Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. San Diego 9 at Denver 26 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW San Diego Chargers: The absence of Junior Seau and the early groin injury to Marcellus Wiley left the Charger defense weak. Denver scored 26 points and moved the ball well both on the ground and in the air. RB LaDainian Tomlinson could not get it going against the front seven of the Broncos. Only one of his 14 carries came in the second half. Showed he can also be a pass threat out of the backfield. Having two rookie starters on the San Diego offensive line (Toniu Fonoti and Jason Ball) was too much to overcome. QB Drew Brees had his typical game in the first half by playing conservatively and throwing the ball away when needed. However, he did throw an ill-advised lob into end zone traffic for a costly interception early. Handled the Bronco pressure well when forced to throw after falling behind. Threw the ball 33 times in the second half. Second interception came on a poor decision while avoiding the blitz. When the Chargers fell behind and abandoned the run, Drew Brees did not have what it takes to carry his team to victory. With LB Junior Seau out, the Chargers' defense looked vulnerable. The Broncos threw the ball well early, thus opening up an effective running game. Denver Broncos: QB Brian Griese came out and picked the Charger defensive backfield a part. His first pass of the game went for a 69-yard touchdown to Ed McCaffrey. He continued to hit underneath crossing routes throughout the first half. At halftime, he was 18-22 for 226 yards and two touchdowns. That included two intentional incomplete spikes to stop the clock and an interception caused by a Rogers Beckett stick on Patrick Hape. Is this the beginning of the Clinton Portis Era in Denver? More importantly, is this the end of the Running Back by Committee Era? The rookie was clearly the featured back. Portis carried the ball on the Broncos' first 11 running plays, including a seven yard carry that was called back on a holding call. Portis scored his first receiving touchdown on an eight-yard shovel pass. Even missing Seau and Wiley, the fact Portis put this together against the Charger Defense is impressive. Mike Anderson did not play with an ankle injury. Olandis Gary came in as a third-down back and only had 4 carries. This seemed mainly to give Portis an occasional rest as Portis showed he is a fine receiver as well. Cornerback Deltha O'Neal not only led the Broncos in tackles, he had both interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. The Denver defense showed they are one of the best units in the league by shutting down LaDainian Tomlinson and subsequently putting pressure on Drew Brees. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW San Diego Chargers QB: Drew Brees- Had his typical game in the first half by playing conservatively and throwing the ball away when needed. Brees completed 26 of 42 passes for 235 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. Brees was pressured, but never sacked. Several of his incompletions were balls thrown away after scrambling out of the pocket. Both interceptions were just bad passes. To start the game, the Chargers stuck with their run based offense and Brees looked only at Tomlinson in the flat, or Conway downfield. After the Chargers gave up on the run, Brees spread the ball around between Tomlinson, Conway, Dwight, and the tight ends. Brees didn't look ready to carry an offense. Handled the Bronco pressure well when forced to throw after falling behind. Threw the ball 33 times in the second half. RB: LaDainian Tomlinson had 14 carries for 48 yards and 7 catches for 49 yards. The line was unable to open holes for Tomlinson against the tough Bronco front seven. Could not get it going and only one of his 14 carries came in the second half. The linebackers were too fast and wouldn't let him turn the corner on sweeps and he had the team's only lost fumble. After falling behind and giving up on the run, the Chargers got Tomlinson the ball on screen and dump passes, but he was still kept out of the end zone all day. Tomlinson is the key to the Charger offense. Showed he can also be a pass threat out of the backfield. Having two rookie starters on the San Diego offensive line (Toniu Fonoti and Jason Ball) was too much to overcome. Fumbled the ball on a 15-yard screen pass, looking to break the big play. WR: Curtis Conway - Is still the primary target of Brees. Could not get his second hand on a 35-yarder in the end zone. Denard Walker deflected away another opportunity when Brees threw to the wrong shoulder. Tim Dwight caught 5 passes for 68 yards. Dwight had most of his catches late in the game on crossing routes over the middle while Conway took the safety deep. He is very fast and was also used several times as a decoy faking the end around. He also made several strong downfield blocks. His best catch of the day was a 32 yard crossing route that was called back on a penalty which would have given him 100 yards on the day. As good as these numbers appear, he will probably only get enough passes thrown his way to have fantasy worth on games like this when the Chargers are playing catch up. Reche Caldwell - Caught just one three-yard pass late. His number was not called the rest of the game. TE: Stephan Alexander - Alexander caught 1 pass for 8 yards before leaving the game with an injured foot. At this time, the extent of the injury isn't known. It didn't look bad, but he appeared to be in a lot of pain. He was down on the field for several minutes. This might be important because throughout the game