Broncos Schedule Preview | Week 16: What to Watch for at Chargers
Four weeks after their first matchup, the Denver Broncos go to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers in the 'home away from home' game. At this point, the path to the playoffs should be a lot clearer for the Broncos, but even if they have a spot sealed up, they'll still need to walk away from this one with a win.
The simple fact is, you want to beat your divisional rivals. If Denver isn’t locked into a playoff berth yet, it is even more imperative (duh!) that it wins this game. This late in the season, it's hard to say who the Chargers' quarterback is going to be.
It could even be a different QB from the one the Broncos will have faced in their Week 11 matchup at Mile High. The Chargers could role with Tyrod Taylor and follow the path the Broncos have modeled themselves of rolling with the veteran until eliminated from the playoffs.
That's just one possibility with another being the Chargers role with rookie first-rounder Justin Herbert and he under-performs or maybe Taylor fails to meet expectations and the team just makes the switch with the playoffs still potentially in the cards. It's a situation that has so much uncertainty trying to project six months out.
The bigger threat for the Chargers against the Broncos is how their defense matches up. If the Chargers are a healthy unit down the stretch with players like Derwin James, Joey Bosa, Casey Hayward, and Chris Harris, Jr., they can make like difficult for the Broncos' offense.
At this point, of course, the Broncos better have their offense together and if they don’t, it'll be an issue laid at the feet of QB Drew Lock or OC Pat Shurmur (or both). If that were to be the case, it would almost certainly mean the Broncos' 2020 campaign didn't unfold the way the front office expected.
It's all talk right now sitting here in early June, but the Broncos believe they can push for the playoffs and on paper, they have the pieces to do just that. For a deep-dive on the Broncos' Week 16 road trip to L.A., don't miss the video above.
Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel and @MileHighHuddle.
