Hail Mary: San Diego “stay classy” and beat Denver
The last Thursday Night Football game of 2013 served up one of the most memorable as the San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos 27-20. This loss was the first home defeat of the year for the Broncos and throws open the AFC playoff scenarios.
Philip Rivers once known for being a bit of a gunslinger is doing all the right things now as we enter crunch time, he is of course helped in the fact that he has a reliable run game. Rivers only passed for 166 yards, but had two touchdown strikes to Keenan Allen. Ryan Matthews had another great game rushing the ball gaining 127 yards off 29 carries as San Diego had the ball for nearly 39 minutes.
Peyton Manning did manage two TD passes himself and did threaten a comeback late in the game, but the San Diego defence stood firm and stopped the Broncos in their tracks. Something very few teams have managed to do this year. It was also a slow day for Knowshon Moreno, the Denver running back has been a perfect compliment to the aerial attack but could only muster 19 yards on the ground.
The win puts San Diego in a great position chasing the final wild card place in the AFC, they are now 7-7 and could be level with Baltimore and Miami if they lose their games on Sunday against Detroit and New England respectively.
New England will be thanking the Chargers today as a win against the Dolphins will put them in the driving seat or the number one seed as they hold a tiebreaker over the Broncos, Also Kansas City have an outside chance of winning the AFC West now but they need Denver to slip up once more.
