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Getting Back on Track

Posted Oct 5, 2011

With the Chargers in their sights, the Broncos are looking to 'get back on the winning track' in Week 5.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Broncos aren't interested in talking about "make-or-break" games.

But sitting at 1-3 entering Sunday's matchup with the Chargers, there is a sense of urgency in the locker room.

“It’s time to turn it around now," Kevin Vickerson said. "It’s a conference game. You’ve got to start off fresh. We had a bad one (against) Oakland that we feel we should have won, and now it’s just we don’t want to have that feeling again of ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda.’ Now, we’ve got to go out and handle business and do what we’ve got to do.”

After watching film together as a team on Monday, Robert Ayers said the first four games are in the past, and the team believes it can fight its way to the top of AFC West race. Still, Kyle Orton said the first quarter of the season was "not good enough."

“Certainly we’d like to have a better record than we do," Orton said. "Just like no game is lost in the first quarter, I don’t think any season is lost in the first quarter as well. At 1-3, we dug ourselves a little hole. I think we all have a sense of urgency to play better and win more.”

As Vickerson alluded, the next chance to grab a win comes against the division-rival San Diego Chargers.

San Diego, currently 3-1, is on a three-game winning streak against Denver, with the last Broncos win at home coming in a 39-38 victory early in the 2008 season.

The Chargers have won the AFC West four out of the last five years, with Kansas City taking the division in 2010.

"Last year and the previous years before last year, they were the team to beat," Ayers said of the Chargers. "Some consider them the team to beat this year. We want to throw our hat in there and we want to become the team to beat. The first step is to beat them and go on from there. We’re going to try to come in and get a big win for us and go into the bye week with some momentum.”

The idea of grabbing momentum before the bye week was a popular one in the locker room, and Fox echoed that sentiment.

“I don’t care how much time is after a game, it always feels better after you win," he said. "The grass is greener, sky is bluer, and everything has a better look to it when you win. There’s no doubt with a full week off, guys going different directions, it would be nice to come off a win.”

The team understands the challenges that quarterback Philip Rivers and the Chargers present, and the club is going to prepare this week to make sure it's ready for the challenge in Sports Authority Field at Mile High Sunday.

"We’ve got to find a way to get back on the winning track," Orton said. "No better time than against San Diego at home.”

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