Broncos let division lead slip away ... season's next

DENVER -- It was still a game, though it didn't necessarily feel like one, in the third quarter Sunday when the reeling Broncos elected to try an onside kick to do anything to gain back momentum in a month with little of that ethereal quality.

Once sitting at 6-0, defensive end Elvis Dumervil's Broncos are slumping at the worst time. (AP)

The football, seemingly helped by the element of surprise, hopped off Matt Prater's right foot off the tee like a super ball on a marble floor, came down squarely in the direction of Denver safety Josh Barrett ... and went right through his arms, eventually finding the firm grasp of San Diego's Legedu Naanee.

The AFC West race has that same look right about now.

What was once Denver's division -- remember the 6-0 start and the 3½-game cushion over the Chargers? -- is like that greased-pig of a catch attempt by Barrett.

Or, if one is more inclined, it's akin to Knowshon Moreno's killer goal-line fumble in the second quarter that completely changed the tenor in a 32-3 loss. Take your pick.

Regardless, the Chargers seemingly have a tight grip on the AFC West, again. Seemingly Denver is powerless to stop it after four straight losses and San Diego's inevitable mid- to late-season push -- despite a slumbering September -- with five straight wins and counting.

"Even though you would love to say this is another game, it wasn't," San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman said. "We were playing for first in the division. It meant a lot to us -- and we played like it."

The Broncos (6-4) tried the Willis Reed routine with starting quarterback Kyle Orton, having him relieve an ineffective Chris Simms after three series. It almost worked until Moreno's fourth lost fumble this season turned a 13-0 game into a from-here-to-eternity offensive struggle while stirring up a mini-fracas between Moreno and angry teammate Brandon Marshall. Marshall got in Moreno's face after the miscue and while heading to the sideline, still chirping at the rookie, the running back gave Denver's star receiver a two-handed shove to back off.

If only it was as simple getting San Diego out of Denver's collective grill.

It didn't even matter that San Diego (7-3) for the first three-plus quarters kept sending out Nate Kaeding for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns -- four times in all.

The Chargers forced three first-half turnovers, including one by Simms to halt Denver's opening drive after seven runs to the San Diego 17. Following Barrett's slip-up, the Chargers used some trickery of their own with a throwback pass to tight end Antonio Gates. LaDainian Tomlinson, who heave-hoed on that play back to Philip Rivers, finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown dive, and it was over at 20-3.

In the end, the Chargers would grind out 43 carries for 203 yards and two touchdowns to complement an efficient Rivers (17 of 22, 145 yards, TD). Their defense held the Broncos without a sack, after Denver yanked down Rivers five times and knocked him to the ground on 10 occasions in the first meeting Oct. 19, a 34-23 Denver victory ... the Broncos' last venture into the win column.

That prior game featured a pre-game skirmish near midfield. The latest meeting had a different before-kickoff twist when a Chargers linebacker apparently chirped at Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, who shot back that Denver "owned" them.

"I wasn't surprised. He's a little cocky-ass," shot back San Diego linebacker Shaun Phillips, who forced the early Simms fumble with one of three Chargers sacks. "It's just all fun and games. We didn't look much into it. As a coach, I hope he has that mindset but to say you own us? You beat us one time. How much has he really done in this league? He had a team 6-0 and now he's looking up at us in second place."

In doing so, Denver, despite six games remaining on the schedule, has set up the unthinkable. It became the first team to lose a three-game division lead with three games to play, culminating with a blowout loss in San Diego. The Broncos are now in danger of becoming the first club since the merger to blow a division lead in excess of three games six weeks into the season.

"I'm not [surprised], to be honest with you," Tomlinson said of the stunning reversal of fortune. "This is a tough league and it's tough to win in this league. When you lose one, you say, 'Oh, we'll get it back next week.' When you lose two, then you start saying, 'Holy crap, what's going on?' When you lose three your confidence is shook and you're like, 'God ...' You start pointing fingers and start blaming each other. That's what happens. It's natural. It's human nature.

So I'm not surprised that things turned out like this."

L.T. was asked, when a team such as Denver loses four straight, if unadulterated panic then ensues.

"I don't want to get into that," he responded with a smile.

Moreno and Marshall likely didn't want to get into it, either, but that tough-league reality helped create their own boiling point.

In Marshall's case, it was the intersection of a self-described "playoff game" and "probably the most frustrating game I've ever played in." Orton had just entered the contest because the Broncos felt he could handle a shotgun-heavy game plan moving forward, down 13-0. He promptly took them inside the San Diego 5, where Moreno's fumble deflated Invesco Field at Mile High palpably.

The crowd ultimately would be exiting in large numbers by the third quarter.

"I don't regret anything," Marshall said of his run-in with Moreno, who was apt to brush off the incident as heat of the moment in the postgame locker room.

"This is a game where you've got to have it," Marshall added. "None of us can make any terrible plays."

Denver's defense, so good early in the season but worn out by an inefficient offense, have now allowed 125, 173, 174 and 203 rushing yards during the four-game slide. Orton, still hobbled, will try to play Thursday against the New York Giants for an offensive group that was limited to three points for the first time since doing it twice in 2007 against, you guessed it, the Chargers.

McDaniels cautioned last week that regardless of the outcome Sunday, the season wasn't over.

He'd better hope his team truly believes that, because Denver does have the feel of a team, as one Chargers player described it, "sloping down."

"We control our own destiny," San Diego left tackle Marcus McNeill said. "We put the Broncos in our rear-view mirror and hopefully we can keep on motoring."

For both AFC West rivals, it's already been a bumpy ride, as San Diego has seemingly escaped its early 2-3 morass, one of several slow starts in recent seasons.

"This isn't Week 17 of the season," Rivers cautioned. "We can't relax -- and we won't."