Denver
Broncos

Simms got the practice repetitions during the week, and when Orton couldn't practice Friday, it was understood by everyone that Simms was the presumed starter.

"Certainly, probably would have been a better situation if we could play the game with Chris, because he had practiced, and because he was healthy and because of Kyle's situation," McDaniels said. "If we could do that and kind of rest him, that was kind of the idea behind it. Certainly, it didn't play out that way."

Orton said he wanted to practice Friday but couldn't. He was healthy enough to be the second quarterback, and when McDaniels asked him if he could go in the game, he had no problem.

"When he asked me in the second quarter if I could go in, I said 'Yeah,'" Orton said.

Orton limped a little during the game but said he felt good afterwards, his ankle has been improving every day, and proclaimed himself ready to play Thursday against the New York Giants.

"Just a coaching decision," McDaniels said. "Trying to suit up the guys we thought gave us the best chance to win. A lot of things go into those things."

--WR Eddie Royal had four catches for 29 yards against the Chargers, with a long gain of nine yards. Royal hasn't been much of a deep threat this season, with most of his limited catches being very short.

--S Darcel McBath had seven tackles after taking over for an injured Brian Dawkins (neck) in the first half. McBath, a rookie, was recruited to college as a cornerback, and has solid cover skills.

--DE Ryan McBean returned to action after missing a couple games with a knee injury, and was put right back in the starting lineup. McBean has been an underrated performer for the Broncos this season.

--S Renaldo Hill had a team-high nine tackles against San Diego. If Brian Dawkins can't play Thursday against the Giants, Hill will have to be a contributor in run support against one of the NFL's best rushing offenses.

REPORT CARD VS. CHARGERS

PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus -- Take out an unproductive 25-plus minutes of offense when Chris Simms was at quarterback, and the Broncos didn't do too poorly. Kyle Orton threw for 171 yards. He looked comfortable despite an injured left ankle and sharp despite not practicing during the week. In hindsight, he should have started.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B -- The Broncos rushed for 6.8 yards per carry, and the final numbers would have been much higher than 115 yards had they not fallen behind so quickly. Knowshon Moreno rushed for 80 yards on 10 carries as he continues to emerge as a playmaker in the Broncos' offense, but his lost fumble near the goal line was a devastating blow.

PASS DEFENSE: D -- For some reason, the Broncos didn't blitz Philip Rivers very often. Even the Chargers were surprised by that. Denver got no sacks and registered no quarterback hits on Rivers. Rivers didn't have a big day, with only 145 yards, but was efficient, completing 17-of-22 passes.

RUSH DEFENSE: F -- None of it was pretty: 203 yards, a 4.7-yard average, two touchdowns. The bottom has fallen out of the Broncos' run defense, and nobody can quite explain why. Denver didn't allow an opponent to rush for more than 100 yards while starting 6-0, in the past four games the Broncos haven't held a team to fewer than 125 rushing yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- Mitch Berger hasn't always been great for the Broncos, but he was very good on Sunday against the Chargers. Darren Sproles had only six punt return yards. In the first meeting, Sproles returned a punt for a touchdown. Eddie Royal had a decent day on kick returns as well.

COACHING: F -- Many people -- even some Chargers -- were wondering why Orton didn't start. By the time he got in the game, the score was 13-0 and the Broncos never pulled within 10 points. Orton didn't practice during the week, but looked good on Sunday. There were other decisions -- Tony Scheffler wasn't used much after getting 101 yards in the first game against the Chargers, and Denver rarely blitzed Philip Rivers -- that didn't work out well.