son this Sunday with their final divisional match-up against the Denver Broncos.If you are anything like me Corey Liuget Color Rush Jersey , you have had this match-up circled in red ever since their last contest was dropped in week 11. That contest was at home and the Chargers were currently on a six-game win-streak before self-imploding in front of the home crowd.It left quite a bad taste in my mouth, more so than any of the other four losses this season simply because of the way the team lost it. On Sunday evening, they have a chance to rid the themselves of that lingering cloud prior to their first playoff game in over five years.Without futher ado, here are the three bigget things I’ll be keeping an eye on one the Chargers take the field at Mile High.1.) With Phillip Lindsay on IR, how will the Bolts run defense bounce back?Lindsay became just the third undrafted free agent running back ever to rush for over 1,000 yards in hist first season en route to a Pro Bowl nod. Unfortunately for the former-Colorado Buffalo, Lindsay suffered a wrist injury against the Oakland Raiders this past week and was placed on IR, effectively ending his historic season one game from the finish line.Lindsay finished his rookie campaign with 192 carries for 1,037 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. He added an extra 241 yards through the air on 35 catches with another touchdown, bringing his score total into the double-digits.In his place, 2018 third-round pick Royce Freeman will get the call as the Bronco’s starter heading into Sunday evening. Following the draft, Freeman was pegged by most pundits to be Denver’s starter out of training camp but close to no one saw Lindsay’s rise to prominence coming in the slightest.In his limited action, Freeman has accrued 461 rushing yards on 113 carries to go along with five touchdowns. He has seldom been used in the passing game as he has just six catches for 29 yards to his name.After last week’s performance against the Baltimore Ravens, the Bolts’ run defense needs to use this game as a confidence booster heading into the playoffs after being pushed around from whistle to whistle by Lamar Jackson and company.2.) Broncos pass rush will be the final tune-up before the playoffsJust like clockwork, Von Miller is having another All-Pro season for the Broncos. It also doesn’t help opposing offenses that he has another elite-level pass rusher on the other side on the line in rookie Bradley Chubb.The first-year player out of North Carolina State has 12 sacks on the season, just 2.5 shy of tying Jevon Kearse’s rookie record of 14.5. He also has two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and 13 tackles-for-loss to his name among his 56 total tackles.Miller’s stat line is fairly similar to Chubb’s, albeit a bit heavier where you’d expect it. His 14.5 sacks are tied with the Vikings’ Danielle Hunter for 3rd-most in the NFL behind only the Chiefs’ Chris Jones (15.5) and the Rams’ Aaron Donald (19.5).Miller has also forced four fumbles while recovering two. He has an interception (thanks to Rivers during their last match-up) and 14 tackles-for-loss among his 45 total tackles.Fans were likely worried about Russell Okung’s availability for this Sunday after posting back-to-back limited practices earlier this week but the captain was a full participant during Friday’s run-through and looks ready to rock this weekend.3.) Can Rivers rebound after a pair of two-interception performances?It took until the team’s week 11 match-up against the Broncos for Rivers to have his first multi-interception game of the season. That unfortunate performance was only compounded by the plethora of penalties and other unfortunate events that led to the team’s inevitable loss that week.In his last two weeks Dan Feeney Color Rush Jersey , Rivers has thrown just two touchdowns (both coming against the Chiefs) to four interceptions. his 181 passing yards last week were a season-low, as well.Up until last week, Rivers was in the thick of the MVP-race. Not because his stats matched-up well with the likes of Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes, but because of the late victories he was able to rally his team to no matter how stacked the deck was against this team.As my fellow BFTB writer Jamie Hoyle states in the above tweet, Rivers may have a horrendous stat line over the last two weeks, but there’s still a silver-lining that should relax fans a bit before the games REALLY matter. He is correct that two of Rivers’ picks were underthrown passes to receivers that had a step or two on their defenders. But why were the balls underthrown in the first place? Well, there was interior pressure allowed by Dan Feeney on both plays that forced Rivers to have to launch it off his back foot as he drifted away from the threat.As for his other two turnovers, one was actualyl a poor decision and the other was a desperate heave to (blegghh) Travis Benjamin in the end zone towards the end of the Baltimore game. This play made me physically ill as it looked like half of River’s interceptions over the 2015 and ‘16 season when he would try to play “hero ball” when his team let him down over and over again.It hasn’t been pretty, but they still pulled out that game in Kansas City before dropping a “not-so-surprising” loss to the Ravens, a team built to beat a team such as the Chargers.In that game against the Bronocs, even with the two picks, Rivers still managed to top 400 yards passing for just the second time all season. That means this Broncos secondary can be exploited and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another spectacular game for number 17 when it’s all said and done. CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Opposing defenses are learning that Austin Ekeler is just as effective a running back as Melvin Gordon for the Los Angeles Chargers.The second-year running back scored his third touchdown of the season on a 44-yard swing pass from Philip Rivers to lead the Chargers to a 26-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.