Going by records, this should be another weak Thursday night game, but, don't be so quick to dismiss this one. The Chargers are in an absolute must win situation and the Broncos are winning games in an ugly fashion which hardly assures that this 4-1 versus 1-4 matchup will end up as predicted.
The Broncos go into tonight's game without coach Gary Kubiak who is suffering from severe migraines. The loss of a coach does tend to either rally a team or cause them to lose all direction. There's just no way to predict the effect this will have. I tend to think Denver has enough veteran leadership to weather Kubiak's absence, but if they get off to a bad start, does facing adversity they haven't dealt with yet cause finger pointing?
On the Chargers side, this is a team that is banged up and seeming to lose its hope of making this a meaningful season. There's reason enough to speculate this is a team that doesn't care anymore. Rumors of the team moving to LA are hardly great for morale and the protracted and fairly stupid contract battle with Joey Bosa made it easy to question whether ownership even wants to win anymore or whether they are tanking this season. If they lose tonight it might trigger some moves before the trade deadline.
The Chargers have a history of starting slow and then getting it together enough to make the playoffs. This could be another example of that playing out, but if they lose this week, any playoff hopes are almost certainly dashed.
I have a feeling the Chargers do find a way to win this game, if nothing else because nothing this season seems to go as expected, but, either way, this is actually a crucial game for both teams, even if the standings don't look it.
The Broncos go into tonight's game without coach Gary Kubiak who is suffering from severe migraines. The loss of a coach does tend to either rally a team or cause them to lose all direction. There's just no way to predict the effect this will have. I tend to think Denver has enough veteran leadership to weather Kubiak's absence, but if they get off to a bad start, does facing adversity they haven't dealt with yet cause finger pointing?
On the Chargers side, this is a team that is banged up and seeming to lose its hope of making this a meaningful season. There's reason enough to speculate this is a team that doesn't care anymore. Rumors of the team moving to LA are hardly great for morale and the protracted and fairly stupid contract battle with Joey Bosa made it easy to question whether ownership even wants to win anymore or whether they are tanking this season. If they lose tonight it might trigger some moves before the trade deadline.
The Chargers have a history of starting slow and then getting it together enough to make the playoffs. This could be another example of that playing out, but if they lose this week, any playoff hopes are almost certainly dashed.
I have a feeling the Chargers do find a way to win this game, if nothing else because nothing this season seems to go as expected, but, either way, this is actually a crucial game for both teams, even if the standings don't look it.