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While the San Diego Chargers have to still be bummed about blowing an opportunity to take a two-game lead in the AFC West, the club has to ready itself for a bounce back as they visit the team one game behind them on Monday Night Football this week in the Denver Broncos.
Most have struggled against a Peyton Manning led team in the past, but the Bolts have to have some confidence heading into the game as they have gotten the better of Manning more times than not.
During his days with the Indianapolis Colts, Manning struggled with teams that employed a 3-4 defensive alignment. The Chargers still use that 3-4 system where pass rushers can come from anywhere and totally destroy any kind of pass protection that the quarterback may have setup in pre-snap directives. Perhaps the most memorable Manning meltdown against the Bolts was in 2007 when he threw six interceptions (three to cornerback Antonio Cromartie). In 2010 he experienced a similarly woeful outing with four picks against the Chargers.
There will be more players on the field than just Manning on Monday night however as the Chargers offense needs to regain some sort of identity. It seems that every time this team grabs a lead as they did against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night they have a bit of an identity crisis. The offensive strategy is relatively clear and rather successful up to that point of a game, but then the path weaves drastically in a different direction and gets the club in trouble.
Bouncing back will be more about the Chargers’ offense and less about their defense going up against Manning. If Head Coach Norv Turner can step back and allow the offense to function as it’s capable of rather than attempting to micromanage every little nuance, the club will do much better. If he continues his overbearing attempts to out think the opposition however, the Chargers could find themselves again in a situation of coming from ahead to lose.
Follow Anthony Blake on Twitter @AnthonyMBlake or on Facebook at Anthony Mizarkus Blake
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