Sparks will fly with these two teams coming off embarrassing losses

"The Chargers are set to end the 2018 regular season this Sunday with their final divisional match-up against the Denver Broncos.If you are anything like me Keenan Allen Jersey , you have had this match-up circled in red ever since their last contest was dropped in week 11. That contest was at home and the Chargers were currently on a six-game win-streak before self-imploding in front of the home crowd.It left quite a bad taste in my mouth, more so than any of the other four losses this season simply because of the way the team lost it. On Sunday evening, they have a chance to rid the themselves of that lingering cloud prior to their first playoff game in over five years.Without futher ado, here are the three bigget things I’ll be keeping an eye on one the Chargers take the field at Mile High.1.) With Phillip Lindsay on IR, how will the Bolts run defense bounce back?Lindsay became just the third undrafted free agent running back ever to rush for over 1,000 yards in hist first season en route to a Pro Bowl nod. Unfortunately for the former-Colorado Buffalo, Lindsay suffered a wrist injury against the Oakland Raiders this past week and was placed on IR, effectively ending his historic season one game from the finish line.Lindsay finished his rookie campaign with 192 carries for 1,037 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. He added an extra 241 yards through the air on 35 catches with another touchdown, bringing his score total into the double-digits.In his place, 2018 third-round pick Royce Freeman will get the call as the Bronco’s starter heading into Sunday evening. Following the draft, Freeman was pegged by most pundits to be Denver’s starter out of training camp but close to no one saw Lindsay’s rise to prominence coming in the slightest.In his limited action, Freeman has accrued 461 rushing yards on 113 carries to go along with five touchdowns. He has seldom been used in the passing game as he has just six catches for 29 yards to his name.After last week’s performance against the Baltimore Ravens, the Bolts’ run defense needs to use this game as a confidence booster heading into the playoffs after being pushed around from whistle to whistle by Lamar Jackson and company.2.) Broncos pass rush will be the final tune-up before the playoffsJust like clockwork, Von Miller is having another All-Pro season for the Broncos. It also doesn’t help opposing offenses that he has another elite-level pass rusher on the other side on the line in rookie Bradley Chubb.The first-year player out of North Carolina State has 12 sacks on the season http://www.thechargerslockerroom.com/authentic-ladainian-tomlinson-jersey , just 2.5 shy of tying Jevon Kearse’s rookie record of 14.5. He also has two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and 13 tackles-for-loss to his name among his 56 total tackles.Miller’s stat line is fairly similar to Chubb’s, albeit a bit heavier where you’d expect it. His 14.5 sacks are tied with the Vikings’ Danielle Hunter for 3rd-most in the NFL behind only the Chiefs’ Chris Jones (15.5) and the Rams’ Aaron Donald (19.5).Miller has also forced four fumbles while recovering two. He has an interception (thanks to Rivers during their last match-up) and 14 tackles-for-loss among his 45 total tackles.Fans were likely worried about Russell Okung’s availability for this Sunday after posting back-to-back limited practices earlier this week but the captain was a full participant during Friday’s run-through and looks ready to rock this weekend.3.) Can Rivers rebound after a pair of two-interception performances?It took until the team’s week 11 match-up against the Broncos for Rivers to have his first multi-interception game of the season. That unfortunate performance was only compounded by the plethora of penalties and other unfortunate events that led to the team’s inevitable loss that week.In his last two weeks, Rivers has thrown just two touchdowns (both coming against the Chiefs) to four interceptions. his 181 passing yards last week were a season-low, as well.Up until last week, Rivers was in the thick of the MVP-race. Not because his stats matched-up well with the likes of Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes, but because of the late victories he was able to rally his team to no matter how stacked the deck was against this team.As my fellow BFTB writer Jamie Hoyle states in the above tweet, Rivers may have a horrendous stat line over the last two weeks, but there’s still a silver-lining that should relax fans a bit before the games REALLY matter. He is correct that two of Rivers’ picks were underthrown passes to receivers that had a step