Chargers "OWN" Broncos

San Diego Tribune— The smiles on their faces, their yells of defiance and the bounce in their step as they left the field revealed the importance of this beatdown.

The Chargers led from their first drive yesterday and routed the Denver Broncos 32-3 to take over what they believe is their rightful spot atop the AFC West.

"You'd love to say this is just another game, but it wasn't," linebacker Shawne Merriman said. "We were playing for first place in the division."

The Chargers, winners of five straight since Denver beat them Oct. 19 in San Diego, were at least a mile high as they considered their current roll and the significance of pummeling the plummeting Broncos.

"We had to re-establish ourselves this game as the first-place team in the AFC West," tight end Antonio Gates said. "That's why it was huge.

"The mental part was to prove to them we're still the AFC West champs. I think that was bigger than anything."

The Broncos (6-4) began the game running seven times. On their eighth play, quarterback Chris Simms dropped to pass, Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips hit his hand from behind and knocked the ball to the ground, where safety Steve Gregory picked it up.

Starting at their 31-yard line, the Chargers (7-3) drove to a touchdown and a lead that was never in jeopardy even as they struggled to put the game away until the third quarter.

The Chargers are now 11-5 over the past four Novembers, with one more game to play before reaching the month in which they haven't lost since 2005.

"We fought back earlier this year, and we're playing our best ball," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "Hopefully, we can keep going that way through December as we have in the past."

Already, they believe they've re-acquired division ownership.

Said running back LaDainian Tomlinson: "I think we established that we're the best team in the AFC West this year."

Jay Cutler is gone. So maybe Josh McDaniels is the Bronco that San Diego will love to hate now.

The Chargers' locker room was abuzz yesterday, as players were both offended and amused by the Denver Broncos head coach telling the Chargers linebackers before yesterday's game, "We own you."

That, at least, was the version offered by the linebackers, to a man.

McDaniels, who slowed down to talk on his way to his car more than an hour after the game, said the Chargers started the trash talking. He would not elaborate on what he may have said, but neither did he deny he talked back.

"They talked to me first," McDaniels said. "I'm not making a story about this. If I did, I'd be able to tell you some things that aren't (fit) for papers."

The linebackers did not deny one or more among them may have started the dishing, but they thought McDaniels' behavior was beneath a man in his position.

"You gotta like his fire," Stephen Cooper said. "As a head coach I don't think you want to start jawing with players if you're not putting the pads on."

With a laugh, considering the Chargers' 32-3 victory, Cooper added, "Looks like he owned us, but it got repossessed."

A smiling Shawne Merriman said of McDaniels popping off: "It was cute."

Other Chargers said McDaniels directed his barb at Shaun Phillips. A source said it was Phillips who actually began the give and take.

"I'm not surprised," Phillips said of McDaniels talking. "He's a little cocky. ... It's all good, all fun and games. We didn't look too much into it. As a coach, I hope he has that mindset. But to say he owns us? I mean, you beat us one time. What has he really done in this league? He had a team 6-0, and now he's looking up at us from second place."
Clary gone?

The Chargers may have lost right tackle Jeromey Clary for the season after he was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with an injury to his left ankle.

Head coach Norv Turner said he believes the "injury is going to be more serious than I'd like it to be."

Brandyn Dombrowski replaced Clary and will be the likely fill-in, going forward, though the Chargers did sign signed tackle Corey Clark from the practice squad last week.

Dombrowski started two games in September at right guard and has been working at left tackle.

Clary left last week's game and did not practice last week with a sprained right ankle.
Blackout looms

Approximately 7,000 tickets remain for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and it appears the Chargers' club record-tying streak of 44 games without a local television blackout is in danger of ending.

Said Jim Steeg, the Chargers' chief operating officer: "It will be very difficult to sell 7,000 tickets in three days with a holiday weekend starting on Wednesday."

The game must be declared a sellout by 1:05 p.m. Thursday to avert the blackout, although an extension is possible due to because of the Thanksgiving. holiday.
Playing it smart

LaDainian Tomlinson carried 20 times for 73 yards and a touchdown but was off the field in stretches, in part by design and in part due to because of the hip injury that continues to bother him.

