Chargers vs. Broncos open thread

The Los Angeles Chargers enter their week 5 contest against their division rivals 2-2 after last weekend’s destruction of the hapless Miami Dolphins. The Denver Broncos meanwhile are in the midst of an unintentional tanking season. They have publicly announced that they are willing to deal away starters if they continue to lose. And thanks to John Elway’s complete inability to scout quarterbacks, they are likely to continue losing.

The “is Joe Flacco elite” joke stopped being funny a long time ago. These days, he isn’t even average. There is some reasonable talent around Flacco, though. Emmanuel Sanders is still one of the more underrated wide outs in the game while running backs Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman both bring playmaking ability out of the backfield.

For the Chargers, this is their first game with Melvin Gordon actually back in action. He was suited up last week, but there was never any reason to put him on the field. Today, he will get an opportunity to show the value of fresh legs in October as he helps limit Austin Ekeler’s touches. It will be interesting to see just how Anthony Lynn and co. break up the work load. Either way, there should be plenty of work to go around as the Chargers are favorites who ought to be running the ball plenty in the second half.