Broncos Chargers Spread

Written by Jack Jones

Aside from biased fans of the Denver Broncos, nobody expected this team to be sitting ahead of the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West at this point in the season. With some timely heroics from new starting quarterback Tim Tebow, that is precisely what has happened. Meanwhile, the Chargers continue to shoot themselves in the foot with untimely turnovers. These two division rivals square off Sunday in San Diego. The Chargers have won four straight meetings in this series, including a 29-24 road victory on October 10th.

Odds makers have installed a line of San Diego -6 over Denver and a total set of 42 points.

San Diego

The Chargers started fast and appeared to be one of the top teams in the AFC as everyone expected. San Diego (4-6, 3-2 home) went 4-1 through their first five contests, but would go on to lose five straight games. This dreadful run has been their longest skid since starting 0-5 back in 2003. Still, they find themselves just two games behind the Oakland Raiders in the soft AFC West division. The Chargers are coming off a 31-20 road loss to the Chicago Bears last Sunday.

In that loss to the Bears, Philip Rivers continued to turn the ball over at an alarming rate. He threw two late interceptions to help preserve the win for Chicago. The Bears racked up 379 total yards, and they certainly won the special teams battle thanks to a pair of long punt returns by Devin Hester. Rivers finished 21 of 31 passing for 280 yards with one touchdown and those two picks. The Chargers were held to just 52 rushing yards on 17 attempts, or an average of 3.1/carry.

San Diego ranks 8th in the league in total offense (390.2 yards/game) and 13th in total defense (336.1 yards/game). Rivers is completing 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,023 yards with 15 touchdowns and an NFL-most 17 interceptions. He has thrown 10 picks in his last five games, and his 17 for the season has already set a career high. They will have a chance to get their running game going this week. The Chargers rushed for a season-high 206 yards in their first meeting with the Broncos. Ryan Matthews had a career-best 125 in that game, and the only two 100-yard performances of his career have come against Denver.

Denver

The Broncos have turned around their season ever since Tebow took over as their starting quarterback. He replaced Kyle Orton in their 29-24 loss to the Chargers earlier this season, and nearly led them back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Tebow has started every game since, and the Broncos are 4-1 in those contests. Denver (5-5, 3-2 away) now sits just one game behind the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West division. They are coming off an improbable 17-13 victory over the New York Jets last Thursday.

Denver could not get anything going offensively against the Jets for over three quarters. Then, Tebow got the ball back with six minutes remaining, and led a 95-yard drive that ended with his own 20-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds to play. Tebow did not put up a good stat line, completing 9 of 20 passes for 104 yards, but he made the plays when he needed to. He also ran seven times for 58 yards on their game-winning drive alone.

This team ranks 27th in the league in total offense (309.2 yards/game) and 17th in total defense (356.4 yards/game). Denver has stepped up their defense during this three-game winning streak, allowing just 15.7 points/game while coming up with four interceptions. Von Miller has proven to be a stud, leading all rookies with 9 ½ sacks. Offensively, the Broncos have decided to run the football and control the time of possession. They are averaging an NFL-best 200.3 rushing yards since Week 5. They rushed for 162 yards in their first meeting with the Chargers, including 125 from Willis McGahee on only 16 carries.

Betting Trends

The Broncos are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games, but just 6-22-1 ATS in their last 29 vs. a team with a losing record.

The Chargers are 24-8 ATS in their last 32 games as a home favorite of 3.5-10.0, but 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall.

Turn to expert handicapper Jack Jones for your pro football wagering advice throughout the rest of the season.

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