The NFL schedule for Week 15 is starting up with Thursday Night Football with the Denver Broncos hosting the San Diego Chargers and the matchup will begin at 8:25 pm on the NFL Network from Sports Authority Field at Mile High and will be streaming online and it gives Peyton Manning and company the chance to lock up the number one seed in the AFC for the playoffs.
Manning has been having an amazing season and he likely is the MVP winner after losing out to Adrian Peterson last season and the Broncos are coming in hot, as they have won five of the last six games and scored 51 points last week against the Tennessee Titans. The Broncos have three games left on the schedule and after this home matchup against the Chargers, the team will hit the road against the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders, which is fortunate for Manning, as he will play in a dome and then in warm-ish weather compared to Denver and the east coast.
The Broncos have won two straight games since falling in overtime to the New England Patriots on the road and the team has been rolling on offense all year, putting up the most yards per game in the league and the most points. The Broncos have four players with 10 touchdowns and while Manning has been dealing with an ankle injury over the past few weeks, he did not look limited on Sunday when he tossed for nearly 400 yards against the Titans. The team comes into the game ranked first in the NFL in passing yards per game with over 340 and the team is 12th in rushing with Montee Ball and Knowshon Moreno putting together a nice season. The rush defense has been solid, but that mostly has to do with the fact that teams have had to come back from deficits, meaning they abandon the run.
The troubling thing for the Broncos heading into the playoffs is the pass defense, which has been giving up way too many yards, ranking 29th in the league in passing yards per game with over 270 yards. Manning has been prolific this season and he has over 4,500 passing yards and likely will break the record of 50 passing touchdowns after throwing for 45 already with three games to go. Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball have been very solid for the team and they now will look to lock up their spot as division champs with a win on Thursday night.