Having become acquainted with Jay Cutler, Broncoland should be encouraged about the upcoming game in the hostile environment that promises to be Qualcomm Stadium.
Doesn’t Cutler seem like the type who would relish the role of villain?
Cutler, the Broncos’ quarterback, figures to be enemy No. 1 Sunday night when the Broncos play the San Diego Chargers for the AFC West title.
“It probably won’t be pleasant,” Cutler said Wednesday, smiling at the thought. “I don’t think it’s going to be with the holiday spirit at all. I don’t think they like me, which is fine. It adds to the game, adds to the excitement.”
Besides the significance of the game itself — the winner hosts Indianapolis in the AFC wild-card round of the playoffs; the loser is finished — there is the personal rivalry, maybe even some animosity, between quarterbacks Cutler and the Chargers’ Philip Rivers.
Animosity?
“There really isn’t,” Rivers said at his news conference Wednesday. “It got a lot of attention a year ago. There’s nothing there.”
From over here, there’s something there. Cutler, true to form, was more forthcoming in communicating his feelings.
“I think these two teams probably dislike each other,” he said. “I know our offense doesn’t like their defense and vice versa, it works both ways. I think it’s becoming a good rivalry between us. We’re both younger teams, they’re playing really well, Philip is playing really well. It’s going to be a good matchup.”
As the Chargers were finishing off their 23-3 thumping of the Broncos on Christmas Eve last year, the cameras caught Rivers taunting Cutler. Earlier this season, Cutler made an appearance on “The Best Damn Sports Show, Period” and was asked about Rivers.
“I’m just not that big of a fan of the guy,” Cutler said then. “I don’t like how he carries himself.”
Cutler was asked Wednesday if the spirit of Christmas would . . . “Am I going to retract from my statements?” he said. “I’m not going to. He’s playing really well right now, but what happened has happened. I haven’t forgotten it; I don’t think a lot of guys on this team have forgotten it.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
