We took an extensive look at the Denver Broncos going against the Los Angeles Chargers Week 1 and the good guys delivered on opening week. Seasons with endless promise have slowly evolved for both teams, and things are now a bit different.

We won’t go through the whole scouting report again, but we will go through some of the new matchups to monitor this time around. With the Chargers on a two-game win streak and Denver suddenly right back in the AFC West title hunt after Thursday Night, the stakes are high for both teams.

In the wild and unexpected 2017 NFL season, you never know what will come, and given how things have gone so far for both Denver and LA this might all come down to the kickers, in case it doesn’t, here’s what to expect.

The Bolts on offense

One of the big key’s to Denver’s win Week 1 was the defense’s ability to limit the impact of the tight ends, a big issue in years past against the Bolts. That might be an understatement, as the Broncos held Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry to a combined two grabs for 17 yards.

Denver’s struggles to stop tight ends have been one of their few weaknesses in the last few years, and after the promising start against Henry and Gates, things haven’t gone for the best. Jason Witten was productive for the Dallas Cowboys, and the tight ends were key in Denver’s two losses against the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.

With Justin Simmons’ skills in coverage combined with Darian Stewart, expectations were that the issues in coverage against tight ends would’ve subsided, but that hasn’t been the case. Simmons has had a few hiccups as of late, and some of those have come against TEs, like the touchdown he allowed to Evan Engram a week ago. The scheme hasn’t helped the defense either, as there where far too many instances in which Engram was in single coverage on linebackers, a severe mismatch. You can bet Phillip Rivers will pick those types of mismatches apart if they’re served up on a silver plate.

The production from LA’s tight ends had lacked a bit this year, until a week ago in their win over the Raiders where Henry broke out. He’s a dangerous player, especially when moved around in two tight end sets and covering him up will be essential.

Receiver Keenan Allen has had a really good season thus far in his comeback from injury but is questionable this week. If he doesn’t play, using Aqib Talib on tight ends could be an interesting wrinkle if Joe Woods and the staff are willing to get creative. While with the New England Patriots, Talib really stood out when in coverage on TEs. He put on a show against Jimmy Graham in his prime.

On the ground, we’ve mentioned in the past how the Chargers run attack hasn’t made a big difference in wins or losses when these teams have gone head to head. Expect Denver to play better than they did against the Giants, as the Bolts run game is 31st in the NFL. That trend needs to continue, as the run defense should be desperate to have a big bounce-back week.

The defense needs to get back to forcing teams into turnovers and making aerial attacks miserable. The time is now to run into the phone booth and put on their “No Fly Zone” capes.

The Chargers ‘D’

If you had to rank individual performances against the Broncos this season, few would rank higher than Melvin Ingram and what he did Week 1. Ingram was simply unblockable, and his pass rushing skills were on full display.

That’ll only be harder now with all the injuries at right tackle forcing Allen Barbre to start. Don’t forget about Joy Bosa, either, who creates a devastating duo with Ingram that’ll be really tough to slow down for the Broncos tackles. In Week 1, they were “limited” to 1.5 sacks each. That impact can’t be much greater, or it’ll spell doom for the Broncos who need to win the turnover battle.

One way of limiting the dynamic duo’s impact is establishing the run once again, as the team was able to do in the first four weeks. If Denver’s unable to run it on the Bolts, it’ll be officially time to panic as they rank dead last in the NFL, allowing over 150-yards per contest.

Without Emmanuel Sanders or Isaiah McKenzie, expect a heavy dose of two tight end sets, with a much more balanced play calling than what we saw versus the Giants. Virgil Green’s blocking was crucial in establishing the run and giving a hand in pass protection Week 1. He’ll have to be on his A-game this time around for Denver’s attack to get on a roll.

Mike McCoy used plenty of two tight end sets in the first game, expect to see much of the same. In the first matchup, Demaryius Thomas made some big plays, and Bennie Fowler came up with some crucial red zone grabs.

That’s really where the game will be decided, in the red zone on Denver’s end, as settling for Brandon McManus’ field goals won’t cut it. In the first matchup between these two teams, the Broncos were brilliant in the red zone, in large part thanks to Trevor Siemian making plays with his legs – with his touchdown shake of Bosa and Fowler’s touchdown pass coming on a bootleg.

Since the Broncos dominant game within the 20 against the Bolts defense, these two teams have gone in differing ways. The Chargers have since turned things around in the red zone as they’re the NFL’s fifth-best unit allowing 40-percent of opportunities into touchdowns, while the Broncos offense is 27th in the league. That’s where it’ll all come down to, in addition to Siemian’s ability to play efficiently as he did in the first quarter of the season.

It’ll certainly be a must-win for either team, and the Broncos offense will be tested on the road for only the second time this year. Denver also has tons of injuries to overcome offensively, and it’ll be really interesting to see how they bounce back from a gut-check loss a week ago.

Vance Joseph’s team has the blueprint on how to beat these guys; they just have to go out and execute.