SAN DIEGO — The Broncos are none and done. San Diego was a town without pity.
In the same stadium where, on a Sunday night in late January of 1998, in front of the whole world, they did Denver, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain region and themselves so very proud in majestic victory, the Broncos, on a Sunday night in late December of 2008, before an entire nation, were absolutely annihilated in disgraceful defeat.
A code of conduct posted throughout Qualcomm Stadium prohibits abusive actions, inconsiderate behavior and indecent exposure.
All the rules and the Broncos were broken on Sunday night. The Chargers acted abusively toward, behaved inconsiderately to, and indecently exposed the Broncos.
San Diego rules. The Broncos bow.
Bolts 52, Broncos 21.
Not since The Halloween Horror Show in Indianapolis 20 years ago has an opposing team piled more points on the Broncos in a regular-season game. But there was a 55-10 Super Bowl embarrassment once.
Bailey was the only Champ. The other Broncos were Chumps.
Heaven help us, because Ed Hochuli couldn’t have saved the Broncos this night if he had been here and made a dozen wrong calls. The Broncos were offensive on offense, defenseless on defense, pathetic as players, contemptible as coaches and grotesque as a group.
And Matt Prater hit the upright twice on one extra point.
Before the game, the Chargers and 69,131 sang the national anthem and said: “Let us prey.”
Then, after kicking a field goal on their first series, the Chargers scored touchdowns on seven of their last nine possessions. They punted once.
When does the Broncos’ next defensive coordinator arrive in Denver? A different offensive coordinator? Another choking kicker? Fourteen more running backs? Three additional drafted defensive linemen? Two more free-agent safeties? Players off the streets and out of the shopping malls?
A new head coach?
In the past six Broncos-Chargers games, San Diego has scored 35, 48, 41, 23, 38 and 52 points — for a total of 237 and an average of 39.5.
The Broncos have scored 27, 20, 3, 3, 39 and 21 — and the lone triumph, this season, was a gift.
In their past 48 games, the Broncos have won only 24 — and have been shut out of the division title and the playoffs three consecutive years. They have allowed 38 points or more in seven games from 2006-08 — and 409 points last year, 448 this season. The Broncos scored 320 points in 2007, 370 in 2008. Records of 9-7, 7-9 and 8-8 are not an abnormality, but a regularity.
Something has gone terribly wrong in the Mile High City.
Dove Valley is now Pigeon Forge.
“Dropping 52 on anybody is nice,” Chargers guard Kris Dielman said. The Chargers dropped on the Broncos like a B-52.
The Broncos went ahead of the Chargers 7 minutes, 18 seconds into the final game of the regular season. The Broncos should have called a timeout and taken a team photo. It would be the last time of the season they would be leading. And they couldn’t even get that touchdown right. Prater’s kick bounced through on the extra point, but a penalty nullified it. He got a second chance. And clanked it.
The Chargers scored 10 points in the first quarter, 14 in each of the last three quarters. The Broncos didn’t score more than a touchdown in any quarter, and none in one. They couldn’t stop the Chargers; they couldn’t have stopped the march of the penguins at Sea World. The Chargers rushed for a team-record 289 yards and were 9 offensive yards shy of 500.
On the Broncos’ first play, Jay Cutler tossed to Eddie Royal . . . for a loss of 3 yards. Then Cutler, or Mike Shanahan, forgot about Royal and Brandon Marshall for quite a while. By the time the quarterback and the coach rediscovered the two receivers, the Broncos were staggered. If this had been a fight, it wouldn’t have been stopped; it wouldn’t have been scheduled.
Just before the half, Cutler threw a pass intercepted in the end zone. Nothing fresh there. In 2008 he has thrown passes intercepted at the 6-yard line, the 1-yard line, the goal line, and two in the end zone.
Three more indignations remained. On fourth-and-5 at the San Diego 30 in the fourth quarter, Marshall got behind the secondary and was free at the goal. He tripped on the imaginary line, and the football bounced away. Marshall begged for the ball and spiked it.
San Diego went 70 yards without pushing or prodding to make it a 31-point game, and Cutler then completed four meaningless passes to Royal.
Champ Bailey, who had missed seven games, injured his elbow on the second play. It was announced that his return was questionable as Bailey ran to the locker room. He did come back and make seven solo tackles. The rest of the Broncos offered no resistance or defiance. The crowd chanted “Donkeys.”
There is “quit” in the Broncos. They quit in the last three games, the last three seasons.
And they shamed the memory of a game played by the Broncos in this city on this field.
It was well done in 1998, just done in 2008. Pity.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
