Broncos Take Total Control of AFC West

SAN DIEGO -- Monday night featured perhaps the NFL's best quarterback battle this season, the duel between Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton, and it all but determined the balance of power in the AFC West, despite the fact that it's only mid-October.

Seriously -- who would have thought that Orton, once mistake-prone and reviled and probably still being burned in effigy by Bears fans, would now sit among the league's elite passers while guiding a 6-0 Denver Broncos team?

Make that the utterly dominant, AFC West-leading Broncos, who rode the franchise record-setting momentum of Eddie Royal returning both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the first half to preserve a 34-23 victory over the foundering San Diego Chargers (2-3).

Royal busted through San Diego's coverage teams for a 93-yard kickoff return in the first quarter -- "I think someone may have touched me on that one," he said -- and then went completely unmolested into the end zone on the 71-yard punt return with 5:53 remaining before halftime.

"This was just a total team effort. The guys just did a great job of blocking; I have to give them a lot of credit. They opened up the seams and it was a home run," Royal said. Twice. That made him the 11th player in NFL history -- and first in Broncos history -- to perform the dual-return touchdown feat, and the sixth since the merger.

But Royal said it best: This was a total team effort for Denver, which secured what amounts to an insurmountable 3 1/2 game lead over San Diego at a very angry Qualcomm Stadium.

"We were fortunate to have two big returns there by Eddie in the first half and that kind of kept us in it," said rookie coach Josh McDaniels, whose team still trailed 20-17 at halftime despite Royal's heroics. "Our guys fought and made a few adjustments in the second half and played better football."

Orton was unflappable and almost perfect behind his superb pass protection, completing 20 of 29 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns -- one, a 19-yard tiptoe catch in the corner of the end zone by tight end Tony Scheffler late in the third quarter; the other, a 5-yard scoring strike to receiver Brandon Stokley in the waning minutes.

The Chargers' once-feared pass rush led by Shawne Merriman no longer exists, and that's a big problem. Merriman played like someone who is still injured, and San Diego got no pressure on the quarterback. Orton had ample time to make his checkdowns and find open receivers.

"It's nice to go into the bye 6-0," said Orton, who concedes he's a better player in Denver than he was in Chicago. That offseason trade, which sent Jay Cutler and a fifth-round pick to the Bears for Orton and first-round picks in 2009 and '10, along with an '09 third-round selection, seemed to guarantee a playoff berth for Chicago.

Instead, it's made Cutler mortal (10 touchdowns, seven interceptions) and completely transformed Orton (nine touchdowns, one interception) into a playmaker.

"It's a spread passing game that gets people into space," Orton said of McDaniels' scheme. "It puts a premium of being accurate and making the right decisions."

Orton got the ball to seven receivers. "He never throws that ball to me," said Stokley, who rolled into the end zone with 2:55 left for the final Broncos' score. "But that just shows you how great Kyle has been this season. He finds us, and he puts the ball in the right place for us to make the catch."

Defensively, the Broncos' fortified pass rush and blitz sacked Rivers five times, forcing a fumble that Denver converted into one of two Matt Prater field goals. NFL sacks leader Elvis Dumervil got to Rivers twice to push his season total to 10, on the second occasion using an overhand right to drop the powerful Rivers to the turf

The Chargers' quarterback and emotional leader avoided the pressure through much of the first half, but finally succumbed to the rush in the second.

"It occasionally had an impact," said Rivers, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 274 yards, including a 3-yard scoring pass to Vincent Jackson in the first quarter. "There were times when we held it really well and we were able to get good gains on them."

The Chargers also got a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown from Darren Sproles in the second quarter to give them their halftime lead. But there was an uneasy feeling throughout the stadium in San Diego, where people have come to expect the worst.

And seriously -- who would have thought the Chargers would disappoint again? The locals, apparently. It's becoming a national pastime, calling for coach Norv Turner's scalp wherever he runs the shop. In San Diego, boozed and bitter Chargers fans let the embattled Turner -- who's getting little support from his porous offensive and defensive lines -- have it with all their might as he ran into the locker room tunnel after the final gun.

"NORV'S GOTTA GO!" a group of angry customers screamed in unison from the concourse above the locker room entrance.

Said Turner, whose team was coming off a bye: "It's disappointing. We talked a lot with our football team and talked about it this week a great deal -- you can't take anything for granted."

The vitriol is swirling in a frustrated Chargers' locker room, directed toward Turner and general manager A.J. Smith for not addressing needs in the trenches during the offseason. Guys like Merriman are furious with Smith for saying the defense has been "soft and bewildered" at times.

There is outrage everywhere, and it's overshadowing the efforts of Rivers, who continues to play at a high level each week.

"Denver came out and played well," Chargers tight end Antonio Gates said, "but there are things we could have done to enhance our chance of winning. Obviously on offense, we have to score touchdowns. We got down there and kicked three field goals. That is just not who we are offensively."