The Chargers and Broncos will face off in a high-stakes Thursday Night Football game with playoff implications for both teams.
It’s December, but Troy Dye has been transported back to the dog days of training camp, when the calls were simple. The hours and days on the field ran together. His body aches were the same. A Thursday night game can have that effect. 'It's a true football test game for sure,' Dye said. Four short days after a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Chargers will try to regroup to face the Denver Broncos at 5:15 p.m. PST on Thursday at SoFi Stadium.
Preparing for this week’s short turnaround was more complicated than a typical Thursday night game. The AFC West rivals were not originally scheduled to play in prime time, but the key matchup was shifted from Sunday to “Thursday Night Football,” replacing a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals. Instead of the AFC North teams currently outside of the playoff picture, the NFL’s first “Thursday Night Football” flex will treat a national audience to a matchup with direct playoff implications. The Broncos (9-5), the No. 6 seed in the AFC, can clinch a playoff berth with a win or a tie while the Chargers (8-6) are trying to improve their No. 7 seed and snap a two-game losing streak. Once the change was announced on Nov. 22 — adhering to a 28-day window approved by owners in May 2023 — the Chargers' team of coaching analysts sprung into action. The change shifted the workload for staff members who work weeks ahead to break down film and identify an opposing team’s tendencies. Coaches already were having quiet meetings about the Broncos game last week while preparing to play the Buccaneers. Then after the 40-17 loss that ended at 4:27 p.m., offensive coordinator Greg Roman was in his office at the Chargers practice facility in El Segundo looking at film and preparing the game plan for the Broncos by 6:30 p.m. When did Roman leave that night? “Late,” he said with a smirk. “Really late.” Players were on a similar schedul
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