Coming into last Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, the Chargers were riding a wave of momentum with a 5-1 record that had them atop the AFC West. However, after losing a tight game at home to the Chiefs and losing to division leader Denver Broncos night, the Chargers now find themselves slowly falling down the ranks of the AFC. Last night, on a national stage on Thursday night football, the Chargers failed to prove that they are a true playoff contender by being dominated by an extremely well-rounded  Broncos team 35-21.

The Chargers new coming into the game that traveling to Denver to play a red hot Broncos team would be their hardest game of the season so far. . However, last year’s game in Denver, also  a Thursday Night Football matchup, the Chargers won.

Nonetheless, the Broncos did not seem worried about the past or the Chargers hot start and easily beat them. This game was set up for two MVP quarterbacks (Philip Rivers and Peyton Manning) and division rivals to go head to head in a primetime game but Manning was clearly sharper.

In the first quarter, neither team was able to score as both defenses played exceptionally well against two power house offenses. The second quarter was different as Manning gave the Broncos a lead very early on a two yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders. This was Sanders first of three touchdowns on a night when the Chargers could do nothing to stop the rhythm between him and Manning.

After the Broncos scoring drive, the game slowed down again until Rivers led the Chargers on a drive, capped off by a two yard touchdown pass to future hall of fame tight end Antonio Gates. On this drive, Gates also became the all-time leading player in receiving yards in Chargers history when he surpassed Charger great Lance Alworth. G

On the ensuing kickoff, the Broncos seemed to fumble the ball and the Chargers recovered. However, the referees reviewed this and overturned what turned out to be a questionable and costly call for the Chargers. Instead of possibly getting a chance to take a lead into halftime, the Broncos got the ball and drove down the field quickly. Manning again found Sanders on a 31 yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds left in the half.

The third quarter began as Manning found Sanders on a three yard touchdown pass to take a 21-7 lead. Then, after getting the ball back backup running back Juwan Thompson scored a two yard touchdown run to extend the lead. At this point, the game seemed over and that a depleted Chargers secondary would not stop Manning and his electric offense.

The quick start in the second half gave them a lead that the Chargers were never able to recover. Rivers did lead the Chargers on two more scoring drives which made the game seem closer than it actually was, but never really threatened the Broncos in the second half. Rivers, who had been so consistent all year, seemed a bit off key as he threw two interceptions at very important times that devastated the offense and gave one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game more time on the field.

However, it was not just Rivers, the run game was never established as the offensive line could not protect the running backs or Rivers and the defense faced arguably the best receiving core in the NFL and could do nothing to stop it. Thus, it was an all-around poor effort but the result was not unexpected as the Broncos definitely seem as the front runners to win the AFC West and possibly even the AFC.

The Chargers will now have some much needed extra time to rest as they need a lot of key role players that are injured to return such as cornerback Brandon Flowers who possibly could have slowed down Manning. On November 2^nd, they will pick back up and play the Miami Dolphins in a must win game to keep pace with the Broncos.