DENVER—The San Diego Chargers rediscovered their offense, gave Philip Rivers a needed boost of confidence and sent the Denver Broncos fans scurrying for the exits before the start of the fourth quarter.
Not a bad day’s work.
The Chargers amassed 484 yards of offense and snapped a three-game skid in a 41-3 blowout of Denver on Sunday. It was the Broncos’ worst loss at home since 1966.
“I hope this is the real Chargers,” linebacker Matt Wilhelm said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better game.”
Or a better start. The Chargers (2-3) were up 14-0 within a span of 11 seconds midway through the first quarter. Rivers scored on a 2-yard run and then Broncos kickoff returner Brian Clark fumbled the ensuing kickoff right into the arms of Brandon Siler, who returned it 23 yards for a touchdown.
“It gave us an added confidence level,” said tight end Antonio Gates, who caught seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. “This league is tough and when you have two good teams, it makes it hard for the team trailing to make a dramatic comeback.”
That rang even more true since Denver’s defense couldn’t get San Diego’s offense off the field. The Chargers averaged 8.8 yards a play.
“Whatever the Chargers did, it worked,” Broncos cornerback Dre’ Bly said. “Whatever we did, didn’t. It was like we weren’t even out there on the field.”
Reigning MVP LaDainian Tomlinson looked like the L.T. of old. He had 140 yards of offense and his backfield mate, Michael Turner, finished with 147 yards rushing, including a 74-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Tomlinson, who scored 31 touchdowns and won his first rushing title with a career-best 1,815 yards last season, said getting the ground game on track was a point of emphasis all week in practice.
“Even though they tried to play eight men in the box, we were still committed to it,” Tomlinson said. “Today, we were able to execute our game plan.”
Rivers, who had thrown six interceptions and lost three fumbles coming into the game, played virtually flawless as he directed the team on scoring drives on six of their first eight possessions. He threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns on 13-of-18 passing for a nearly perfect quarterback rating of 151.4.
His 2-yard run on a naked bootleg may have been his first rushing touchdown of his career, but it brought him grief from teammates.
“It took forever. Forever. I don’t think I ever seen anybody run that slow,” Tomlinson said with a grin.
Yet Denver’s defense was in no position to catch him or the rest of the Chargers. Bly chalked up the demolition of the defense to just a bad day. Linebacker Ian Gold said the defense has its work cut out for them—a lot of work.
“I’ve never gotten beat like this in my entire career—even dating back to high school,” Gold said. “How do you explain 41-0 or whatever it was? You don’t.”
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan blamed himself after the game, saying he didn’t have the team prepared as they dropped their third straight.
“We’re a much better football than what we were today,” Shanahan said.
So bad were the Broncos (2-3) that fans began to boo them early in the second half and then filed out.
Receiver Brandon Marshall took offense to the exodus, even calling the crowd out.
“Don’t boo us when we’re down,” said Marshall, who tied a career high with seven receptions, but had a costly fumble in the second quarter deep in San Diego territory. “When we’re losing, you all stay in those seats. … You have your ups and downs in football.”
The Broncos had plenty of downs Sunday. They were limited to one field goal on 11 drives in suffering their worst home defeat since the Kansas City Chiefs’ 56-10 rout on Oct. 23, 1966.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more embarrassed,” Shanahan said. “I don’t think our players have ever been more embarrassed to put on that type of show.”
The heat is off Chargers coach Norv Turner—at least for a week. He was heavily criticized during his 1-3 start with basically the same team that went 14-2 under Marty Schottenheimer last season.
“We did a lot of good things. We have a long way to go, and took a step in the right direction,” Turner said. “We made progress.”
Notes:@ apB Champ Bailey strained his left quadriceps while covering Gates. “I don’t feel good,” said Bailey, who was concerned he might miss some time. … ap Tom Nalen injured his right elbow and said he’ll learn the extent of the injury Monday. … This was just the third time in Shanahan’s 13 seasons in Denver that the Broncos failed to score a touchdown.
