneak because defenses know we have him on a short leash and he will be running it. We need to unleash the TEBOW so he can reach his potential.
Living here in S. Florida but being a 3rd generation Bronco fan, I’m getting sick of the Mile High attitude from fans always calling for Tebow.
If I were in the stands I would be yelling “BRONCOS…BRONCOS…BRONCOS!!!”
This is a “TEAM” sport and by calling out individual names doesn’t help the team or coaches when they are all out their trying to win the game.
Also the majority of the fans need to wake up and realize that this is a re-building team. There is a lot work to be done and it doesn’t happen over night as most would wish. It could take a couple of seasons before we are back on top.
Denver0723, that is the best thing i have read on hear about the QQ. You were cool and did not step on any toes. and still made good points.
JamesR same goes for you.
As one of the oldest people on here, I suport the Broncos in the Game of Football. I watched and supported them come rain or shine, even in the begining whem they could never beat the Raiders. All I want is a GOOD football game where the teams trys their hardest. WE lost to GB but the team tried hard and it was a good G A M E. thats right it is a game for me to watch, I like hard fought games, it is even better when they win. for me it is a game but for the players it is their life, income and the fame they want. We should not get so cought up in this, it will only lead to an early grave.
I am a supporter of the team. Not that I like Orton or Fox or dislike them, they are Broncos and until it changes I will keep on backing them up. when Tebow time comes I will be behind him as well. and after Fox goes to OAKLAND I will not back him anymore either.
ps orton said some thing like; I play for 1) the team 2) the coaches and 3)then the fans. and also on the GB game the anouncers said that the owner of the Dolphins nix the deal with the Orton trade after a 3 year 24 mil contract was brought to him. true or false? there are sure a lot of sides to everything that goes on it is hadr to keep the facts right.
To Broncosfanjamer
We are yelling tebow cause we want orton OUT we LIke the rest of the team…and we could of beat the radiers if some one did’t fumble the ball ORTON we only loss by 3…Orton needs to go….i want to find out what we got in tebow …so we know what to look for in draft nexy year….we all know were not playoff conteders so throw tebow in there and find out what he gives us…..you all going to feel stupid when they get rid of tebow and he gose somewhere else and wins likes he did in high shcool and collage….GIVE HIM THE REST OF THE SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go BRoncos!!!!!!!!!!!
When I think Chargers, I think big offensive linemen, and elusive running backs. While I think of a Charger signature play, as a mis-direction type of play, with a screen-type pass thrown into the alley to a quick and elusive back — with seemingly two or three blockers appearing out of nowhere to block for the runner downfield, for me, what makes Turner a great coach, is his patience, and no where is that more evident, I feel, than in the way the team sets up at the line of scrimmage. The Charger team will set, no different from they way they set a hundred different other times, regardless of the play called, whether a run or pass, short or long. I have seen the Chargers get emotional, and willing to mix it up, but to me they have always been more of a team that would love nothing more than to put you on your back — and walk calmly away, “just another day at the office.”
Come on folks…give Kyle a break. He may not be a Manning or Elway but what quarterback in history could hit a reciever while he’s running for his life every play. Take a hard look at the O line and the running back support he has. Do you remember Terrel Davis and Howard Griffin? not only could they run down a defense throat …they could actually bl;ock for the quaterback. Can you see where I’m going here? now for the Tebow birds… I agree he is athletic, a great guy and has some pretty good leadership qualities but don’t we also need a quaterback that can stand in the pocket for at least two seconds to throw the ball to a reciever? I’ve only seen him do that maybe twice in two years…the rest of the time he has happy feet and runs or throws the ball into the dirt…not good folks. Lets give him time to become the QB he can be…until then we need to support Orton and Bradey and act like we are actually Bronco fans.