Chargers vs. Broncos 2013, Week 15: San Diego keep playoff hopes alive with win

A large altercation took place in the parking lot adjacent to Sports Authority Field at Mile High following the Broncos’ loss. Details of how the incident started are still unclear. Police responded to the fight at 11:55 p.m. ET (9:55 p.m., locally). Investigators reportedly interviewed witnesses throughout the night.

The Broncos suffered their first home loss of the season, 27-20, against the Chargers, an fell to 11-3 on the season. They are currently in first place in the AFC, though they could relinquish the top spot if the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

San Diego dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for nearly 39 of the game’s 60 minutes, keeping Manning and the league’s No. 1 offense off the field for long stretches. During a 21-point run that stretched from the second to third quarter, the Chargers scored on drives of 75, 43 and 80 yards and ate nearly an entire quarter of game clock in the process.

The key to the Chargers ball possession was the hard-nosed and explosive runnning of Ryan Mathews, who John Gennaro of Bolts from the Blue explains has come up big in recent weeks.

A dominant two touchdown Thursday Night Football outing likely has the six teams that passed Allen wondering if they made the right move. He was a long-striding receiver from California, recovering from a knee injury and hurt by inconsistent quarterback play. It didn’t matter that he was college football’s best pass catcher for much of the year, there were questions whether his lack of straight-line speed would hurt him in the NFL.

The result is a player who’s Proehl-esque in many ways, splitting coverage and controlling his body at the point of catch in a similar way that allowed the former wideout to finish his 17 year career with over 8,000 receiving yards and 54 touchdowns.

Webster’s injury does not appear to be season-ending, Klis reported, even with just two games left in the regular season before the start of the playoffs.

However, with tough matchups looming in the postseason, however, the Broncos may need to be healthy to ensure they don’t suffer another early knockout.

Rivers’ performance would have been surprising if he hadn’t been doing it all season. Heading into Thursday’s game, Rivers was seventh in the NFL with a 106.4 passer rating (Manning was second), fourth with 8.4 yards per attempt (tied with Manning) and first with a 70.3 completion percentage (Manning was third). He had thrown 35 interceptions over his previous two seasons, but has thrown just nine through 14 games, including just one in his last four games. Perhaps even more impressively, he has lost just one fumble this season after leading the league with seven lost fumbles in 2012.

Rivers hasn’t sacrificed effectiveness for efficiency. He has always had a knack for finding the end zone, and that hasn’t changed in 2013. Through 14 games, Rivers now has 28 touchdown passes, surpassing his 16-game totals in 2011 and 2012. With some luck, he could beat his career-best 34 touchdown passes in 2008.

Initial reports by the Denver Police Department had four people stabbed, and at least one person hospitalized in critical condition. The stabbings were called into police at 11:55 p.m. ET, and the police department tweeted shortly after the incident, “Officers have parties in custody and are not currently looking for any other suspects at this time.”

The police department also tweeted there is “no word yet on what precipitated this disturbance at Sports Authority Field.”

Clock control was Denver’s biggest enemy. San Diego wasn’t moving the ball through the air on big plays, but continually ground out first downs that took large chunks off the clock. Long passing plays never materialized for the Chargers, but it didn’t matter.

The Broncos still control their fate entering the 2013 playoffs. New England is positioned to make a late push for home-field advantage, while the Chargers wait to see how the chips fall in the AFC.

Updated playoff picture: Patriots loss’ keeps Broncos on top of the AFC.

A convoluted AFC wild card picture should be getting clearer as we approach the end of the regular season. The San Diego Chargers did their best to muddy things up with a 27-17 win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday, however. With the win, the Chargers improved to 7-7 and put themselves in good position to take potentially take over the 6-seed in the AFC. The Broncos, meanwhile, are now 11-3, and in danger of losing the 1-seed and home-field advantage. Both teams will be watching the game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins very closely Sunday.

Rivers and Allen struck again with just over a minute left, this time on a red zone throw to give the rookie receiver his second touchdown of the half. The Broncos defense will need to evaluate its coverage at halftime and find a way to stop the young receiver if the home team hopes to rebound.

• Expert picks for Week 15 | NFL Power Rankings: Broncos back on top

Knighton added that by Thursday his body is only about “75, 80 percent” recovered from the previous game and that he’s not truly ready to go until Sunday morning.

Other Broncos’ players also said they weren’t big fans of Thursday Night Football, but Knighton was perhaps the most vocal, calling the decision to play a game so close to another game “terrible” before the reporter could get out the full question.

Game Date/Time and Location: Thursday, Dec. 12, 8:25 p.m. ET at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, Colo.

TV schedule and distribution map: NFLN; The506.com

Denver is a heavy favorite, laying 10.5 points coming into the game, according to Oddsshark.com. The over/under is 55.5 for these two explosive teams.

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That being said, the Broncos haven’t been quite as strong for bettors as those numbers would suggest. While 11-2 overall, the team has gone 8-5 against the spread (ATS). Even more significant to those betting on that line: one of their few single-digit victories came against the Chargers in Week 10, when a second-half San Diego rally fell short at 28-20.

The Chargers 7-5-1 ATS record is actually better than their 6-7 overall record. They also have the added motivation of frantically fighting for the final wild card spot in the AFC. The Broncos can clinch the AFC West with a win on Thursday and are in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the conference.

Richard Wade of Bolts From The Blue wrote about the sensational rookie season of Keenan Allen:

Over at Mile High Report, there is reaction to the idea of linebacker Wesley Woodyard being demoted:

Three other AFC teams can clinch playoff spots or more this week. Three NFC teams can also clinch playoff spots this week, while one can clinch a first-round bye.

Finally, the aforementioned Bengals can clinch the AFC North with a win and a Ravens loss, or a tie and a Ravens loss. The Bengals can clinch a playoff spot in general with a win and a Miami loss or tie, or a tie and a Miami loss.

Unsurprisingly, the experts favor the Broncos in this matchup. Just about everyone does, in fact. When it comes to SB Nation’s panel of six experts -- Ryan Van Bibber, Joel Thorman, Jason Chilton, Stephen White, David Fucillo and Matt Ufford -- all picked the Broncos to hold at home in prime time. Shocked?

The story is the same over at CBS Sports, where all eight of their experts are picking the Broncos as well. That includes guys like Pete Prisco, Jason La Canfora and Will Brinson. The Broncos are just too good it would seem, and they already bested the Chargers on the road this season.