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Broncos and Chargers battle for first place in AFC West

Nov 15, 2006 - 1:22 AM San Diego (7-2) at Denver (7-2) Sunday 8:15 pm EST

DENVER (Ticker) -- Marty Schottenheimer faces his nemesis with first place on the line in the AFC West.

Schottenheimer and the San Diego Chargers meet the Denver Broncos on Sunday in the first of two meetings this season. The next one will take place at San Diego on December 10.

The bad news for the Chargers is that they will not have last season's Defensive Rookie of the Year Shawne Merriman for the first meeting. The Pro Bowl linebacker will serve the third game of a four-game suspension for violating the league's steroids policy. Merriman leads the AFC with 8 1/2 sacks.

The Chargers have lost in their last six visits to Denver - the last two with Schottenheimer as coach.

Schottenheimer's two most heartbreaking losses came against Denver when he coached the Cleveland Browns. In the 1986 AFC championship game, John Elway orchestrated "The Drive," marching the Broncos 98 yards to the game-tying touchdown with 37 seconds left. Then in overtime, Ruch Karlis kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 23-20 win.

A year later in the AFC championship game, Schottenheimer and the Browns lost at Denver, 38-33. Cleveland had a chance to tie the game, but Earnest Byner had the ball stripped from him at the Denver 3 by Jeremiah Castille with 1:12 remaining. The Broncos intentionally took a safety with eight seconds left.

Last year as coach of the Chargers, Schottenheimer watched Jason Elam kick a 41-yard field goal with five seconds left here in a 20-17 loss.

Perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey made the big defensive play for Denver, returning an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

The Broncos held Pro Bowler LaDainian Tomlinson to 52 yards on 19 carries, although he reached the end zone twice.

In the rematch at San Diego on December 31, the Broncos completed the sweep with a 23-7 victory. Tomlinson rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Containing Tomlinson will again be the focus for Denver.

"You can't shut down a player like that. You just have to limit his big plays," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said of Tomlinson.

Tomlinson set an NFL record with 15 touchdowns in a five-game span. He rushed for four scores in the Chargers' 49-41 win at Cincinnati last week.

Running back Jim Brown had held the record with 14 touchdowns in a five-game span for Cleveland in 1958.

With 18 touchdowns overall, Tomlinson is on pace to break the single-season record of 28 set by running back Shaun Alexander for Seattle in 2005.

If the Broncos key on Tomlinson, then Schottenheimer, who is known as a conservative coach, may air it out with Philip Rivers. After falling behind by 21 points last week at Cincinnati, Schottenheimer was forced to open up the passing game and Rivers threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns as the Chargers erupted for 42 points in the second half.

Malcolm Floyd caught five passes for 109 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown.

The Broncos have allowed a league-low 12.3 points per game. Last year, they totaled 10 sacks, including three by safety John Lynch, in the two wins over San Diego.

Denver has struggled on offense this season, averaging 17.6 points per game.

Last week, Jake Plummer was intercepted three times, but the Broncos escaped with a 17-13 win at Oakland.

The Chargers yielded 545 yards in their win at Cincinnati. After getting burned by Chad Johnson (11 catches, 260 yards) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (seven catches, 88 yards) last week, San Diego cornerbacks Quentin Jammer and Drayton Florence must contend with Javon Walker and Rod Smith this weekend.

Acquired by the Broncos from Green Bay last April, Walker has 41 receptions for 731 yards and six touchdowns.