Denver offense vs. San Diego defense

	BRONCOS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	15
	Pass	9
	Tot. Yds.	9
	Scoring	19
	Int's allowed	11
	Sacks allowed	21
	CHARGERS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	3
	vs. Pass	16
	Total yds. allowed	10
	# of Ints.	9
	# of Sacks	15
	Turnover differential	-9

Things just keep getting worse for this Bronco offense, the latest being the injury to WR Ed McCaffrey who will have to sit out at least two weeks. Brian Griese now faces the challenge of leading his team into San Diego against one of the league's top rated defenses.

San Diego is probably the most aggressive and active defense up front in the league. Defensive coordinator Joe Pascale loves to run a lot of six-men-on-the-line and have his linebackers roam and attack the ball. The interesting aspect of the Charger defense is that they rely heavily on their corners and free safety in coverage. The strong safety plays about seven yards off the ball and is responsible for a running lane on the weak side, which means that he is only able to help in coverage underneath. In most situations, the free safety, Michael Dumas will play as if he is in two-deep zone but will be responsible for the tight end releasing off the line of scrimmage. This creates a lot of room on the outside and leaves CBs Terrance Shaw and Jimmy Spencer in man-to-man situations with the receivers. Because the defensive line does such a good job of clogging up the middle and also because there are essentially four linebackers who are extremely athletic and active, the Broncos are going to find little room to run the ball.

This is going to have to be a game where Denver relies on its sophomore quarterback to win the game. The advantage is that the Chargers are going to score very few points on Denver, which means that the Broncos only have to connect on a couple of big plays. Griese needs to be able to burn the Charger corners on the outside in man-to-man coverage. He is playing without McCaffrey and will have lots of pressure to deal with, but this is the game where Griese needs to prove capable of doing it on his own. TE Byron Chamberlain will play a big role as well, working the seam down the middle of the field and drawing the attention of the free safety.

Denver, in order to connect on the big-strike, is going to have to run a lot of three receiver streaks that spread the field vertically and force one-on-one situations. Because of the heavy pass rush, it will become a timing play down the sideline that makes the difference in this game. If Griese puts the ball in a position where his receivers can go up and make some big plays, the Broncos will be able to beat the Charger's pressure and win the low-scoring game.

With Natrone Means out for at least another three weeks, the running game has been handed over to Kenny Bynum and Terrell Fletcher. Bynum, a speedster with little durability, has had trouble finding holes and is not patient enough behind the line of scrimmage waiting for blocks to develop. Fletcher has shown in the past he can carry some of the load, but with his size (5'8", 196 pounds) his body cannot take the punishment over the coarse of a full game.

With that said, San Diego has a chance to once again to play time-of-possession football and take advantage of some big opportunities hand fed by the defense. The Broncos are going to attack the Chargers offense by playing aggressive up front and showing them a lot of eight- and nine-man fronts. Cornerbacks Dale Carter and Ray Crockett will match up on an island with the Charger receivers, daring San Diego to put the ball in the air. Expect to see SS Darrius Johnson more involved in the run defense. Johnson will walk up close to the line of scrimmage and have the responsibility of clogging up the backside running lane, which allows the linebacking corps to play more aggressive on the strong side and pursuit more freely to the ball.

The Bronco defensive line will be without will be without DE Alfred Williams, who tore his right Achilles' tendon last Sunday. Harold Hasselback will replace Williams. This is not much of a drop off because Denver rotates its defensive lineman on a regular basis. It does, however, take away from the depth on this unit and could hurt the Broncos late in the game if the Chargers have been able to run the ball with any effectiveness.