Los Angeles Chargers at Denver Broncos Week 1: Game time, TV schedule, online stream, odds and more

After watching their two other AFC West rivals win in convincing fashion, the Denver Broncos will need to keep pace by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. The hometown crowd will be electric and the Broncos defense will be ready to feed off that energy. It’s going to be a fun game.

Game time

Kickoff is set for Monday, September 11, 2017 at 8:20 p.m. Mile High time at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado.

TV schedule and TV channels

The game will air on KTVD (Channel 20) locally in Denver, Colorado with Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Rex Ryan (color analyst), and Sergio Dipp (sideline reporting). And, of course, the game will also air on ESPN as do all Monday Night Football games.

Online stream

NFL Game Pass offers live audio and re-airs after the game.

DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket has expanded its online streaming service. Verizon subscribers can watch games live with the NFL Mobile app (subscription required, and usual TV blackout rules apply even online).

For more information about streaming Broncos games, check out our comprehensive online streaming guide.

Radio

Colorado can listen on KOA (850 AM/94.1 FM) or The Fox (103.5 FM) with Dave Logan (play-by-play), Rick Lewis (color analyst) and Tyler Polumbus (sideline reporting).

Spanish radio KNVR (1150 AM) will also broadcast the game with Javier Olivias (play-by-play), Carlos Valdez (color analyst) and Hector Salazar (sideline reporting).

Nationally, the game will air on WestwoodOne Sports with Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Kurt Warner (color analyst) and Ed Werder (sideline).

Odds

The Broncos opened 3.5 points favorites over the Chargers, but the line has since moved to a 3-point advantage for Denver. With the home team getting a field goal, this puts this game as a toss up in the eyes of Vegas.

Quotable

One of the big focuses for Head Coach Vance Joseph is helping ensure players bodies are taken care of over the course of a grueling four months of NFL football. Keeping his players fresh for December-January football is kind of a big deal.

“We did it with Marvin [Lewis] my second year,” Joseph said of his recovery activities. “The reason you do it is that you want two recovery days versus one. We do more work on Wednesday and Thursday and take Friday as a mental practice and a recovery day for the players. It’s not a loss when you’re talking about football, because the offense got 85 reps today. That’s a practice and a half for us. Defensively, we got 65 reps. We’re not losing our game plan knowledge, but we’re gaining in my opinion, a day of recovery for our players. It’s a long season so we want to make a point to start recovery now and not start it Week 10 in the middle of the season. That’s the point behind the schedule.”

Predictions

Any division game is going to be a hard fought, physical affair. These teams know each other pretty well and I expect the game to be close. Trevor Siemian will need to pick up a few key third downs, but the real load will be on the weight of the running backs and offensive line. The defense will do its thing either way, so it will be on them to do just enough to keep the Broncos in the lead.

Prediction: Broncos 20, Chargers 16