THE LEGEND OF THE BOLO TIE. After today, it only continues to grow or is quickly snuffed out and swept into the dustbins of awkwardly appropriated by white guy style history.
Philip Rivers is having one of the better statistical seasons of his career, though the Chargers have found a lot of success toward the end of the year limiting the burden placed on him to carry the offense. In San Diego’s upset win in Denver in Week 15, Marmalard threw just 20 passes (and technically none in the 4th quarter, though he did have a pass that drew a pass interference penalty, nullifying the attempt on the stat sheet) while the Chargers offense rushed for more than 150 yards and played ball control.
It was a similar formula last week in Cincinnati, where Rivers threw only 16 passes for 128 yards an a score. Again, San Diego ran for nearly 200 yards. The time of possession actually favored the Bengals, but thankfully Cincinnati was feeling charitable, handing the Chargers four turnovers, three of which came in the second half.
The drama surrounding the Chargers has helped obscure some of the pressure on GREATEST REGULAR SEASON BY A QUARTERBACK EVER Peyton Manning, who needs a win to avoid his third straight (and ninth overall) one-and-done in the playoffs. Denver gets Wes Welker back since he suffered a concussion in Tennessee a month ago. While the announcers made sure to frequently note Welker’s during the Chargers’ win in Denver in Week 15, Welker’s replacement, Andre Caldwell, actually had the best game of any Broncos receiver that day.
Von Miller’s absence hurt Denver’s defense considerably early in the year, though their offense was overpowering enough that it never seemed to trip the team up. It’s hard to tell how much Miller going down again at the end of the year has affected the defense, given that it happened in the second to last week of the regular season and the Broncos’ final two opponents were the Texans and Raiders. Against more formidable competition, we’ll finally find out.
Also, hopefully this Chargers fan can be resuscitated in time for kickoff.
BOLT DOWN. A Chargers fan didn't make it to his hotel room at the Hyatt in Denver last night: pic.twitter.com/gb0criqmLh via @ChelseaRose_D
— Matthew T. Hall (@SDuncovered) January 12, 2014