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"I have the utmost confidence in our leadership. [General manager] Tom Telesco, [coach] Mike McCoy and I have already begun evaluating every aspect of the team to take the essential steps to put a winning product back on the field. We will waste no time in making the necessary changes."

Those words belong to Chargers owner John Spanos, who uttered them back in January, when the team announced a contract extension for McCoy days after he had put the finishing touches on a dismal 4-12 season. Nine months later and the situation in San Diego has worsened immeasurably; the Chargers are actually worse than their 1-4 record indicates, and save a Super Bowl run, McCoy's on borrowed time.

But hey, the longest, most improbable journey starts with the first step, and for McCoy, that means finding a way to beat division rival Denver on Thursday night. Unfortunately, history -- like most things these days, it seems -- isn't on his side. Since November 2011, the Broncos have dominated the Chargers, winning 9 of 10 meetings, including a current streak of five straight victories.

Given that, the Broncos' fast start, and the Chargers' inexplicable ability to find new and exciting ways to lose games in the fourth quarter, there's a reason they're home dogs against a team that has started Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch at quarterback.

10 minutes you won't get back

Will Brinson and I fire up the podcast machine for your listening pleasure. So, will the Chargers will fire Mike McCoy before the fourth quarter? Because it might be their best chance to win a game.

A brief recounting of the Chargers' awfulness

It all started well enough. For much of the first Sunday of the 2016 season, Chargers fans had hope; their team led the AFC West favorite Chiefs by 21 points in the third quarter and everything looked rosy. But then reality set in, Kansas City found a way to tie the score at the end of regulation, before eventually -- and inevitably -- winning in overtime.


Three weeks later, the Chargers were again poised for victory -- they led the Saints by 13 points with less than five minutes to go -- and again, one incomprehensible event after the next culminated in another loss. If there's a silver lining it's this: Mercifully, the Saints finished them off during regulation.

"[I'm] furious," McCoy told reporters after the 35-34 defeat. "It's a major disappointment. You get the lead we had, and to fall apart -- a major disappointment. Frustration is an understatement. I can't say right now in this microphone how I really, truly feel."

Which brings us to last week, where our colleague John Breech perfectly captures the unintentional slapstick comedy that the '16 season has become:

"Things went even further south for the Chargers on Sunday, with the referees stealing a yard from them and the Chargers stealing a field goal from themselves with a botched snap that led to their fourth loss of the year."

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory isn't just a 2016 phenomenon; ESPN.com's Mark Simon writes that you can go back at least 52 weeks for evidence of the team's inability to finish games. Against the Steelers in Week 5 of the 2015 season, the Chargers had a win probability of 81 percent with less than two minutes to go. Three weeks later against the Ravens, they had a win probability of 80 percent with less than 10 minutes to go. Similar fourth quarter stories against the Raiders (Week 16) and the Broncos (Week 17), and in all four instances, the Chargers lost. Even if San Diego faced just 50-50 odds of winning those games, there is only a 6 percent chance they'd go 0-4. But they were favored in the fourth quarter of each of the '15 games cited above, and each time, they found the unlikely path to defeat.

All told, the Chargers have lost 16 of 21, an interesting footnote McCoy may want to leave off his resume when he updates it in the coming weeks.

The other coach (the one that's not getting fired)

Gary Kubiak was hired before the 2015 season and led the Broncos to a Super Bowl title. And he's responsible for the team's 4-1 start in '16, though he won't be on the sidelines Thursday night after being hospitalized following Sunday's loss to the Falcons. According to the team, Kubiak was "diagnosed with a complex migraine condition that caused extreme fatigue and body weakness."

Kubiak underwent several precautionary tests in the hospital, including an MRI and a CT scan. Both tests came back clean, but general manager John Elway said that the coach would take the week off. In his place: special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis.


Kubiak released this statement on Monday evening:

"I'm feeling much better and am thankful for everyone's thoughts and well-wishes. It's tough not being there with our team this week, but I've got great confidence in Joe D, our coordinators and coaching staff, and all of our players.

"[Broncos head trainer Steve Antonopulos] and the medical team did an outstanding job taking care of me and getting this figured out. I've made a lot of positive changes health-wise in recent years and will continue to listen to doctors.

"I'll be at home this week, resting and getting healthy, and I look forward to rejoining our team on Monday."

Kubiak previously suffered a health scare during a 2013 game in Houston, when he was the Texans' coach. After being hospitalized, doctors found that Kubiak had suffered a transient ischemic attack, or a mini-stroke.

