Broncos Win or Chargers Collapse?

Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

The San Diego Chargers faced off with the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football in a tale of two halves.  The Bolts skipped out to a 24-0 lead heading into half, but were held scoreless in the second half, losing to Peyton Manning and their AFC West-rival Broncos in a crushing 35-24 loss.  It was the biggest second half collapse in the NFL this season and ties for the fourth-biggest comeback in the league’s regular-season history.

The biggest culprit that led to the Chargers’ collapse was quarterback Philip Rivers, who threw a career high four interceptions (six overall) in the Monday night clash.  Two of which were taken back for touchdowns: a 46-yard pick six by Chris Harris and a 65-yard fumble recovery from Rivers which was returned by Tony Carter.

It was one of the worst days Rivers has ever had in the NFL.

“We’re going to fix the issues that are keeping us from finishing games,” said Turner who may be on the hot seat this year in San Diego.  ‘There’s a lot of things involved.  It starts with the coaching and it starts with deciding what we’re going to do, when we’re going to do it.

“The things that we’re having problems with, we may eliminate.  It may mean we’re a little bit more conservative, it may mean in some cases we do things a little differently.  Any more detail than that, certainly it’s going to show up when we play and I’m not going to sit here and talk about how we’re going to change in terms of our game plans and what we do.  We’re letting those four or five plays change the entire game.”

Though it wasn’t just Rivers who played the sole part of the Chargers’ epic second-half collapse.  San Diego’s defense couldn’t seem to limit the damage against Manning, failing to sack the veteran quarterback.

Still, Manning earned his fair share of acclaim.  In the second half, he connected on 13 of his 14 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns to overcome a four possession deficit.  He capped the day completing 24 of 30 passes for 309 yards and one interception.

But the true fault lies solely on the Chargers, who looked like they were playing without a gameplan.  Now, San Diego sits at 3-3 and tied at the top of the division with the Denver.  They’ve lost three of their last four games and are becoming the classic underachieving Chargers we all have become so familiar with.  It’s hard to look at them any differently, especially as a legitimate Super Bowl contender.  Look for Manning and the Broncos to climb up the AFC-West standings now that they’re offensive scheme is beginning to take shape.