Philip Rivers Sees Similarities Between Broncos' 0-4 Start & The 2017 Chargers
If you’re the 0-4 Denver Broncos, you’re looking for any ray of hope, or a path out of the wilderness, that could recast your season in an optimistic light. Unfortunately, the truth is, only one NFL team has ever made the playoffs after starting the season 0-4.
But there are several cases of a team starting off winless in the first quarter of the season, only to turn it around and still finish the year above .500. It just so happens that a familiar team in the Broncos’ own Division is one of the league’s most recent examples of such a turnaround.
The Los Angeles Chargers, under first-year head coach Anthony Lynn, opened the 2017 season 0-4, only to storm back and win nine of their final 12 games. The Chargers finished 9-7 that year and missed the playoffs but that finish down the stretch gave the team the type of momentum that elevated them into double-digit wins the following year.
The Chargers are now considered a perennial playoff contender along with the Kansas City Chiefs, despite their so-so start to this season. If the Broncos were able to turn this around and finish above .500, even if they missed the playoffs, it would represent more than just a moral victory for first-year head coach Vic Fangio. It would be a clear indication that this team is on the right track.
In a conference call with Denver media on Wednesday, Chargers’ veteran QB Philip Rivers spoke to how his team turned around their 2017 season and why at this stage, he’s not about to write off this winless Broncos squad just yet.
“It’s funny you ask that because I really think—not that any Bronco can care less about my opinion about their own 0-4 start, but it seems similar in ways that they can very easily be sitting there [at] 2-2 or 3-1,” Rivers said. “Just the way these games have gone is much like our start in 2017 when we lost at Denver in the opener and then we lost on a missed field goal try at the end of the Miami game. There’re just some kind of crazy things. You look up and you’re 0-4 and you know you’re better than that. I know that what we see on tape is a good Denver Broncos team. For us that year, we finally won our first game and and then we won two in a row and we just kind of turned it around and fought our way back to win nine of the last 12.”
Rivers has been competing against the Broncos his entire career and has witnessed the rise and fall of the team during the Manning era, including the emergence of Von Miller, Chris Harris, Jr. and others on the defensive side of the ball. Perhaps it’s just a veteran QB being smart enough to flatter his opponent in the media and not offer up bulletin-board material, but more likely, Rivers absolutely recognizes that the Broncos are better than their record reflects.
Let’s not forget; the Broncos were reeling coming out of their bye week last year and they went into L.A. and beat Rivers and the Chargers in their own house. Can Denver repeat history? Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, the Chargers haven't exactly been world-beaters themselves. Sitting at 2-2, they've once again been decimated by the injury bug and are holding on for dear life. But there's so much talent on that team.
“We know what this Denver team can do and certainly speaking primarily of the defensive players,” Rivers continued, “I mentioned some of those veteran guys and some other guys that have been there a handful of years that are really good players. It’s a salty secondary, a tough front as always and downhill linebackers. It’s a team that we know it’s a bunch of pros and Pro Bowl players and a lot of respected veterans. We know it’s going to be a hard-fought Division football game, so that’s what we’re preparing for.”
Von Miller and Chris Harris, Jr. have 11 combined Pro Bowl appearances between the two of them. The Broncos' defense, counting Miller and Harris, has four veteran holdovers from the Super Bowl 50 squad — five if you count Corey Nelson.
No doubt, even if the Broncos come out on the losing end of this one, it’ll be hard-fought. Broncos vs. Chargers always is.
But it's interesting to see how a savvy vet like Philip Rivers views this 0-4 Broncos team.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
