Denver Broncos already focused on the San Diego Chargers - Horse Tracks

The short week means the Denver Broncos coaching staff and players are already focused in completely on Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers. After getting surprised and beaten by the Chargers on Thursday Night Football in 2013, John Fox isn't taking any chances of that crap happening again in 2014.

When asked about preparing for this game, Fox responded, "As soon as we looked at the schedule, how we handle it, mindset, all the things you try to look at and improve year-to-year, I think we’ll see how it goes this time around and I think we’ll do a better job as coaches and, in turn, I think our players will respond."

He isn't too concerned about last season, however, as the mindset of any coach or player is to focus on what is in front of you and not on what happened in the past.

"No, we don’t live in the past, as I’ve mentioned many times," Fox responded to questions about last season's home defeat to the Chargers, "If you spend too much time looking in the rearview mirror, you crash, not looking ahead. So we’ve already addressed this long before right now, just preparation and I think we’ve got a good plan, we’ll see how we execute it, that’s the challenge every week."

Of course, there is always a potential for a big letdown if the Broncos drop this game at home, but the past also shows that this team is able to continue on to an AFC West title in spite of it.

Asked if he was concerned about a letdown, Fox proved to be more than vulnerable to the idea of a letdown game saying, "They’re all big and emotional to me. I think it’s what it is. It’s on the schedule. They have to respond to it as well, and they have to travel, so we’ll have no excuses. It’s kind of what it is, and we’ll make it work and treat it like any other work week."

One last tidbit from yesterday's interviews came from a question about the Broncos showing some rugged toughness facing those NFC West teams that the media believes to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Fox showed some impressive character when he responded with, "I think I’m not going to poo-poo our division. We had three teams in the playoffs a year ago, much like the one you’re talking about. So we’re way too early in the season, not even to halftime yet. We’re just going to keep trying to improve each week and see where those chips fall at the end at the end of the race. So right now our focus is just on getting better every week, every day."

That's right. I may hate the other AFC West teams, but they are mine to hate. I don't hate any time I haven't subconsciously respected at some point in my life. The Raiders of late 80s/early 90s and early 2000s, the Chargers from the early 80s and again in the late 2000s and the Chiefs on and off from the 90s to now. This is the AFC West. The most storied division in AFC History.

Oh, the Seahawks? No. Never.

Horse Tracks

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Sloppy defensive play and poor pass protection. Even after a bye week to get things right, the Saints repeated the same mistakes as their season continues to slip away.

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