“He’s got some juice now. He can really run,” Rivers said. “I think he’s one of those, you don’t realize how fast he is running until you have to chase him, which I never have, but I’ve seen a lot of guys do it. That was impressive.”Ekeler, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017, made two Oakland defenders miss at the Raiders 40 Kyle Emanuel Color Rush Jersey , got a block from Keenan Allen and then went up the left sideline, putting the Chargers ahead for good.“Moves into open space, that’s how you can make your money in this league as a running back,” Ekeler said. “That’s where I think I excel and what I’m going to keep doing, winning one-on-ones.”Ekeler has 410 yards from scrimmage, with 207 coming via receptions. He has six touchdowns in his career and is three away from tying Dan Reeves for most TD catches by an undrafted player in his first two years in the league. Reeves had nine with Dallas 1965-66.“You wish we would have signed him. He’s running hard, he’s making people miss,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “He has the flexibility to line up in the backfield or in the slot. He’s a sharp customer who knows how to play the game.”Ekeler and Gordon are averaging 201 yards from scrimmage for the Chargers. Gordon is third among NFL running backs at 119 yards per game, and Ekeler is 12th at 82.Gordon had 120 yards from scrimmage against the Raiders (58 rushing, 62 receiving), including a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to put the Chargers up 17-3.Rivers was 22 of 27 for 339 yards with two touchdowns and a 143.4 passer rating. He completed passes to seven players, but as he noted, no one had a big yardage day.“It wasn’t an eight-catch, 150-yard day for anybody, but you look up and there’s 330 yards passing and a lot of guys touched the ball,” Rivers said. “It was efficient. We ran it well enough and we didn’t turn it over. When you do that you have a good chance for a win.”Here are some other things to know from Sunday’s Raiders-Chargers game:STURGIS’ FUTURE IN DOUBT?The Chargers signed punter Donnie Jones last Tuesday to also be the holder on field goals and extra points, thinking that it would help solve Caleb Sturgis‘ struggles. If the results of one game are any indication, it hasn’t.Sturgis made two field goals, but he also missed his fourth extra point of the season and was wide left on a 48-yard attempt on the last play of the first half.The sixth-year kicker has missed four extra points this season Brandon Mebane Color Rush Jersey , equaling the amount he had over three seasons in Philadelphia from 2015-17.“The extra point did bother me a little bit, but we’ll figure out what happened there,” said Chargers coach Anthony Lynn when asked about Sturgis’ struggles. “He’s been kicking with a lot of confidence, so I’m not concerned about it.”ON THE LINEThe Raiders had a pair of rookie tackles starting in a game for the first time since the 1970 merger, with Kolton Miller at left tackle and Brandon Parker on the right side. Oakland allowed three sacks, but quarterback Derek Carr wasn’t ready to single them out.“I thought they played really well for it being a tough environment for them, against a great blitz package,” Carr said. “Everyone has plays. It’s easier to just find, ‘Ah, rookie offensive tackle, let’s blame him.”COSTLY MISTAKEOakland was putting together a nice drive during the third quarter and got to the Chargers’ 1 before Derek Carr threw an interception to Melvin Imgram in the end zone. A touchdown would have brought the Raiders within 10 with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter, but it basically ended all hopes for a comeback.Carr has more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven) after the first five games in Gruden’s offense. Gruden says that the fifth-year quarterback is progressing, but Carr admitted after the game that he needs to quit pressing.“Those are the kinds of things where with my aggressiveness and his aggressiveness, we are learning and he does a great job communicating with me after stuff like that,” Carr said. “He doesn’t want me to stop being aggressive, but at the same time not forcing them, not pressing and sometimes to not make too many plays.”LONDON CALLINGBoth teams have “home” games at London’s Wembley Stadium the next two weeks. The Raiders will face the Seattle Seahawks next Sunday, while the Chargers take on the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 21.Oakland will practice at its facility before flying to London later in the week. Los Angeles will stay in Cleveland for four days after facing the Browns next Sunday before making the trip abroad.