TV Schedule: Sunday, Dec. 6 at 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS

Stadium: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

Line: Denver (-4)

This week has a chance to be a letdown game for the Denver Broncos. I’m just going to come out and say that now. This is absolutely a game that the team should win, but coming off of a victory over the New England Patriots, the team may have trouble focusing on the weaker San Diego Chargers. Regardless of that, the Broncos clearly have more talent.

In this game, the Broncos are going to have to run the ball a lot. The reason? The Chargers have one of the worst run defenses in the league. The team doesn’t really have much at nose tackle, and primary linebackers Manti Te’o and Donald Butler haven’t been particularly good at making tackles this year. As a result, the rejuvenated C.J. Anderson and the shifty Ronnie Hillman could end up having a field day running behind their improved offensive line.

Of course, the team will need some production from Brock Osweiler as well to win the game. Right now, Osweiler is looking like a pretty solid quarterback. Gary Kubiak hasn’t asked him to do too much, but he has looked significantly better than Peyton Manning. Osweiler at least has the arm strength to get his receivers the ball downfield, which is something that hasn’t been in Manning’s repertoire this year.

One aspect of the San Diego defense that Osweiler should be able to expose this week is their cornerbacks. Both Brandon Flowers and Jason Verrett are good players, but they also both stand only 5-foot-10 at the tallest. The taller Denver receivers like Demaryius Thomas and tight end Vernon Davis will be able to catch passes over them and ultimately give the Broncos enough fire power to score some points.

On the offensive side of the ball for San Diego, they are going to have a lot of work to do. The team doesn’t have much of a running game, as Melvin Gordon is working out some rookie kinks and Danny Woodhead isn’t going to be able to carry the load by himself. This may mean that the team will have to overuse Philip Rivers, which won’t be good news at all.

Rivers has actually played well this season, but he has had very poor protection around him most of the year. Left tackle King Dunlap and right guard D.J. Fluker have struggled with injuries, and the team also lost starting center Chris Watt for the year. Rivers has been under duress thanks to these problems, and that is a big reason why the team has had such a poor season.

It also won’t help the Chargers that they are playing against the elite Broncos defense. The Broncos have one of the league’s best cornerback duos in Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, a couple of terrific pass rushers in Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, and a strong supporting cast and depth around those impact players. Miller and Ware could terrorize Rivers on the day, and it won’t be to watch the for Chargers fans.

Remember when I said the Broncos might have a letdown performance? Well they won’t. So long as they don’t let Rivers go wild and throw a ton of touchdowns, they should be good to go. Expect a sizable Broncos win this week.

Prediction: Broncos 24, Chargers 10

Jacob Camenker is an NFL Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can like him on Facebook here, follow him on Twitter @jacobyhorse, or add him to your network on Google.