Chargers vs. Broncos Preview

This Sunday's game of the Chargers and Broncos should easily live up to it's hype and come down to a shootout. Though the Charger's defense has been showing great strides of improvement under Ron Rivera they still have been lacking in pressure on the quarterback with only 11 sacks and a 31st overall ranking. The Broncos are not much better at 27th and both teams will look to exploit each others deficencies with their top 10 ranked passing offenses. The Broncos offense however, is down to it's 8th runningback in Tatum Bell, and arent expected to have much impact on the ground. Probably one of the most important aspects for the Chargers to be watching is Brandon Marshall, who scorched them for 18 receptions in their first matchup this season, good for 2nd all time for receptions in a game. Jay Cutler, looking beyond his arrogance, has played excellent this year and will look to beat the Charger's defense by spreading the ball to his other talented receivers that include Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokely, and tight ends Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler. On the Charger's side, Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson will both try to stay on a hot streak. Philip Rivers also reconnected with Antonio Gates against the Bucs with 2 touchdowns and could be a threat over the middle, even with Champ Baily's return as Baily has always had trouble matching up with Gates anyway. Ladainian Tomlinson is now recovered from his toe injury and can run the ball well enough to keep the offense balanced, along with a little dash of Darren Sproles sprinkled in. With a playoff spot on the line, both teams will be tested and it could possibly come down to a last minute scramble. If the Chargers play as they did against the Bucs, with 21 points coming in the 4th quarter, they should be able to look forward to welcoming the Colts next weekend. The Broncos won't go down without a fight though and the most we can hope for is that the game won't come down to a ref's error again. Jamal Williams and Igor Olshansky returned to practice after missing Wednsday, but Malcolm Floyd and Brandon Siler were limited. The Broncos had all their players practice.