Chargers keep their playoff hopes alive defeating the Broncos 27-20

Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego,CA- The Chargers kept their playoff hopes alive Thursday night as the Chargers defeated the Broncos 27-20.

The Broncos scored the games first points on its opening drive on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Manning to Caldwell to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead.

The Chargers would respond on their opening drive by driving down the field for a 38 yard Nick Novak field goal to cut the Broncos lead to 7-3.

The Broncos would tack on a 32 yard field goal by Matt Prater to end the first quarter with the lead 10-3 over the Chargers.

The Chargers would tie the game at 10-10 to start the 2nd quarter as Keenan Allen hurdled over a Broncos defender for a 19 yard touchdown pass from Phillip Rivers.

Rivers and Allen would connect again to end the half on a 10 yard touchdown pass to give the Chargers the lead 17-10 at the half.

The Chargers would extend their lead to start the 3rd on a 23 yard touchdown run by Matthews to extend the Chargers lead to 24-10.

Manning would go down easily as the Broncos would cut the Chargers lead to 17-24 on 5 yard touchdown pass from Manning to Caldwell.

Manning would get the ball back with a chance to tie the game until he was intercepted by Thomas Keiser on a floater pass after Corey Liuget hit Manning mid throw.

That interception would seal the game for the Chargers as they would tack on 35 yard field goal by Novak to extend their lead to 27-17.

The Broncos would cut the Chargers lead to 27-20 with 34 seconds left on a 42 yard Prater field goal.

The Broncos would fail to recover the outside kick as the Chargers would hold on to defat the Broncos 27-20.

The Chargers were excellent on offense tonight as they dominated the time of possession 38:49 to the Broncos: 21:11. Ryan Matthews had his best game of the season, rushing for 127 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. Mathews had his fifth 100 yard game of season and is tied for most in the NFL this season.

Tonight’s game was one of the Chargers best performances this season and if the Chargers can continue to perform as well as they did tonight the rest of the season…….they may have a chance to sneak into the playoffs as the 2nd wild card.