Going in opposite directions?

Let’s get right to it. Chris Simms is the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, if only for one week.

And what a week. San Diego heads to Denver hot off a four-game winning streak to face a Broncos team that seemingly has lost more than just their first-string passer. That’s the good thing about “seemingly,” though; it’s not written in stone.

You see, the Chargers are “seemingly” a much better team right now. Since Oct. 25, San Diego hasn’t lost. Denver hasn’t won. The Chargers have battled back into position to take the division after peering up from a three-game hole six weeks into the season. Denver has given critics caustic ammunition with a three-game skid and a struggling offense.

But that’s only the surface view, the highlight reel from one month of an entire season. What exactly have the Chargers accomplished? Four wins over four teams in four weeks is nothing to scoff at. This is the NFL, and as we all saw last week even a team like Washington can be a tough out, but the Chargers’ docket wasn’t a murderer’s row.

Two wins came at the hands of the hapless Raiders and Chiefs. And the other two weren’t spectacular. A win over the Giants in New York is exciting to talk about, but the G-Men were on a three-game slide at the time, having lost to New Orleans and Philadelphia by a combined 44 points. Which brings us to the Eagles. Playing at home, with LT finding his groove for the first time in ages, against a Philly squad playing most of the game without Brian Westbrook, the Chargers should have feasted. Instead they allowed Donovan McNabb to bring the game down to the wire.

No one’s denying the opposite directions the two franchises have traveled in the past month, but let’s be honest, San Diego has some holes.

Against New York, Brandon Jacobs went off for 6.1 yards per clip, a full two yards better than his own season average, before the Giants inexplicably took the game out of his hands. The Giants were winning this one late in the fourth, and yet they let Philip Rivers steal it away.

So there it is. There’s the key. If Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb can’t do it on their own, then there’s no reason to ask Simms to try. Call me crazy, but the last time I checked, the way to beat the league’s 23rd-ranked rushing defense wasn’t by throwing the ball.

In losses to the Ravens and Steelers, San Diego was washed for 307 combined yards on the ground. Youngster Rashard Mendenhall went off for 165 and two scores, the Ravens managed a buck thirty . . . before the emergence of Ray Rice. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that Willis McGahee is better than Knowshon Moreno. He’s certainly not any better than the combination of Moreno and Correll Buckhalter.

That stat works both ways. As much as Denver will need to run the ball, control the clock and grind it out against a suspect Chargers’ front, they’ll need to stop a suddenly reborn Tomlinson. In their three losses, the Chargers didn’t top 100 yards rushing once. Forget Rivers; let him throw it all day. That hasn’t been the winning formula in Southern California. Over 114 attempts and six touchdown passes in games against Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Denver, Rivers has no wins.

The re-emergence of the San Diego ground game is the impetus behind their recent winning ways. Check out the losses again. Baltimore held them to 53, Pittsburgh held them to 16, and Denver allowed only 73. As pretty as the powder blue has looked, the formula isn’t difficult – stop the ground game, own the clock and let Moreno break away. Let Buckhalter pick up some tough yards. Heck, let Lamont Jordan and Peyton Hillis get in on the action.

There’s a lot being made of Orton’s absence, and there’s no doubt that he’ll be missed, but this game doesn’t have to come down to Simms. Yes, there needs to be balance, and yeah, Simms will have to keep San Diego honest. But if you take away San Diego’s great pass rushers, if you frustrate Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips and Larry English by pounding it inside, this team is beatable. Simms doesn’t have to best Rivers. He won’t do it; he’s not that guy. But like we’ve seen from San Diego all season, he just doesn’t have to.

Denver’s been here before. They’ve already beaten San Diego. The defense that held Rivers and Co. to 311 total yards won’t be missing any starters. The ground game that helped convert nine of 16 third downs is better now than it was then. And that spark that burned throughout the 6-0 start is still hidden somewhere in the depths of a team that can be special again, that has been special, if the offense can just find a way to stay on the field.

If Denver’s good fortunes in October can disappear in a matter of weeks, then who’s to say the recent run of bad luck can’t do the same?

At the end of the day, the Chargers’ road wins have come against the Dolphins, the Raiders and a slumping NFC East afterthought. Denver’s knocked off the Patriots and the Cowboys at home. This is a winnable game, Denver. Let it happen.

See more from Hunter Ansley at DraftZoo.com