Broncos catch lightning in a bottle against Chargers

Photo courtesy of and by Jeff Gross/Getty Images

A game of two tales down in San Diego on Monday Night Football as the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers duked it out for AFC West Supremacy. If you weren't able to watch the entire game, you probably ran into some people, might have started to talk about the game and think you were talking about two entirely separate games.  The first half went to San Diego, and the second half was all Denver.

The first half, the Broncos continued to be plagued by turnovers as the specials team looked anything but "special" as recently signed WR/KR Trindon Holliday was signed off waivers to help boost the kick return game.  On his second punt return of the game, he muffed the punt, allowing the Chargers to recover the ball at Denver's 17.  The Chargers were able to get a field goal out of the turnover.  Following the score by the Chargers, on a attempted kickoff return by rookie CB Omar Bolden, he miss judged the kick and bounce, catching him off guard and not able to get full possession of the ball, eventually leading to a fumble and Chargers recovery at the 19, resulting in a touchdown pass to TE Antonio Gates from QB Phillip Rivers on a 15 yard strike.

The the first half bleeding for the Broncos didn't end there.  Two plays after a 55 yard catch and run by WR Eric Decker, miscommunication was the result of another turnover for Denver.  On San Diego's 26, QB Peyton Manning called a hot route to WR Matthew Willis.  Manning was looking for Willis to go short, and instead, Willis ran up the sideline.  Charger CB Quentin Jammer saw the miscommunication, "jumped" the route and ran the ball back 80 yards for a pick six.

Not long after that, The Chargers were able to move the ball down the field and score another touchdown pass, Gate again on the receiving end of a Rivers pass.  Denver found themselves on the trailing end of a 24-0 score at halftime from Qualcomm Stadium.  Rookie DE/DT Derek Wolfe told the Denver Post that in the locker room, you wouldn't have figured Denver was figuratively down and out.

"The feeling in this locker room at halftime, you would've thought we were up," defensive end Derek Wolfe said. "It didn't really matter what the score is. We knew we could play better, and we did."

The second half was underway, and so to was the surprise full-on assault the Broncos were about to put on the Chargers.  Without wasting anytime, Manning marches the team down the field coming out of halftime and caps the drive off with a 29 yard strike to WR Demaryius Thomas.  The Chargers would counter with a field goal of their own.  The defense it self got in on the act and did work on the Philip Rivers, something the Broncos haven't had success in the past doing.  Every Charger drive in the fourth quarter resulted in a turnover.  It was kicked off with three straight Charger drives resulting with Bronco CB's Tony Carter and Chris Harris combing for three picks, including the latter of the two getting to pay dirt on his second INT of the night.  To help set up the "icing on the cake" for the superior play of the second half by the defense, as San Diego was marching down the field, with less than a minute left and approaching midfield, DE Elvis Dumervil "left the building" with a sack fumble and a recovery by safety Mike Adams to give the ball back to Denver.

A game can't be complete unless there is a complete team effort.  The offense put together a "complete" game in the second half and the effort couldn't have been more impressive than what was witnessed.  Manning completed 13-of-14 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns as part of his day where he completed 80% of his passes for 309 yards.  The Broncos found themselves down 24-0 before the comeback had begun.  Behind the MVP like performance by Manning, Denver overcame the fourth largest deficit and third largest on road in NFL history.  Denver's offense and defense for the second half was able to catch "lightning in a bottle" as they go on to win 35-24.

Many want to judge this as a great comeback by the Broncos, but we can't forget the other side as the Chargers completely meltdown in the second half.  This game was a tail of two stories.  Going into their bye, Denver feels great about themselves as they have control of the AFC West and the second half of the season will be a different story as well.  Denver's remaining schedule consists of its final 10 opponents have a combined 19 wins, including a battered up Baltimore team that is the only plus .500 team on the record.  With a easy schedule coming up, expectations will be high for Bronco fans to make a push for a playoff spot, and more.  As the season goes on, this team will improve and may be a "night and day" difference in terms of play on the field and we will see a "finished product" for the season when the playoffs begin.

The second half of the season is kicked off on a Sunday night as the New Orleans Saints come matching into Sports Authority Field from Mile High with their #1 ranked passing offense lead by Drew Brees.  The defense will have time to rest and prepare for two weeks for a passing attack against a potent receiving corps that consists of Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, Devery Henderson and Lance Moore.  The secondary has had their ups and downs so far this season, but this will be the ultimate test for the pass defense as they will find out if all the money and roster changes made in the offseason was worth it.