Broncos take control of AFC playoff race as defense dominates Chargers

Brock Osweiler had a career game in his second start and helped the Broncos knock off the then undefeated New England Patriots.

On the very first drive of the game, Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler drove the Broncos down on eight plays for 76 yards.

With the win, the 10-2 Broncos tightened their grip on first place in the AFC West and kept pace with the AFC-leading Cincinnati Bengals in the conference in the race for home-field advantage in the postseason.

Last week the Denver Broncos took part in what will likely be the most memorable game of the season. Commanding as that’s how it finished.

One of those mistakes was an interception that came as the Broncos were driving deep into San Diego territory. Besides the Chargers’ poor showing, they lost two players to serious injury.

Both T.J. Ward and Sylvester Williams missed the entire week of practice this week, but DeMarcus Ware returned to the practice field for the first time since re-injuring his back on November 8th. Wide receiver Dontrelle Inman was stretchered and carted off the field after a helmet-to-helmet hit with David Bruton; just a few minutes later, cornerback Brandon Flowers was carted off with an apparent knee injury.

In every way, the Broncos dominated.

“Oh my gosh it was unbelievable how much orange”, said Osweiler, who was 16 of 26 for 166 yards as he moved to 3-0 since he took over for the injured Peyton Manning.

San Diego can save some face this season by playing well here.

Anderson has rushed for over 160 yards combined with two touchdowns in the past two games and after putting up a paltry 2.7 yards per carry before the bye week, Anderson is averaging over six yards per carry since that time. A strong, 22-yard, tackle-breaking run by Anderson also set the first-half tone. The Chargers defense had a strong performance of their own though, as they only allowed three points after a 14-point first quarter by the Broncos.

Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown, Von Miller had two sacks and Shane Ray had one, and the Chargers’ offense simply couldn’t do anything.

The Broncos offense scored just one touchdown, but it was all the defense needed.

Still, the Broncos were never in danger of having their road division winning streak snapped.

“Sometimes in football games, it’s not always going to be pretty”, Osweiler said. That doesn’t mean Osweiler won’t get some yards passing, but this could be the game where both Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Thomas rebounded with six catches for 61 yards.