A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
San Diego head coach, Mike McCoy, used a specific tactic to defeat the Denver Broncos this year. He used it in both games, but was only successful once.
The Broncos and Chargers played three times this season. The Broncos won two of the three however, all three games were close matchups. 72-64 was the combined score of the three meetings. The Broncos won the first 28-20 lost the second 27-20, and won the third 24-17.
In the first two meetings San Diego used a run heavy, clock managing scheme. The Broncos won the first meeting, but it was a close game. The Chargers were able to keep Peyton Manning off the field. They ran eight more plays than Denver, had 17 minutes more of possession, and had 50 more rushing yards. This would have worked had the Broncos not went up 21-6 at halftime.
The second meeting was more of the same. They again had 17 minutes more of possession, but here is where it was different. The Chargers had 11 rushing first downs to the Broncos one. And they had 177 rushing yards to the Broncos 18. They also ran 13 more plays than Denver did. They held the Broncos to only 10 first half points, and scored 17 points in the process. They also had three drives of more than six minutes; one of them was eight and a half minutes long.
This season the Broncos were held under 100 yards total rushing four times. Two of those times were against the San Diego Chargers.
What does this tactic have to do with this playoff matchup?...CONTINUE READING
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