or two on their defenders. But why were the balls underthrown in the first place? Well, there was interior pressure allowed by Dan Feeney on both plays that forced Rivers to have to launch it off his back foot as he drifted away from the threat.As for his other two turnovers, one was actualyl a poor decision and the other was a desperate heave to (blegghh) Travis Benjamin in the end zone towards the end of the Baltimore game. This play made me physically ill as it looked like half of River’s interceptions over the 2015 and ‘16 season when he would try to play “hero ball” when his team let him down over and over again.It hasn’t been pretty, but they still pulled out that game in Kansas City before dropping a “not-so-surprising” loss to the Ravens, a team built to beat a team such as the Chargers.In that game against the Bronocs, even with the two picks Womens Jatavis Brown Jersey , Rivers still managed to top 400 yards passing for just the second time all season. That means this Broncos secondary can be exploited and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another spectacular game for number 17 when it’s all said and done. COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — An 0-4 start put the Los Angeles Chargers in a hole too deep to escape last season.Coach Anthony Lynn wants his new team to spend September building instead of digging.The first few weeks of this season are particularly important to Lynn and the Chargers, a popular pick to win the AFC West and to earn their franchise’s second postseason appearance since 2009.The Bolts went 9-3 after their dismal start to their relocation season, but it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs. Lynn seems confident his veteran players learned the importance of early season urgency from last year’s setbacks.“We’ll see how we start, but hopefully we start faster than we did last year,” Lynn said Monday after the Chargers began preparations for Sunday’s home opener against Kansas City.The Chargers weren’t exactly terrible to begin last season: Three of those four losses were by seven total points, and the Chargers were undone twice by missed field goals in the final seconds. But they didn’t match the level of play they hit frequently later in the year , when the NFL’s top passing offense and an aggressive defense combined to turn the Bolts into one of the NFL’s best teams.“You can’t take wins and losses from last season,” Lynn said. “I wish you could, but you can’t. But you can certainly bring the culture over, and I like the attitude of the players.”The Chargers also feel they’ve got a reliable kicker after last season’s missteps. The team that cycled through four kickers last season is going with Caleb Sturgis, who was the champion Philadelphia Eagles’ kicker at the start of last season before getting hurt and missing the bulk of the year.The Chargers also appear to be getting healthy after several regulars were slowed by injuries during the preseason.Defensive end Joey Bosa, receiver Tyrell Williams, rookie defensive tackle Justin Jones and cornerbacks Casey Hayward and Trevor Williams all participated in the Bolts’ first practice of the week Monday. Bosa and Hayward, two of their most important defensive players Rayshawn Jenkins Jersey , are expected to be ready to play Sunday.“My only concern is a boxer needs so many sparring rounds before you go fight, and these guys have been out,” Lynn said. “So getting them caught up and back in the fold is my only concern.”Tight end Antonio Gates was in the locker room after signing a one-year deal to return for his 16th season with the Chargers, but he won’t return to practice until Wednesday. Lynn is waiting to evaluate the 38-year-old star’s readiness before he determines Gates’ role this weekend.“I just want to see his conditioning,” Lynn said. “I don’t want to put him in a position where he goes out there and hurts himself, and that sets us back four or five weeks. I just don’t see us doing that. But Antonio, he’s a pro. He’ll let me know how he feels at the end of the week and about how his pitch count can be, and we’ll talk about it.”Kansas City will be a particular challenge right away for the Chargers, who were beaten soundly twice by the AFC West champions last year. Kansas City essentially sewed up the division with a 30-13 home victory over Los Angeles on Dec. 16 — the Chargers’ only loss in seven games to close the season.Nearly every playmaker from last season’s team is back, and they all remember how it felt to be playing catch-up all season long.“We definitely want to get it going from the start this year, and not wait to get to where we need to go,” running back Melvin Gordon said recently. “We’ve got to be ready.”