Broncos-Chargers

The Denver Broncos (4-1) will be in San Diego on Thursday night to play the Chargers (1-4). What a matchup. The Broncos won’t have their head coach and the Chargers, given their recent performances, won’t have a chance.

Wait. They will have a chance. They just won’t make the most of it.

Broncos coach Gary Kubiak was hospitalized after Sunday’s game with a migraine condition that mimics a stroke and has taken the week off. His special teams coordinator, Joe DeCamillis, will replace him. DeCamillis has never been a head coach in the NFL, though he has logged 28 seasons as an assistant.

Short week of preparation, travel, no head coach. It should be the proverbial recipe for disaster, but that’s the Chargers’ specialty. They’ve blown leads in all four of their losses, sometimes in spectacular fashion.

Take Week 1. They led the Kansas City Chiefs by 21 points late in the third quarter, only to see the Chiefs outscore them 24-3 the rest of the way to force overtime and win 33-27 on the first possession. It was the biggest comeback in Chiefs’ history.

Or you could look at Week 4’s collapse against the New Orleans Saints. The Chargers led by 13 but lost two fumbles and saw Philip Rivers throw an interception on their final possession of a 35-34 defeat.

Or Sunday’s 34-31 loss to the Oakland Raiders, where the holder fumbled the snap on what would have been the tying field goal with a little more than two minutes to play. The Chargers had leads of 10-6, 17-9 and 24-16 late in the third quarter, after which they allowed 18 consecutive Raider points.

Watch if you must. Or maybe just the end. That’s when the fun starts. Unless you’re the Chargers.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman