San Diego – This was not so much a game between AFC West rivals as a one-sided, schoolyard whipping.
By halftime, the Broncos were flat on their backs, knocked silly by a superiorly talented, rugged and spirited group of San Diego Chargers. All seemed lost, not only for this one game, but for the season.
And then, out from the halftime locker room came a strong-armed kid with a jolt of newfound confidence.
Jay Cutler, a rookie playing in his second NFL game, stood in front of that band of bullies from San Diego and started firing back. His gallantry wasn’t enough to prevent Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson from setting the NFL’s single-season touchdown record, or San Diego from trouncing the Broncos, 48-20, on a pleasant December afternoon at raucous Qualcomm Stadium.
But Cutler showed the veterans inside a dejected locker room and anyone else who might have doubted him in Denver that he backs down from no one, even if it’s Shawne Merriman blitzing his blindside.
“I don’t talk a lot in here. I don’t try to pump guys up. I’m not trying to tell people what to do,” Cutler said after completing 17-of-30 passes for 188 yards with no interceptions and two touchdowns to fellow rookie Tony Scheffler. “There are a lot of veterans in here, and the only way to get their respect is go out there and play better and get some wins.”
There have been no wins in the Broncos’ recent past, a four-game drought that leaves them no choice but to win their final three games if they are to have any chance of reaching the AFC playoffs as a wild-card team.
They can forget about repeating as AFC West champions. Their title defense is finished. The Chargers clinched the division with their seventh consecutive victory, which made them the AFC’s current No. 1 seed, with an 11-2 record.
For both teams, the season’s turning point was Nov. 19 at Invesco Field at Mile High.
In a showdown of 7-2 teams, the Broncos were leading 24-7 after cornerback Darrent Williams returned an interception for a touchdown nearly five minutes into the third quarter. The Chargers rallied to win that game behind Tomlinson and quarterback Philip Rivers and haven’t lost since.
Meanwhile, the Broncos, as a unit, have collapsed.
When Tomlinson rushed for his third touchdown here Sunday, and into the NFL record book with 3 minutes and 10 seconds remaining, it was Williams who was left laying on the 5-yard line after tackling nothing but air.
In scoring 29 touchdowns this season, one more than Seattle’s Shaun Alexander last season, Tomlinson got seven in just two games against the Broncos.
“It means a lot because they are the (division) champs, last year’s champs, and they’ve had great defenses there since as long as I can remember,” Tomlinson said. “It’s obviously big, scoring that many touchdowns against Denver.”
Yes, well, if the champs aren’t dead, their defense is playing like it. What happened to Denver’s D? Through six games, the Broncos not only were rivaling the Chicago Bears with the league’s best defense this season but the 1934 Detroit Lions and 1942 Chicago Cardinals as one of the best defenses in history.
That same defense put the Broncos down 28-3 at halftime Sunday – the third time in seven games it had allowed four touchdowns in one half. Then, after Cutler engineered a 17-0, third-quarter comeback that included a superb deep throw off a scramble that conjured up comparisons to John Elway, the defense allowed 20 more points in the fourth quarter.
True, San Diego’s offense didn’t have to travel far for those 20 points, as the Broncos’ offense failed twice on fourth down in its own territory, and Cutler fumbled the ball away after getting whacked from behind by Merriman.
But a defense for the ages is supposed to stop offenses no matter what. Is the Broncos’ defense gassed from carrying an ineffective offense through the bulk of the season?
“Having played in Dallas and Cleveland, I know what fatigue is, and we’re nowhere close to that,” Broncos defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban said. “First six weeks we’re playing good fundamental football, and since then we just haven’t been hitting on all points. Tough question, man. We’re all trying. We’re just not getting plays done.”
Although this game will long be remembered for Tomlinson’s record- breaking achievement – he has three more games to put the TD mark out of reach – the Broncos’ biggest problem was defending Rivers, and two of the league’s most imposing targets in tight end Antonio Gates and former Northern Colorado receiver Vincent Jackson.
So efficient was the Chargers’ offense, there was a draw-it-up-in-the- dirt element to their play. The Chargers scored one touchdown, a 4-yard run by fullback Lorenzo Neal, on the old fumblerooski. Two other times, Rivers threw jump balls in the end zone to the well-covered Gates, who used his college basketball rebounding skills to come down with both for touchdowns.
“That’s what I call the me-to-you factor,” Rivers said. “It’s sitting by his locker for three years and hanging out a little bit off the field.”
