The Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers kick off the preseason for their respective teams in California on Thursday night at 8 PM as Peyton Manning travels to take on Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh on the west coast in Week 1 for the best matchup of the night.
Both the Broncos and the 49ers have Super Bowl aspirations this season and while both teams are dealing with significant injuries, there is enough talent on both sides to say that this could end up being a championship matchup for the two sides. The Broncos come into the year after losing to the Baltimore Ravens in crazy fashion in the playoffs after a comeback that saw Jacoby Jones make a fantastic touchdown no Rahim Moore and the 49ers come back after losing to those same Ravens in the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
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Manning comes back for his second go around with the Broncos and the team is expected to be one of the best on offense in the entire league after adding Wes Welker in the offseason to join Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas as wideouts and the team also added Montee Ball to the running back stable and he will compete with Ronnie Hillman for the starting job for Jon Fox. The defense will be weaker without Elvis Dumervil, but after having Von Miller back and adding Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Quentin Jammer, the secondary should be improved as well.
Manning is 37-year-old and in his 15th NFL season, but after the way he played last year he seems much younger and not like a man who has had four neck surgeries and he will be helped along this season by Ball and Knowshon Moreno in the backfield and now the team has the chance to also show what backup QB Brock Osweiler has learned. The 49ers are now going to have Colin Kaepernick for a full season after trading away Alex Smith and despite losing Michael Crabtree, the team appears ready to blow things up again.
The team won the NFC West and with the Seahawks also looking like Super Bowl contenders the 49ers will be ready to play hard all year and now they have added Eric Wright again after the original trade with the Bucs fell through. The team has AJ Jenkins as well as Quinton Patton, Ricardo Lockette and Marlon Moore to step in for Crabtree and now Anquan Boldin will be looked at as the number one receiver. Colt McCoy should get some playing time in the game as he tries to fight to be Kaepernick's backup.
The game will be at Candlestick Park on Thursday night and will be on TV locally in both Denver and San Fran, while NFL.com is offering its Preseason Live package for fans online to use and it will also be broadcast on the radio on Sirius.
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