Brees threw at the backup tight ends which included 4 catches by Josh Norman. A healthy Alexander probably would have had a good day. Was the target of Brees' interception in the end zone. Josh Norman - The rookie looks like a solid receiver. Brees also missed him once while on the scramble. Pass Defense: Without linebacker Junior Seau to lead the blitzes, the San Diego pass defense didn't pressure Griese nearly enough. Defensive End Marcellus Wiley left the game early with a groin injury which left fellow Defensive End Raylee Johnson as the sole pass rushing threat. Johnson had 4 solo tackles and 1 of the team's 2 sacks. Safety Rodney Harrison was obviously not 100% healthy, but still managed a few of his trademark bone crushing hits to go along with the team's sole interception. The short passes (especially over the middle) were open all day and made Griese's job easy. Rush Defense: The Charger's rushing defense didn't show up. The absence of Wiley and Seau hurt the Chargers who almost never got the penetration needed to stop the run. Portis had his first 100+ yard game of his career running both inside and outside. Linebacker Zeke Moreno, who filled in for Seau, did lead the team in tackles with 10 solo and 1 assist, but he missed tackles on Portis several times that led to big runs. This did not look like the iron curtain against the run that the Chargers showed the first 4 weeks. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Denver Broncos QB: Brian Griese completed 26 of 35 passes for 316 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Came out and picked the Charger defensive backfield a part. Many of his passes were short routes (many over the middle) and the receivers ran for extra yards after the catch. He spread the ball around well. Nine different receivers caught at least one pass. His first pass of the game went for a 69-yard touchdown to Ed McCaffrey. Clearly exploited the loss of LB Jr. Seau. He continued to hit underneath crossing routes throughout the first half. At halftime, he was 18-22 for 226 yards and two touchdowns. That included two intentional incomplete spikes to stop the clock and an interception caused by a Rogers Beckett stick on Patrick Hape. RB: Clinton Portis is the story of the game. He had 26 carries for 102 yards and 2 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown. Not only did he run for over 100 yards against a tough Charger defense, he was the true feature back. Olandis Gary came in on a few 3rd downs, but he was the change of pace back, not a platooning back. He ran very well and got through the holes faster than the Charger linebackers could fill them. Could this be the end of Denver's RBBC? I would think this performance at least buys Portis one or two weeks at the feature back position. Olandis Gary had only 4 carries for 8 yards and 3 catches for 31 yards. Gary only came in on some of the third downs. He didn't get a series to himself as we are used to seeing. He was used as the change of pace back. With the way Portis ran, Gary's value has to drop quite a bit. Mike Anderson- Out with a sprained ankle. Reuben Droughns started at full back. WR: Rod Smith - Suffered a bruised shoulder after being driven into the ground by Alex Molden. Came back the next series. Had two short-pass gains called back and dropped an easy one. Smith faced double coverage often and ended up with 6 catches for 83 yards. Griese hit the open receiver and didn't force it to Smith. This is bad news for Smith as there are several good targets in this lineup. Ed McCaffrey caught 6 passes for 113 yards including a 69 yard touchdown on a post route on the Broncos first possession. McCaffrey spent most of the day going across the middle and took several hard hits. He looks to be recovered from last year's injury. Ashley Lelie caught 2 passes for 13 yards. He dropped a few others including one that he knocked high into the air that should have been intercepted, but wasn't. Griese appears to be losing some of the confidence in Lelie that he earned in the preseason. TE: Shannon Sharpe had 4 catches for 39 yards. He might not have the speed he once did, but his hands are still sticky and he knows how to get open. One concern is he doesn't seem to be getting chances in the red zone. Patrick Hape - Was stuck by Beckett, forcing Griese's only interception. He seems to be a target in the red zone. He could be a factor in TD only leagues. Pass Defense: Cornerback Deltha O'Neal not only led the team in tackles with 6 solo and 1 assist, he had both interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. No one else really stood out. It was a solid team effort. Even though they didn't get a sack, the unit flushed Brees out of the pocket several times forcing him to throw the ball away. Once Denver established the lead, the defense was able to pin their ears back and pressure Brees. Brees did not have enough time to look downfield and was forced out of the pocket continuously. The coverage was good on the deep routes although they did allow many crossing route catches. The focus was to stop Tomlinson, and the pass defense held up. Rushing Defense: The Bronco rushing defense held Tomlinson to 48 yards rushing and kept him out of the end zone. The speed of linebackers Al Wilson and John Mobley were the key as the Charger front line could not budge tackles Chester McGlockton and Lional Dalton. The line had good penetration and the linebackers were fast enough to not let Tomlinson get around the corner and break a long run. It was a top notch effort to shut down a first rate rushing attack. Broncos Special Teams: Jason Elam had a 43-yarder blocked.