Going on the road on a short week against a division rival is usually a challenge for most teams.<\/p>\n
For the defending champion Denver Broncos, it is extra difficult this week.<\/p>\n
Coming off their first loss of the season, the Broncos will be without coach Gary Kubiak when they visit the reeling San Diego Chargers on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Kubiak is taking a week off after experiencing a \u201ccomplex migraine condition\u201d Sunday night shortly after Denver\u2019s 23-16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n
Kubiak was sent home from the hospital Monday and issued a statement saying he was feeling much better, thanking his team\u2019s medical staff and expressing his confidence in Joe DeCamillis. DeCamillis, the special teams coordinator, is serving as interim head coach.<\/p>\n
Trevor Siemian is expected to return as quarterback for Denver after rookie Paxton Lynch struggled against the Falcons.<\/p>\n
The Broncos (4-1) have won 15 consecutive division road games, the longest such streak in NFL history.<\/p>\n
The Chargers (1-4) are coming off a 34-31 loss at Oakland, where rookie Drew Kaser botched the hold for a potential game-tying field goal late in the game. It was the 10th straight AFC West loss for San Diego going back to 2014.<\/p>\n
The Broncos (No. 5 AP Pro32) are 3\u00bd-point favorites over the host Chargers (No. 27, AP Pro32)<\/p>\n
BRONCOS, 27-23<\/p>\n
\nKNOCKOUT LEAGUE TIP<\/p>\n
Tom Brady and the Patriots had no trouble with the injury-riddled Browns last week, so we\u2019ll take another first-place AFC team this week. Big Ben and the STEELERS are the choice here.<\/p>\n
No. 3 Steelers (minus 8) at No. 29 Miami<\/p>\n
The Steelers have been one of the AFC\u2019s top teams. The Dolphins, who had aspirations of making the playoffs entering the season, are one of the AFC\u2019s biggest disappointments so far.<\/p>\n
STEELERS, 31-10<\/p>\n
\nNo. 13 Baltimore (plus 3) at No. 19 New York Giants<\/p>\n
Both teams are reeling, with Giants losing 3 in a row and the Ravens\u2019 skid at two. Ravens\u2019 offense gets going with new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.<\/p>\n
RAVENS, 24-17<\/p>\n
\nNo. 16 Bengals (plus 9) at No. 2 New England<\/p>\n
Bengals had a no-show in Big D. Going into New England for Brady\u2019s home opener? That\u2019s a Big L.<\/p>\n
BEST BET: PATRIOTS, 48-10<\/p>\n
\nNo. 31 San Francisco (plus 8) at No. 11 Buffalo<\/p>\n
49ers get a lift from Colin Kaepernick\u2019s first start of the season.<\/p>\n
UPSET SPECIAL: 49ERS, 24-13<\/p>\n
\nNo. 8 Philadelphia (minus 3) at No. 14 Washington<\/p>\n
Washington have won three in a row, but Carson Wentz cools them off.<\/p>\n
EAGLES, 27-21<\/p>\n
\nNo. 32 Cleveland (plus 7\u00bd) at No. 23 Tennessee<\/p>\n
Josh McCown could return for Cleveland. Browns are bound to win at some point.<\/p>\n
BROWNS, 21-20<\/p>\n
\nNo. 21 Carolina (minus 3) at No. 25 New Orleans<\/p>\n
With Cam Newton\u2019s status uncertain, Saints find a way in a matchup of one-win division rivals.<\/p>\n
SAINTS, 28-17<\/p>\n
\nNo. 28 Jacksonville (plus 3) at No. 30 Chicago<\/p>\n
Another meeting of one-win teams. Brian Hoyer wins it for Bears.<\/p>\n
BEARS, 24-20<\/p>\n
\nNo. 18 Los Angeles (plus 3) at No. 20 Detroit<\/p>\n
Lions falter after upset of Eagles.<\/p>\n
RAMS, 21-17<\/p>\n
\nNo. 12 Kansas City (plus 1\u00bd) at No. 10 Oakland<\/p>\n
Chiefs are winless on the road. Not a good omen going into Black Hole.<\/p>\n
RAIDERS, 35-31<\/p>\n
\nNo. 7 Atlanta (plus 6) at No. 4 Seattle<\/p>\n
Falcons coach Dan Quinn returns to the Pacific Northwest, but Russell Wilson is ready for him.<\/p>\n
SEAHAWKS, 30-21<\/p>\n
\nNo. 9 Dallas (plus 4) at No. 6 Green Bay<\/p>\n
Aaron Rodgers slows down Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.<\/p>\n
PACKERS, 30-20<\/p>\n
\nNo. 22 Indianapolis (plus 3) at No. 15 Houston<\/p>\n
Texans might be the weakest first-place team in the league. Colts could tie them with a win.<\/p>\n
COLTS, 23-21<\/p>\n
\nNo. 26 New York Jets (plus 7\u00bd) at No. 17 Arizona<\/p>\n
Carson Palmer is expected to return for Arizona. Cardinals\u2019 D is eager to test Ryan Fitzpatrick.<\/p>\n
CARDINALS, 31-14<\/p>\n
\nLast Week: Against spread (10-2-1). Straight up: (9-5)<\/p>\n
Season Totals: Against spread (38-34-3). Straight up: (46-31)<\/p>\n
Best Bet: 2-3 against spread, 3-2 straight up.<\/p>\n
Upset special: 3-2 against spread, 3-2 straight up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Going on the road on a short week against a division rival is usually a challenge for most teams. For the defending champion Denver Broncos, it is extra difficult this week. Coming off their first loss of the season, the Broncos will be without coach Gary Kubiak when they visit the reeling San Diego Chargers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15287"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}