The second Monday Night Football game of the night involves an AFC West clash between the Los Angeles Chargers heading to Denver to face the Broncos at Mile High.
The game features new head coaches on both sides of the field. Vance Joseph is in charge of the Broncos for this season, while Anthony Linn replaced Mike McCoy in Los Angeles.
Vance Joseph, the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins in 2016, replaced Gary Kubiak in Denver, who missed the playoffs last year after winning the Super Bowl in 2015.
Although he’s a defensive-minded coach, expect quarterback play to be the focus of the team as the Broncos hope that Trevor Siemian can have a breakout year and help them make the post season once again.
Although Siemian played 14 games last season and had a very respectable debut season in 2016, he had to go out and prove himself to the new head coach to keep his job as a starter over first-round pick Paxton Lynch, who’s entering his second season and doesn’t look ready yet to lead the team.
The Denver Broncos defense was awesome two years ago under Wade Phillips as they helped Peyton Manning win Super Bowl 50 against Cam Newton and the Panthers, but last year they ranked 28th against the rush. What most fans are probably wondering in Denver is how good can they become under a brilliant defensive mind.
If they can be almost as good under McCoy as they were under Wade Phillips’ Super Bowl run, then all Siemian will have to do is avoid giveaways, let the defense set the table for him and lead the offense to score off the turnovers.
On the defensive side the Chargers will trust defensive end Joey Bosa to help them rein in Siemian and the Broncos running game. Bosa was a sack machine last year that won defensive rookie of the year, and he’s been awesome in the preseason. If he keeps it up this year he can develop into one of the greatest defensive players of the league.
On the offensive side the Broncos “D” has to watch out for Chargers running back Melvin Gordon. He’s a big, strong back that last season had 13 touchdowns in 12 games and over 1400 yards. Although last year he dealt with injuries and missed some games he’s definitely a game changer, consequently any defense preparing to face him should always plan ahead.
If the Chargers want to be successful this year they have to be able to open holes for Gordon and have a productive running game.
A productive running game would help them keep the pressure off veteran quarterback Philip Rivers, improve their time of possession, keep the defense off the field and, if necessary, run out the clock. If they unleash Melvin Gordon they could start doing all that tonight and in the process beat the Broncos on the road to set the tone for what the season is going to be like.
