Go ahead, San Diego Chargers. Beat Tampa Bay. Or don’t beat Tampa Bay, for all the Broncos care.
Either way, the Broncos aren’t going to pay attention to the early game Sunday between the Chargers, who trail Denver by two games in the AFC West, and the Tampa Bay Bucs.
“We’re not going to have the TV on,” said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. “Hopefully, it won’t be up on the scoreboard. We’re going to try to work with that if we can. We’re going to try to take care of business and try to play our best game and not worry about something we can’t control.”
After the Chargers-Tampa Bay game, the Broncos will play the Buffalo Bills at Invesco Field at Mile High. If the Chargers lose, the Broncos will have clinched the AFC West title before kickoff at Invesco. If the Chargers win, then the pressure will be on the Broncos to beat the Bills to avoid a final-game showdown with the Chargers in San Diego.
“I think that’s smart,” said Broncos cornerback Josh Bell. “We could relax a little bit (if Tampa Bay wins), thinking, ‘Playoffs, man! Playoffs!’ You never know the mindset of certain individuals on the team. So to prevent that from happening, coach Shanahan is doing what a coach should do and minimize the distractions.”
Upon reflection, Shanahan indicated the early game Sunday between the Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs may have affected the way his team played in the later game against the Carolina Panthers.
The Chargers rallied from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit to defeat the Chiefs, 22-21. The Broncos watched the first half of that game, when it appeared the Chargers were going down. It was some time after kickoff they discovered the Chiefs failed to finish.
The Broncos were trounced by the Carolina Panthers, 30-10. Thus the Chargers now trail the AFC West-leading Broncos by two games with two to play.
“I think I made a mistake by allowing that — I normally allow that to happen, except for about an hour and a half before the game,” Shanahan said. “So we get a chance to watch the first half of most games because we get in the locker room early. But it does take some emotion out of you, just watching. So we won’t have any TVs on. We’ll take care of business and not worry about Tampa Bay and San Diego and hopefully control our own destiny.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