Revisiting the 'Broncos can win with any QB' theory

A year ago, we didn't think the Broncos could win without a quarterback, words that were weird to write since Peyton Manning was still the starter. But he was struggling with bad feet and a popcorn arm, two maladies which together rendered him mortal. So much so that Brock Osweiler, in all his replacement-level gloriousness, looked like an obvious upgrade. Turns out, it didn't matter who was under center because the Broncos' defense was so dominant.

So with Manning and his mom jeans sashaying into retirement, and Osweiler taking his mediocre talents to Houston, the two biggest issues for the Broncos were whether Mark Sanchez, or Trevor Siemian, or Paxton Lynch, could fill the void and, more importantly, if the defense could replicate its success from a year ago.

Sanchez didn't even make it out of preseason; the Broncos had seen enough of him and Siemian to know that they preferred the 2015 seventh-rounder with exactly zero regular-season pass attempts. Turns out, it was the right decision; in four starts, Siemian ranks 15th in Football Outsiders' QB metric, ahead of Eli Manning, Matthew Stafford and Alex Smith. By comparison, Manning finished 36th last season, ahead of only Nick Foles. And through four games, Siemian was good enough; the Broncos were 4-0, thanks in large part to that dominant defense.

Except ... this unit hasn't been quite as dominating as the 2015 version. A year ago, the Broncos' D was the league's best, ranking first against the pass and fourth against the rush. Through five weeks, they're still very good, ranking fifth overall -- third against the pass but just 23rd against the rush.

It was good enough to outlast the Panthers, Colts, Bengals and Buccaneers -- the Broncos' first four opponents who are a combined 7-13. It was a different story against the upstart Falcons, who came into Denver and made life difficult for rookie Paxton Lynch -- who started for an injured Siemian -- and the defense.

The silver lining: Siemian is expected to start on Thursday, and beyond that, the Broncos face the Texans and Chargers again before the competition stiffens with games in Oakland and New Orleans.

By then, perhaps will have a better sense of just how good the Broncos' defense can be, and whether it will mean Siemian can follow the Manning/Osweiler "don't do anything to lose the game" blueprint from a season ago -- or if he'll be required to carry the offense on a more frequent basis.

For the glass-half-full Chargers fan

There's little to celebrate in San Diego, but 2016 third-overall pick Joey Bosa finally made his NFL debut, and he looks legit. In 27 defensive snaps, he had two sacks, two quarterback hurries and three tackles for loss.

It's Color Rush Thursday, y'all (again)!

Behold:

Don't forget you can also watch the game on Twitter

If you want to stream the game, just go to tnf.twitter.com.

You can also use your mobile device or tablet with the NFL Network app or the CBS app. As always, your local CBS affiliate will carry the game on television. Kickoff is at 8:25 p.m. ET.

In addition to live streaming, the NFL-Twitter partnership also includes in-game highlights from "Thursday Night Football" and pregame Periscope broadcasts from players and teams.

Here's the remaining NFL-Twitter TNF schedule:

Week 6, Oct. 13: Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
Week 7, Oct. 20: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Week 11, Nov. 17: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Week 13, Dec. 1: Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings
Week 14, Dec. 8: Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 15, Dec. 15: Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks
Week 16, Dec. 22: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Playoff picture!

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538/PFR

While not mathematically out of it, common sense suggests the Chargers are looking ahead to 2017. But if the Broncos move to 5-1, their playoff chances increase from 77 percent to 91 percent. If they fall to 4-2, their chances slip to 62 percent.

Check out the CBSSports.com Playoff Projections page here.

They said these words

"You try to laugh to keep from crying, literally," Rivers said. "You kind of throw your hands up and say, 'what in the world just happened?' This will be a time we have to grow closer together and stay together tight." -- Philip Rivers, after Sunday's loss to the Raiders

Related: Some teammates took Rivers' advice to heart:

Who ya got?

Only three of eight CBSSports.com experts have the Broncos covering as 3-point road favorites, and perhaps more surprising, only four experts have the Broncos winning outright.

"The Broncos should have Trevor Siemian back under center, and that's a good thing. San Diego has blown leads in all four losses and coach Mike McCoy is said to be on thin ice. This could be a job-saver for him. But the Broncos will bounce back from their first loss with a road victory." -- Pete Prisco, who has the Broncos winning, 23-17

Our prediction: Siemian returns to the lineup and is a capable game manager, and the Broncos' defense makes life difficult for Rivers and the Chargers' offense. San Diego leads late but invents a new way to lose.

Final score: Broncos 21, Chargers 17