What a game. Fresh from my postgame four hour nap – let’s do this.

The two division leaders of the AFC West squared off on Thursday Night Football. Denver was just off their Sunday Night-Manning Record game.

Peyton & the Broncos knocked on the door early, but they couldn’t quite finish their first two drives. On their third possession right before the first quarter closed, Manning moved from his 31 to the Chargers’ on a Emmanual Sanders route across the middle. The quarter ended with a first down at the two-yard line.

After securing a bad snap by falling on it for first down, Peyton was pressed into a passing third down situation. He rolled to his right and found Sanders streaking across the end zone for the score. Damn, it feels good to score a touchdown. On the ensuing possession, Denver’s Von Miller sacked Phillip Rivers on third down.

Peyton’s receiver dropped a third down pass, giving the ball back to San Diego. The defense held them to three third downs, but over-aggressive play calling couldn’t get the Chargers off the field. Especially on a 3rd and 20 in our own territory, defensive coordinator Jack del Rio insisted on bringing the blitz. They should never have gotten that first down, and they did. The D deserved to hold them to a field goal; instead it was tied.

That gave Manning three minutes to work his magic. We actually fumbled the kick, but luckily, the returner was down by contact. The two-minute warning rang with a 3rd and six to go. The Broncos made a pivotal play look easy, earning pass interference on Demaryius Thomas while still making the first down catch. Denver took a timeout at the one minute mark in Chargers’ territory. After setting everyone up with a second down run, Manning quickly no huddled the next play, finding Sanders down the sideline for a thirty yard bomb. 14-7, halftime.

Rivers was really acting salty. He does the “Father-Son-Holy Spirit” move before every drive, then acts like an asshole. He is the exact opposite of Peyton Manning.

San Diego received the ball to start the second half. On their third play, Rivers was intercepted on a terrible pass in his own territory. Manning promptly punched in his third passing touchdown, again finding Sanders on a slant in the end zone. It was a great catch by little #10.

Phil went for broke on his next drive, unsuccessfully airing it out for a three-and-out. Manning took the ball and wasted no time, hooking up with Thomas for over twenty yards on his first play. A defensive pass interference call moved Denver into scoring position where they took a commanding 28-7 lead on a fullback run up the middle.

Rivers trolled his sidelines, ranting and raving like a lunatic. He finally put some more points on the board, needing a fourth and goal to score. Then, he looked like the happiest, nicest guy on the sideline. Way to keep it real, douche.

Needing to keep pace, the Broncos deployed Ronnie Hillman, who ran over thirty yards to help kill the third quarter. Peyton dodged a bullet once the quarter changed, throwing an interception from the two yard line before it was waived off on a holding penalty. Whew. The fullback was called on to finish again, putting us up 35-14.

Rivers just wouldn’t go away. He had to go down and score again, putting some pressure back on us with under ten minutes to play. On first down, Sanders took it 17 yards before fumbling. The whole game’s balance hung in the air until Wes Welker dove on the loose ball. We brought it down to the six minute mark and missed a fifty yard field goal.

Finally earning his chance, it was time to see what Salty Phil could do with one more drive. Despite his best field position of the night, Rivers tossed his second interception, forcing it deep. Peyton took that ball and killed all San Diego’s timeouts, the two-minute warning, and essentially the game. We punted back with under a minute left, and the Chargers unsuccessfully tried to break a run before the clock expired. That was the biggest difference in the game: no San Diego running attack vs. the 109 yards of Hillman. Final rushing stats: SD 15/61, DEN 30/139, 2 TDs. The difference.