On Sunday, no matter which quarterback was thrown out there by the Broncos it didn’t matter. The surging Chargers were able to bottle up both a hobbled Kyle Orton and rusty Chris Simms.

A dominant Chargers defense and Philip Rivers gave San Diego sole possession of the AFC West’s top spot with their 32-3 thrashing of Denver, who wasn’t able to effectively move the ball behind either one of their quarterbacks on Sunday.

Shawne Merriman, