Rare is the man who possesses such imperial presence he can bring an entire room to a stop just by walking in.
Then there’s John Elway. He walked into Invesco Field at Mile High before the game Sunday between his former Broncos and the Chargers. And the entire joint stopped and gawked, then rocked with applause.
As current Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer often has said, this is John Elway’s town. Always has been. Always will be. And what does the Duke think about the way Plummer has played this season?
“I think he’s done a good job with what they’re asking him to do,” Elway said. “I think the offense is different than what it has been. I think they’re good enough on defense to where their offense is playing to their defense.”
In other words, this Broncos offense is more conservative.
“Absolutely, although they are orchestrating their offense around making the big plays,” Elway said. “Instead of just letting the big plays happen, they’re kind of setting them up. But overall, I think they’re a little more conservative, and when you’re that good on defense, there’s no reason to get too risky.”
As Elway kibitzed behind the south goalposts with well-wishers, Marty Schottenheimer, the Chargers’ coach and an Elway victim in so many big games, ran over from his pregame coaching position to shake hands. Wade Phillips, a former Broncos coach who now is the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, also came over to hug his old quarterback.
It’s hard to believe now, but before his two Super Bowl championships and induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Elway would hear his share of stinging cries for backup quarterback Gary Kubiak. The discontent was never more pronounced than during their 5-11 season in 1990.
Two years later, six years before Elway retired, the Broncos selected quarterback Tommy Maddox in the first round. Plummer has experienced similar pressure this year with rookie Jay Cutler, a first-round draft pick, playing behind him.
“That’s playing in Denver,” Elway said. “This town is about winning football games, and more than that, it’s about winning championships. They’re winning. That’s one of the key things.”
Prime time, again
The league and NBC are expected to announce today that the Broncos’ Dec. 3 game against the Seattle Seahawks, scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at Invesco Field, will be pushed back to 6:15 p.m. and be carried as the Sunday night game of the week.
It would be the second time this season the Broncos will play three consecutive prime- time games.
Meadows starts again
For the second consecutive week, Adam Meadows started at right tackle for the Broncos. Meadows, who came back this year after retiring because of a shoulder injury after the 2003 season, replaced former starter George Foster last week at Oakland and remained in the lineup against the Chargers.
Tatum Bell inactive
The Broncos’ inactive players Sunday night included injured players Tatum Bell (turf toes) and defensive end Patrick Chukwurah (hamstring). Other inactives were receiver-returners Quincy Morgan and Brian Clark, running back Cedric Cobbs, guard Chris Kuper, tight end Tony Scheffler and defensive tackle Antwon Burton.
It was the second consecutive game that Scheffler, Denver’s second-round pick, didn’t play because of a coach’s decision.
Action Jackson
It had to be quite a thrill for former Northern Colorado wide receiver Vincent Jackson to score the Chargers’ go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Jackson beat Broncos defenders to the far left corner of the end zone and grabbed a Philip Rivers pass for a 5-yard score that, after the extra point, put San Diego up 28-27 with 6:45 left.
“I ran straight at the back pylon. … (The cornerback) was in no-man’s land,” Jackson said.
Jackson’s first catch at Invesco Field, a 26-yarder in the first quarter, moved the ball into Denver territory en route to the first touchdown of the game.
A 6-foot-5, 241-pounder, Jackson played in one game against Denver as a rookie but did not catch a pass. He was born in Louisiana but played high school football at Widefield in Colorado Springs.
Depleted Chargers “D”
The Chargers’ defense missed two key components of its front line, including one of the league’s most exciting young players.
Shawne Merriman, last season’s consensus choice as NFL rookie of the year and a Pro Bowl starter, served the second game of a four-game suspension after a positive test for steroids. Merriman will come off the suspension for the Dec. 10 home game against the Broncos. Despite already missing a game, he entered this week with 8 1/2 sacks to rank fourth in the league.
Also out was defensive end Luis Castillo, who missed his second game with an ankle injury. Castillo has five sacks. Then more players got banged up during the game and went in and out.
“We obviously had difficulty defending the run against the run,” Schottenheimer said. “We were having trouble finding guys to put on the field. I mean literally, I’m not talking figuratively.”
Penalty phase
San Diego’s defense helped Denver get in position to pull off a miracle comeback. With the Broncos out of timeouts and needing to go the length of the field in the final minute, the Chargers’ defense had two penalties, giving Denver 20 yards and stopping the clock each time. The first penalty was a personal foul on defensive end Igor Olshansky. The second was a 5-yard delay of game on Drayton Florence. The miscues allowed Denver to get into San Diego territory in the final 30 seconds.
“We had some things that occurred there at the end of the game that I’m very disturbed about,” Schottenheimer said. “It has been addressed. Young players, from time to time, do things that given the opportunity to think about it would not be involved in.”
Players, official squabble
Both safety Nick Ferguson and cornerback Darrent Williams said after the game that side judge James Coleman, in his second NFL season, initiated a verbal argument with Williams after San Diego converted an extra point to make the score 35-27 with 1:14 remaining.
Denver linebacker Ian Gold was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. Then Williams was docked another 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct toward Coleman.
“Aw, man, I think you can get fined for talking about refs on TV, so I don’t even want to say nothing about it,” Williams said. “There was some (baloney), that’s all I can say. He didn’t explain nothing. Basically … he said some negative things to me and I said some back and I got a flag for it. That’s the nature of the game.
“We’re all grown men out there. You talk to a grown man in a way like he’s a kid, we’re going to talk the same way back to you. You cuss us out, we’re going to cuss you right back. You’re not out there to cuss us out, you’re out there to officiate a game. I’ve never had a problem with a ref since I’ve been playing football. I never got cussed out by a ref so that caught me by surprise.”
Ferguson said that Coleman told Williams that he too once played football.
“What does that matter?” Ferguson said.
Special-teams changes
The Broncos have been porous on special teams most of the season. Sunday, it may have hit a head. San Diego averaged 33.8 yards on five kickoff returns.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’re going to have to do something to be more productive than we’ve been,” coach Mike Shanahan said.
Injury update
The Broncos didn’t report any injuries.
Footnotes
It is the first time Denver has lost back-to-back games at home since November 2002. … San Diego won in Denver for the third time since 1987.
Staff writers Scott Monserud, Jim Armstrong and Tom Kensler contributed to this report.
