The Chargers head into Sunday with an opportunity to start 3-0 this season while already having three victories over AFC West opponents. However, they’ve got to face a scrappy Broncos team that was this close to being 2-0 themselves if it wasn’t for a last-second field goal from the Colts.
If you haven’t had enough suspense through the team’s first two games, you’re probably about to get exactly what you want in this one. Buckle up! It’s going to be a good one.
1.) Stopping the run and establishing the run could be the key to beating Broncos
Through two games, the Broncos are averaging
over 130 rushing yards per game with their ground game being led by former Chargers starting back J.K. Dobbins. In two games, Dobbins has totaled 139 yards and the only two rushing scores of the year for Denver. Behind him, rookie RJ Harvey has 78 yards on 11 carries.
Surprisingly, quarterback Bo Nix has not been all that active as a scrambler thus far which is a good thing for the Chargers. He has just 38 yards on 11 carries following a rookie campaign that was really spurred on by how much of a dual threat he was week-in and week-out.
The Chargers currently rank eighth in run defense through two weeks, allowing just 83.0 yards per game on the ground. That bodes well as the Broncos will surely try and establish the run due to their passing game being a bit anemic to begin the year (186.0 per game, 25th in NFL).
On the flip-side, the Chargers need to get their ground game going in a bad way. You cannot rely on Justin Herbert to play near-perfect in every game and this week may be a good opportunity to get both Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris going. The Broncos are in the bottom half of league run defenses and allow 119.0 yards per game. Seeing as Denver ranks near the top in defending the pass (184.0 allowed per game), this game could really come down to who can control the clock the most and keep their offense on the field via the run.
2.) Will we see rookie EDGE Kyle Kennard make his NFL debut?
The Chargers needed to reinforce their pass rush following Joey Bosa’s exodus to the Buffalo Bills as a free agent so when they had the chance to draft the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in the fourth round earlier this year, it was a no-brainer. Kyle Kennard was a consensus All-American and the Bronco Nagurski Award winner following his lone season at South Carolina. He had 11.5 sacks in the SEC, arguably the best overall conference in the country.
Sounds like a player ready to take the NFL by storm, yeah? Especially with a team who had hoped he’d make an impact sooner rather than later, right? Well, that hasn’t been the case through two weeks.
Former UDFA and Division II player Caleb Murphy joined the Chargers last season and worked his butt off to make the final 53-man roster. Now, he’s the one being made active on game day and it’s Kennard — the one with the impressive resume and pedigree — who’s been inactive against the Chiefs and Raiders.
With Khalil Mack now on IR, Kennard would naturally be the team’s fourth edge rusher to be active for games. Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree are the presumed starting duo with Murphy now as the first man in. Murphy saw snaps as the EDGE4 — albeit very little — but that should mean we get to see Kennard on the field for the first time in the regular season.
3.) Can Greg Roman make it a week without a very questionable playcalling sequence?
Against the Chiefs in Brazil, it was the late, clock-killing drive when Roman called an (incomplete) pass on second down followed by an outside run where rookie Omarion Hampton jogged out of bounds instead of sliding to keep the clock running. Why call a pass at all? Why call an outside run inside of an inside run to make sure your rookie doesn’t have the CHANCE to make that mistake?
Against the Raiders, when facing a third-and-one in a similar situation (Chargers needed to kill the clock), Roman called a quick pass that was nearly picked off. Then on fourth-and-one, he called a jet sweep/zone read play that was rushed, causing the mesh/handoff point to get muddy and it wound up being fumbled causing a turnover on downs.
Twice in as many weeks, Chargers fans were left scratching their head and clawing their eyes out.
This week, I think we would all love to see Roman continue to crush it as a playcaller minus the out-of-left-field calls that almost hand back enough momentum for their opponent to make a comeback.
Sound good? Yeah, I think so.
