Vance Joseph is 12th Broncos head coach to win debut for Denver

Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian scrambled for a touchdown in Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

These two teams should be familiar with one another though, and this will be the 115th regular season match up between the Broncos and Chargers. Six plays later, the Chargers parlayed the turnover into a Philip Rivers-to-Keenan Allen 5-yard touchdown pass.

There’s a sort of rugged football beauty to the Denver Broncos’ ideal winning formula.

No arguments from Anthony Lynn, who also was making his head coaching debut for the Chargers. Something the Chargers have not been able to do since 2013.

Penalties and missed opportunities led to the Chargers’ demise as they dropped their season opener on the road against the Denver Broncos 24-21. It marked the first time the No Fly Zone missed Ward.

Harris’ play wouldn’t have happened, of course, if Broncos head coach Vance Joseph hadn’t called a timeout in an attempt to fluster Koo and make him retake his kick.

Competition is stiff for the Chiefs in the AFC West.

Finding no one open as he rolled out, Siemian tucked the ball away and faked his way past defensive end Joey Bosa en route to the score.

In the first meaningful football game the team played since moving from San Diego, the Los Angeles Chargers looked pretty similar to the group we saw previous year in America’s Finest City. “It would just be two coaches going at it, and may the best team win”. They’ve revamped the offensive line, two great running backs, the tight end (Hunter) Henry has come along and Antonio Gates has always been good. By some fate, though, the ball was tipped off a foot and then off a hand to keep it off the ground when defensive back Adrian Phillips ran under it for a big interception. Free agent acquisition Domata Peko on the defensive line should plug up the holes and keep inside linebackers Brandon Marshall and Todd Davis clear to do their work without offensive line interference.

NOTES: The Broncos were without DEs Zach Kerr (knee bruise) and Jared Crick (back spasms), who were listed among the team’s inactive players.

This is Chargers first real game representing Los Angeles, after moving from San Diego this off-season. “He just did not make it in the game”.

While this should be a close game, we give a slight edge to the Saints.

“That is huge. I have seen a lot of good things from Shelby”.

If for some reason Bosa isn’t up to the task, Ingram probably will be.

And you can’t forget about the sack master himself on the other side. Look for Von Miller & Co.to be disruptive, as usual, and the Broncos to hold on for a narrow win against a division opponent. Broncos cover and the total goes under. Two of those came against the Chargers.

On Monday, the Broncos limited Los Angeles to well below that mark. With Rivers guiding the offense, there’s always a chance. Rivers needed just one play to turn that into a 38-yard touchdown on a pass to Travis Benjamin, closing the Chargers’ gap to 24-21. It was like the Chargers wanted to play it close to the vest against a unsafe defense. If Jason Verrett can stay healthy, and that’s a big “if”, the Chargers could have a top 15 defense. That move did not pan out well, as he was arguably the league’s worst starter in 2016. That will be its next step in becoming an elite defense.

The Broncos offense did what was expected in a situation where nails were suddenly being gnawed off. The Chargers’ defense has enough talent to be solid in 2017 as well.

Two head coaching debuts and the first woman to call a nationally televised NFL game made Monday night a historical one.

Instead of agreeing with his head coach-as he’s done in the past on this topic, most recently during this preseason-Siemian said he won’t put his body’s health above his team’s success.

– Written by Rob McVey, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network.