Justin Herbert and Drew Lock will face off for the second time this season. In the first meeting between these two teams, the Denver Broncos scored a close 31-30 win in Mile High City. Will the Broncos sweep the series against Los Angeles? Or will the Chargers avenge that loss? Check out our preview of this game below.
The Broncos should have seen their 48-19 home loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday coming from a mile away. The Broncos only had three cornerbacks active for that game, and Josh Allen made sure to capitalize on that. Drew Lock finished the game with just 132 passing yards and a touchdown on 20-of-32 completions, while Melvin Gordon rushed for 61 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. The Broncos will march into the Chargers’ territory looking to rough up Los Angeles’ run defense that is just 22nd in the league with 123.8 rushing yards allowed per game. The Broncos are relying a lot on their rushing attack, as evidenced by their 13th-ranked 43.51 rushing play percentage.
The Broncos are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 games away from home. The under is 2-1 in the team’s last three road games.
Despite all the disappointing things that have happened for the Chargers this season, at least they seemed to have found the future of their team in the form of quarterback Justin Herbert. The former Oregon Ducks star passed for 314 yards and two touchdowns without an interception while completing 22 of his 32 passes in the Chargers’ 30-27 road win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15. The Broncos’ defense is dealing with plenty of injuries, which could lead to Herbert lighting it up again through the air. On the season, Herbert has 3,781 passing yards and 27 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. But don’t sleep on Austin Ekeler and the Chargers’ rushing attack, which is about to face Denver’s leaky run defense that is allowing 134.6 rushing yards and 1.4 rushing scores per game – 28th and 30th in the NFL, respectively
