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First-place Broncos shift focus to Rivers, Chargers

Oct 22, 2014 - 7:06 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Peyton Manning didn't have much time to savor his latest NFL record.

The reigning and five-time NFL MVP and his Denver Broncos will kick off Week 8 of the NFL season when they try to keep their penthouse view atop the AFC West against Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers on "Thursday Night Football."

The contest comes just four days after Manning broke Brett Favre's record for most career touchdown passes against the San Francisco 49ers and it will feature two of the NFL's best quarterbacks going head to head.

Manning currently leads the league in passer rating with a 118.2 mark and Rivers is third at 113.0

The Broncos will take their home field searching for their fourth consecutive victory following a 42-17 drubbing over the Niners on Sunday Night in a game in which Manning accounted for 318 yards, four touchdowns and a nearly perfect 157.2 rating.

The veteran tossed for scores on three of his first four drives, connecting with DeMaryius Thomas for his third touchdown of the game at the 3:09 mark of the second quarter, the 509th TD pass of his brilliant career, surpassing Favre for the most in NFL history.

"It was a special night," Manning said. "It's one I'll always remember."

Following the score, the Broncos receivers along with tight end Julius Thomas played a game of keepaway with Manning, not letting him have the ball before finally delivering it to the future Hall of Famer.

The Broncos then played a brief tribute on the big screen, which included messages from Favre, John Elway and several of Manning's teammates.

Favre congratulated Manning on Twitter shortly thereafter.

"Well deserved Peyton, Congratulations on breaking my record. #Onto600," he wrote.

DeMaryius Thomas caught eight passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns for the Broncos while Ronnie Hillman carried the ball 14 times for 74 yards and two scores, and added four receptions for 29 yards in the triumph.

"I'm very humbled and very honored," Manning said when discussing the record afterward. "I certainly think about how grateful I am for all the teammates and coaches that I've played with and played for throughout my career, not only here in Denver -- in Indianapolis -- and all the people that have helped me along the way. We have the Thursday night game this week, so there's not much of a celebration right now."

San Diego comes in aiming to rebound from a 23-20 home loss to Kansas City suffered when Chiefs rookie kicker Cairo Santos booted the game-winning 48- yard field goal, his third of the game, with just 21 seconds left.

Rivers, who came in with an NFL record five straight games with a passer rating above 120.0, cooled off a bit, finishing 17-of-31 for 205 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Chargers, who lost for the first time since dropping their opening game of the season at Arizona.

Rookie running back Branden Oliver carried it 15 times for 67 yards while Keenan Allen has six receptions for 58 yards.

"We didn't make enough plays. No excuses at all," Chargers head coach Mike McCoy said. "We have to do our job."

The Broncos lead the all-time series by a 58-49-1 margin but things have been very tight over the previous five years. Denver and San Diego have met 10 times during the regular season since 2009, splitting the series with five wins apiece.

On Thursdays the Chargers are 7-6-1 while the Broncos are under water at 8-10.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Both Manning and Rivers have generally excelled on short weeks.

Manning will enter this matchup with a 9-2 record as a starter on Thursday, and is the all-time leader in passing yards (3,305) and touchdown passes (35) with less preparation time.

Conversely Rivers, who is currently ranked second in the AFC with 1,961 passing yards and third with 17 TD passes, has compiled a 4-1 record on Thursday, including a 27-20 victory over Denver last season.

Manning had been 3-0 against San Diego with the Broncos before that loss and has thrown at least one TD pass in all 11 career meetings he has had against the Chargers.

"We don't live in the past," Broncos head coach John Fox said of the loss last season. "I've mentioned many times, you spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror, you crash, not looking ahead."

Making things easier for Manning this time could be the potential absence of San Diego cornerback Brandon Flowers, who will likely sit out after suffering a concussion against hid old team, the Chiefs. Meanwhile, rookie corner Jason Verrett was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday after missing the loss against Kansas City with a shoulder injury.

"We're playing a great team in the Chargers, a team we're very familiar with, as they are with us," Manning said. "They beat us last year, so we got to get ready on this short week."

For his career, Rivers is 10-6 as a starter against Denver, and is 20 games over .500 (35-15) when starting against AFC West competition. In fact, since 2006, Rivers has the second-most passing yards (12,251) and third-most touchdowns (81) of any player in the AFC against his own division.

"He's a tremendous competitor," Fox said. "We go way back. When I was in the Carolinas, he played at N.C. State, so I had a chance to watch him perform. I know a lot about him as a competitor."

One of the key components to beating Denver last season, running back Ryan Mathews, is sidelined with a sprained MCL, though. Mathews piled up 127 yards and a TD on 29 carries in the Thursday win last season, spearheading a rushing attack that outgained the Broncos on the ground by a significant 177-18 margin.

That would be hard to duplicate under any circumstance but with Oliver now leading the way in the backfield, it's probably safe to assume that more of the responsibility with be placed on Rivers' shoulders.

Oliver has been solid, however, amassing 316 yards -- tops for all rookies -- and two touchdowns in three games. However, he will be up against a much- improved Broncos defense which is third in the NFL, allowing only 74.3 rushing yards per game, nearly 30 yards better than last year's unit.

Jack Del Rio's defense is allowing 242.5 passing yards a game, though, good for just 18th in football.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

There are two things you can kind of count on when talking about Thursday games, sloppy play and the fact that the short week of preparation heavily favors the home team which at least doesn't have to uproot its operation.

The one thing that can neutralize that advantage is the presence of a veteran quarterback but each team possesses one of them here so the trend remains in Denver's favor.

"The big thing about all this is that it is a short week so we don't have time to feel sorry about ourselves," said Charges pass rusher Dwight Freeney. "I know Denver doesn't care about last week. We just have to focus on Denver this Thursday night."

Sports Network predicted outcome: Broncos 31, Chargers 23