SAN DIEGO -- In the San Diego Chargers’ only win in three games against the Denver Broncos last season, the blueprint appeared pretty clear.

The Chargers used running back Ryan Mathews to wear down Denver’s defense by churning first downs. San Diego’s defense won on third down against one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game.

And by churning first downs on offense, quarterback Philip Rivers essentially played keep-away from Manning.

Mathews ran for 127 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. The Chargers held the ball for more than 38 minutes. And Denver’s offense finished 2-of-9 on third down, helping San Diego earn a 27-20 victory.

Can San Diego put on a repeat performance on Thursday night?

“We want to be on the field as much as we can,” Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “We want to play our game. And that is our game. Our game is convert on third down, mix it with the run and pass, be efficient and score touchdowns in the red zone.”

Reich went on to say that undrafted rookie free-agent running back Branden Oliver will get his opportunities on Thursday. Oliver has rushed for over 100 yards in two of San Diego’s past three games.

“Against this defense you want to stay out of third-and-longs against those pass-rushers that they’ve got over there,” Reich said. “So we want to have positive plays, stay in phase and try to keep doing what we want to do. And Branden has been running the ball great, so we’re going to try to get him more touches than he had last week.”

Oliver rushed 16 times for 69 yards in a loss against Kansas City last week.

Rivers said whether or not his team runs the ball effectively or controls the clock, there’s one thing the Chargers have to do -- score early and often. Denver is averaging a league-best 31.5 points per game.

“I don’t think we go into the game playing keep-away,” Rivers said. “We go into the game playing to score. And if we score fast, great -- but we’ve got to score. You can’t go three to four possessions without scoring. We did that in the playoff game, and when you look up it was 21-0, 17-0 or whatever it was, just like that. And that’s not a team you want to be playing catch-up with all day long.”