Three of the West’s teams were up on Saturday, making for a busy day. The Chargers turned out to be the only victorious side from the division this week – making them a perfect 2-0 – but aside from W’s and L’s, there’s still plenty to talk about from each camp.
Chargers
San Diego may have won the war against the Cowboys 28-20, but there was a big battle lost at home. Second year wide receiver Vincent Brown broke his ankle after a touchdown pass, and will miss up eight weeks.
While fans cope with such a meaningful loss in such a meaningless game, the Chargers offense looked a whole lot better this week. From a backup standpoint, Charlie Whitehurst threw for 122-yards and a pair of touchdowns, and on the other side of the ball, cornerback Shareece Wright took a huge 73-yard interception home to give the Chargers momentum in the fourth quarter.
Still, there are a few buts.
Philip Rivers threw two interceptions, making it three already this preseason. To say it is a sign of things to come could be an understatement, considering he threw 20 ugly passes to the opposite team a season ago.
Throwing off his back foot, Rivers continues to struggle. To wrap up on a positive note though, rookie receiver Mike Willie’s impressive 38-yard touchdown catch couldn’t have come at a better time with Brown’s injury making news.
Broncos
The Broncos simply got done on Saturday night by the Seahawks 30-10. Peyton Manning was the watched man again, but if Rivers can find comfort in something, it would be No. 18’s performance against Seattle.
Although it wasn’t all bad, Manning threw two picks in his debut at Mile High, and completed 16 of his 23 passes for 177-yards. Newly acquired receiver Terrell Owens nearly got himself on the board for the Seahawks, but somehow managed to drop a pretty pass from Matt Flynn in the endzone.
Away from that, Manning took one of his first hits of the early season – something we’ve all been waiting for. It wasn’t much in the end, but it was nice to see Manning get up the very next play and complete a pass.
Chiefs
Matt Cassel emerged as the talking point again in Kansas City, even if the Chiefs allowed the Rams to pile on 31-points.
Cassel went 13 for 18 on Saturday with 142-yards to go with it. On paper, the Chiefs run game may not look as sharp as it was last week, but Peyton Hillis once again managed to punch in a one-yard touchdown run, while Jamaal Charles’ ACL injury is a distant memory.
Yep, the Chiefs backfield could perhaps be the best in the league, but Saturday night showed some slight issues on defense. At times, pressure on Sam Bradford was non existent, and even though there’s time to work things out, his two touchdown passes looked easy.
Still, it’s hard to talk about anything else but this Chiefs offense. Even Brady Quinn looks good.