In the locker room at halftime, the Broncos got a Knute Rockne speech from, of all people, backup quarterback Jake Plummer. The Broncos’ starter in three previous seasons and the first 11 games of this one, Plummer reminded his teammates, apparently at high decibels, that the game was not finished.
Plummer’s words became Cutler’s performance.
Although, it had been awhile since the Broncos absorbed a licking this bad, Cutler presents reason to play out the final three games and, you know, see what happens.
“We got it going for a while,” said Broncos running back Tatum Bell, who had his second straight 100-yard rushing game. “It was just too late.”
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
EXTRA POINTS
Broncos reporter Bill Williamson breaks down Denver’s 48-20 loss at San Diego on Sunday:
TURNING POINT: Bolting into the lead
Four San Diego touchdowns in the first half gave the Chargers a 28-3 lead and decided the game. The Broncos outscored the Chargers 17-0 in the third quarter, but the uphill climb proved daunting.
“That first half was too much,” Denver defensive tackle Gerard Warren said.
CRAZY PLAY OF THE DAY: Perfect trickery
In the first quarter, the Chargers used a fumblerooski play for a touchdown. From the Denver 4, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers took a low snap from the shotgun formation, then shuttled the ball through the legs of fullback Lorenzo Neal, who went around left end and into the end zone to give San Diego a 14-0 lead.
HIT OF THE DAY: Hamza the hammer
In the first quarter, Broncos special-teams player Hamza Abdullah hammered San Diego returner Eric Parker, causing Parker to flip. The Broncos love Abdullah’s hitting ability. In the third quarter, Abdullah also was in on a San Diego fumble on a kickoff after the Broncos made it 28-10. The fumble set up a Denver touchdown to cut the score to 28-17.
BESTS: SoCal sunshine
Weather: It was partly sunny and in the 60s. A great California day in December.
Effort: Broncos nickel defensive back Curome Cox made a great play to bat the ball away from San Diego tight end Antonio Gates on a third down, forcing San Diego to punt.
Effort II: In the first quarter, Gates, using his height and leaping ability, grabbed a touchdown pass away from Broncos cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Darrent Williams.
Run: Denver’s Tatum Bell, above, sprinted down the Broncos’ sideline in the second quarter for 51 yards to the San Diego 24 before he stepped out of bounds. The Broncos settled for a field goal to make it 14-3.
Arm: Broncos rookie quarterback Jay Cutler has a long way to go, but the guy has a rocket arm. There’s no doubting that.
Gesture: After rookie tight end Tony Scheffler scored his first NFL touchdown in the third quarter, veteran Broncos tight end Stephen Alexander retrieved the ball to give to Scheffler.
WORSTS: Fumblin’, bumblin’
Handle: Cutler, above, has to get a better handle on the ball. He fumbled a snap and later fumbled after being hit. Both times he was deep in Denver territory.
Song: The Chargers still play their theme song from the 1970s, “San Diego Super Chargers.” Bad times.
Broncos killer: Vincent Jackson, starting for the injured Keenan McCardell, is a Broncos killer. He came up with a big, 35-yard catch in the first quarter. Jackson then had a huge, 55-yard catch early in the fourth quarter. Jackson, who is from Colorado Springs and went to Northern Colorado, scored a touchdown against the Broncos three weeks ago.
REPORT CARD
Offense
C: Rookie quarterback Jay Cutler made strides in the second half. He seems to be building good chemistry with fellow rookies Tony Scheffler and Brandon Marshall. Tight end Scheffler caught two touchdown passes in the third quarter. Tatum Bell finished with 116 yards rushing. That effort broke a 20-game Chargers streak in which they hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher at home. The offense is coming around.
Defense
D: It was the roughest game of the season on this side of the ball. The Chargers made big plays when they needed, especially in the passing game. Denver did a decent job against the run, as San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson finished with 103 yards rushing, but overall San Diego did what it wanted.
Special teams
C: These units had their moments. The Broncos came up with a big play when they forced a fumble on a kickoff. That set up a touchdown as the Broncos tried to get back in the game in the third quarter.
Coaching
C: The playbook opened up more offensively in Cutler’s second start. The offense was more aggressive. Defensively, the Broncos didn’t have many answers for the Chargers.
Overall
D: It’s not a pretty picture. The Broncos have lost four consecutive games for the first time since the first four games of the 1999 season. They were swept by San Diego for the first time in 24 years. Denver, once a 7-2 lock to make the playoffs, needs to win out if it has any hopes of playing in January.
– Bill Williamson