"It's still bruised," said Tomlinson, who injured the hip Nov. 8 against New York. "Whenever I get hit or land it, I monitor it. But I don't think about it. ... I also want to stay fresh throughout the game like I used to do with Michael Turner, and (Darren Sproles) is doing a heck of a job. That's why I come out, so I can be fresh in the fourth quarter if we need to put the game away."
Big air

Nate Kaeding is not one of the league's big legs on kickoffs. In fact, there are 16 kickers in the NFL with more touchbacks than Kaeding since he came into the league in 2004.

But maybe if Kaeding kicked in the altitude in Denver every week ...

Kaeding had five touchbacks yesterday, bringing his career total in six games in Denver to 19, exactly half his career total.

To make it even easier on Kaeding, 15-yard penalties against the Broncos had him twice kicking off from the 45.

"I've made a living off getting touchbacks here," Kaeding said. "To give it to me on the 45 it was a gift for sure."
Nuts 'n' Bolts

* Defensive end Luis Castillo left the game in the second quarter with a calf injury and did not return.
* Cornerback Quentin Jammer left the game for a play after colliding with Phillips while defending a pass. Last week he was felled for a series by friendly fire, when he and Eric Weddle collided. Said Jammer: "The only time I get hurt, it's always one of my teammates hitting me."
* For the first time in 50 years of playing the Broncos, the Chargers have won in Denver for the third time in four years ... only an Ed Hochuli call from having won four straight.
* After 36 punts, Mike Scifres finally had one make it into reach the end zone for a touchback. That leaves Detroit's Nick Harris as the only punter in the league to have punted more than 30 times without a touchback.
* In starting 6-0, the Broncos outscored opponents 76-10 in the second half, including 17-3 at San Diego. But during their four-game losing streak they've been outscored 77-17 after halftime, including 17-3 yesterday.
* The Chargers scored a touchdown on their first possession for just the second time in 10 games and third time in the past 31 games.

Chargers Thundering Into Denver

SAN DIEGO — What a difference a month makes.

When the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos were last on the field together a month agoat Qualcomm Stadium, it appeared the AFC West race was all but settled.

The Broncos defeated the Chargers 34-23 on Monday Night Football to take a 3½-game lead in the division race. Denver left that game undefeated at 6-0, and the Chargers had fallen to 2-3.

But never say never with San Diego, which now owns the same 6-3 mark as Denver atop the AFC West.

"It's like déjà vu, isn't it?" Chargers tight end Antonio Gates says, referring to the showdown in Denver on Sunday. "It's like every time we play Denver, it means more than one game. We'll be fired up."

The reversal of fortunes for these teams smacks of the turn of events late last season, when the Broncos collapsed down the stretch and became the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to blow a three-game division lead with three games to play, allowing San Diego to claim the division crown.

That meltdown seemed so unlikely to be repeated. Denver, with a rebuilt defense and new coach Josh McDaniels, started 6-0.

Yet here we are again. A Broncos collapse has coincided with a Chargers rally. "It's resiliency," Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie says.

The Chargers seemingly thrive on beating such long odds. They entered December last season left for dead at 4-8. In 2007, during Norv Turner's first season as coach, they started 1-3 before winning the division and advancing to the AFC title game.

Now this.

"We've been in this situation before, so it's not anything new to us," linebacker Shawne Merriman says. "You hate to start off the season the way we start off sometimes, but when your back's against the wall, we've shown we can go out and perform."

Turner praises the character and talent he's working with, but maintains that the early season struggles in each of his campaigns were unique in each case.

Two years ago, he actually projected a slow start as the team was adjusting to a new staff and system. Last season, they started 0-2, losing on the final play against the Carolina Panthers in the opener and the following week falling victim to referee Ed Hochuli's erroneous ruling that an apparent fumble by Denver quarterback Jay Cutler in the final minute was an incompletion.

This time, Turner points to injuries as the key factor. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson, nose tackle Jamal Williams and center Nick Hardwick were among five players injured in the season-opening victory at the Oakland Raiders. Williams, anchor of the 3-4 front, was lost for the season with a torn triceps. Hardwick hasn't returned from an ankle injury.

