Last week, Denver basically dared the Raiders to try and win the match up game in the air with a TE or slot WR versus a S or LB, because Denver was playing in a base run defense on anything resembling a running down.  There was no reason to get cute with overages or even disguise them.  Denver wanted Russell dropping back or rolling out to pass the ball.  Any head coach worth his salt would have tried a few plays out of bunch and flexing the TE out in order to maximize a potential personnel mismatch, and Kiffin did so.  The raiders did that on a few occasions, and a few of those times, it actually worked but they couldn't execute and complete the pass.

         I think the Broncos defense played very well against a team that really does have a good running game.  Now, it's not Chargers good, but it’s good.  Versus the Chargers, I expect to see Boss Bailey on Gates and at one safety playing over the top (McRee).  I expect to see 8 in the box with press corners and lots of run blitzes.  Rivers doesn't have enough mobility to avoid even Robertson, so if anyone gets back there and there's no RB to tangle with, Rivers will have to hurry the ball out of the backfield.  Denver will get scored on next week, and I expect Denver to give up a few TDs and a few FGs.  From what I saw last week versus Carolina, I honestly don't think the Chargers can score with the Broncos.  I think the coaching staff for the Broncos is taking this game extremely seriously.  We'll see some creative plays again, and I think Shanny, Cutler, and Bates will be making the Chargers safeties and linebackers really work on the first few series, chasing Royal and Young and Hall and Stokely and Scheffler and Jackson and Marshall all over the place.

        San Diego has owned Denver for 4 games, and especially the last 2.  But Denver has a different offensive philosophy this year.  They are passing more than running.  Denver's mix of plays and players on the field at any given time is far different from what it has been for the last few seasons.  I think the teams are fairly evenly matched and I think Denver has closed the gap or maybe even caught up to San Diego from a talent perspective (at least on offense and if you mix in San Diego's injuries, Denver's darn close).  The difference makers will be the players' ability to NOT make mistakes and the head coaches' game plans.

        Denver's defense will come into this game with two goals:  1) Bottle up LT and 2) Hit Rivers.  The first point is obvious.  The second point is that Rivers is not 100 percent.  He's still hurt, and after hits, he's playing extra gimpy and throwing off of one foot.  I thought last week that he looked uncomfortable in the pocket after being hit.  I think Denver will try and make him run for his life and if he does get a pass off, he's going to have to pick himself up off of the grass.  I think this plan puts Denver at risk for long screen plays (a Charger staple), but at least the Denver LBs are fast enough and good enough tacklers to pull these guys down without a jailbreak happening a few times.

       The Chargers, I would assume, will be blitzing with their ends and LBs in the first quarter to put Jay on his back and blow up any running plays in front of them behind the LOS.  In my opinion, I don’t think that the Charger CBs match up at all with the Denver WRs, and I can’t imagine the LBs can run with Scheffler or Young.  So, if Cutler has time, the Chargers are cooked, but if they can have a somewhat consistent pass rush, they can change Denver’s play calling and make it more conservative.

This is just a wild guess, and it's fun to speculate, so here goes, and wouldn't you think Denver could throw in a few drives with a hurry-up offense?  We'll see, but Shanny's got something up his sleeve, I'm sure of it; the magic's BACK, baby:

       In the end, this is Denver’s home opener.  The crowd will be electric.  Denver fans will be ferocious.  They haven’t felt like they will feel on Sunday at 2:00 pm since January of 2005.  It will be a sea of crisp, bright orange and navy blue with bright white number fifteens and sixes and sevens, maybe even a few eighty-eights and fifty-fives.  The noise that will rain down on the Charger offense will be absolutely deafening and soaked in contempt for this bitter rival. The offensive linemen wearing white helmets will, without a doubt, have a hard time hearing the snap count.  Denver and their coaches will certainly want to give the fans what they want early and often and I expect every page of that playbook to be available this week just like I expect a few overload-blitzes or a blitzing Marquand Manuel sneaking up behind the decreasingly mobile Phillip Rivers.

GO BRONCOS