Island Casino Monday Night football

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, you can’t change the schedule once it was made in the early part of the summer, but this is one of those games you might have wanted to switch out for another one.  Pretty much all the playoff scenarios have been figured out in this one.  The Denver Broncos are simply playing for pride, hoping to end the season on a good note, as they are officially out of the playoffs.  The Chargers could be playing for a shot at a home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but they too have already clinched a spot, so it is unclear if you will even see their big guns out their, such as LaDainian Tomlinson.  However, Monday Night Football still beats out a lot of other things you could be doing, so sit down, pop open your favorite beverage and enjoy the game.

The Chargers have a worse record then last year, but Coach Norv Turner is finally getting some credit because he does have the team playing well.  They have only lost one game at home, and have won four and a row and five of their last six.   Earlier in the year the Chargers beat the Broncos, in Denver 41-3, embarrassing them in the national spotlight.   Tomlinson is actually playing better then he was during their first meeting.  In the first 11 games of the year Tomlinson only ran over 100 yards twice.  In the last three games he has broke the 100 yard barrier three times, including 177 yards against Kansas City a few weeks ago.  In that first game against Denver, despite not needing him much, Tomlinson only rushed for 67 yards.  If he stays in recent form in this contest the final score could be much worse.

Despite the shellacking against the Chargers, the Broncos have been fairly competitive in all of their games.  In fact, up until a couple of weeks ago they were right in the running of competing for a playoff position.  Now that they know they will have to wait until next year to do that it is hard to determine how hard they will play, but they are professionals, and they should show up no matter what the circumstances.  Quarterback Jay Cutler had been touted as the next big thing, but after dropping three of the last four games it has left many fans wondering if he’s the man for the job.  A lot of times the quarterback position seems like the best thing for the fans to argue about, but overall Cutler has been playing find.  His quarterback rating of 90.8 is right up there with other winning quarterbacks in the league.  This year he has thrown for 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, which isn’t awful, but it isn’t spectacular either.  Inconsistency has seem to be a problem for Cutler, as he has had individual game ratings that are off the charts, only to have ones that are embarrassingly low.  

If the Chargers bring the big guns in, they walk away with this one.  Even if they are playing second stringers I think they could compete enough to win.