Tomlinson missed two games with a sprained ankle, and Turner saw his performance in Sunday's 31-23 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles (24 rushes for 96 yards and two TDs) as a sign that he's healthy again.

"We were beat up and banged up," Turner says. "We played that first month with guys on the offensive and defensive lines who were just feeling their way and learning how to play in this league."

Merriman's gradual return to form, after missing virtually all of last season with torn knee ligaments, also has been a boost for the defense.

Says Turner: "Merriman is a lot healthier than he was in September. He and (linebacker) Shaun Phillips, the month they've had, they've been on a tear."

San Diego's defense was on the field for 71 snaps and allowed 462 yards against the Eagles, but three times forced them to settle for short field goals when backed up in the red zone. A week earlier, the unit kept the New York Giants from scoring a game-clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter, forcing a field goal. That allowed quarterback Philip Rivers to lead a game-winning 80-yard drive in the final minutes that was capped with an 18-yard scoring pass to Vincent Jackson.

"Right now, we're on the cusp of being a good defense," inside linebacker Kevin Burnett says. "We can talk about being great later. If we can be consistent and then put together a string of victories — six, seven, eight in a row — then you can say we're a good defense."

The Chargers know all about winning streaks.

They won five in a row last season before an AFC divisional playoff loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two seasons ago, they took an eight-game streak into the AFC title game. In 2006, they closed the regular season with a 10-game winning streak before a playoff-opening loss that cost Marty Schottenheimer his job as Turner's predecessor.

"We know how to rally," cornerback Quentin Jammer says. "When we put our minds to it, we know how to get it done as a team."

They'll soon get another chance to prove that to the Broncos.

Chargers Win! Denver Doesn't!

SIGN ON SAN DIEGO.COM – Little more than 3½ weeks ago, they were 3½ games out of first place. They had all sorts of defensive shortcomings, no running game to speak of and no reason to think LaDainian Tomlinson would be able to bring it back to life.

Catch the Denver Broncos? Again?

Puh-lease.

Four games and four wins later, almost unfathomably, the Chargers already have climbed back alongside Denver atop the AFC West Division. Withstanding a full-scale passing assault by Donovan McNabb, the Chargers on Sunday pulled out a 31-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, drawing even with the Broncos at 6-3. As these things happen, of course, the Chargers play at Denver next Sunday.

The game was witnessed by 68,879, the third-largest crowd to ever see the Chargers play at home, and a considerable number of those in attendance came across country to see McNabb shred the Chargers’ defense. And he did. To a point.

Thwarted time and again by San Diego when getting in close through the first three quarters – by which time the Chargers led 28-9 on the strength of two Tomlinson touchdowns – McNabb passed the Eagles to two scores to make things interesting. He finished with 450 yards passing.

Philip Rivers showed some mastery of his own, though, killing enough time off the clock en route to a Nate Kaeding field goal with 30 seconds to play. The game ended with Antonio Cromartie intercepting McNabb's desperation pass in the end zone.

Even before kickoff, the Chargers knew they had first place within their grasp, no small thing to a team that began the season 2-3 and already 3½ games behind the then-unbeaten Denver Broncos. In an earlier game Sunday, the Broncos were upset at Washington, dropping the Broncos to 6-3 with their third straight loss.

The Eagles gave the Chargers a nice little gift in the game’s early going, too, Sav Rocca squibbing his first punt for just 30 yards to set up San Diego at the Eagles’ 40. The Chargers covered half the distance, including a 10-yard gain by receiver Legedu Naanee on a direct snap from “wildcat” formation, before Rivers hit fullback Mike Tolbert with a quick pass over the middle and the 20-yard touchdown.

As they did last week in a road defeat of the New York Giants, the Chargers were particularly effective in first-down defense, forcing the Eagles to the air. Not all of the passing was done by McNabb, either. Michael Vick made his first appearance of the game late in the first quarter, throwing a second-and-eight pass well downfield to DeSean Jackson, who dropped the ball and turned an ankle in the process.

San Diego maintained the 7-0 lead into the second quarter and immediately went to work building on it, running all sorts of different stuff at Philadelphia’s flyaround defense. Tomlinson took the wildcat for five yards, and with a six–yard gain two plays later, he passed Thurman Thomas (12,074 yards) into 13th place on the all-time rushing list.

Before the drive was over, Tomlinson had tied local product Marcus Allen in third place on the all-time touchdown list with his 145th, a five-yard bolt up the middle.

A 14-0 lead’s nothing against a multiskilled offense like Philadelphia’s, though, and McNabb quickly passed the Eagles downfield. A pass interference call on Quentin Jammer in the end zone gave the Eagles a first-and-goal at the one-yard line. They would get no closer.

Inside linebackers Kevin Burnett and Brandon Siler combined to stuff a first-down dive. McNabb resorted to a bootleg play, but tight end Brent Celek was too well covered in the back corner of the end zone and McNabb effectively threw it away.

On third down, running back Edra Buckley was stopped cold by defensive linemen Ian Scott and Alfonso Boone, whereupon inside linebacker Stephen Cooper took a few steps toward the Philadelphia bench and challenged the Eagles to try it again on fourth. Not biting, head coach Andy Reid sent on the field-goal unit, and it was 14-3.

Likewise, McNabb guided the Eagles on another promising drive on its next possession, only to come away with another David Akers field goal of 25 yards eight seconds before intermission.

While momentum seemed to be flipping over to the Eagles, they continued to hurt themselves with penalties in the third quarter. A 34-yard reception by Jeremy Maclin was negated by his own pass-interference infraction, and a 10-yard gain by Tomlinson was extended by an unnecessary–roughness call.

Not that Tomlinson needed the help. He was running like the L.T. of old – 24 carries for 96 yards – and continuing to pass some old legends in the process.

Breaking through the right side and capitalizing on the blocks of guard Kris Dielman and Brandon Manumaleuna, Tomlinson went 20 yards for the TD that pushed him ahead of Marcus Allen on the TD list, leaving him behind only Jerry Rice (208) and Tomlinson idol Emmitt Smith (175). At the same time, he surpassed Franco Harris (12,130) in rushing yards.

Qualcomm Stadium was seemingly half-full of fans wearing Eagles colors. To be sure, they were booing like true Philadelphians, especially when Reid chose yet again to take an Akers field goal instead of a chance on fourth-and-one at the San Diego seven-yard line.

Three-pointers indeed weren’t going to cut it after the Chargers made it 28-9 with their next drive, triggered by Darren Sproles’ kickoff return to the 41-yard line. Rivers connected on four straight passes, the last one a 20-yarder to Naanee, wide open and waiting just inside the backline of the end zone.

The rest of the game, virtually the entire fourth quarter, was basically spent watching the clock and McNabb completing pass after pass. Two of them were caught in the end zone.

McNabb found Maclin uncovered for a five-yard score. When he hit Celek for an 11-yard TD with 7:12 remaining, pulling the Eagles to within a touchdown of winning, McNabb had completed 33 of 50 attempts for 418 yards.

No more Shanahanigans!

The longtime face of the Denver Broncos will change.

The team announced on Tuesday that Mike Shanahan has been fired and will relinquish his duties as head coach and executive vice president of football operations.

In a statement, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said: "After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos. This is certainly a difficult decision, but one that I feel must be made and which will ultimately be in the best interests of all concerned.

Shanahan has coached the Broncos since 1995 and won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. But Denver has not made the playoffs in the last three years.

The Broncos collapsed this season, finishing 8-8 after having a three-game lead in the division. With the AFC West title on the line, the Broncos were routed by the Chargers 52-21 on Sunday.

"I appreciate the 21 years that Mike Shanahan has given to the organization as an assistant and head coach, and the two Super Bowl wins in that time," Bowlen said. "His contributions hold a special place in Broncos history."

Bowlen said that the team will hold a news conference on Wednesday morning to make the announcement, and Shanahan will speak shortly thereafter.

As for Charger fans, a sigh of relief should be given. Anything that could possibly put a divison rival in disarray is always welcome.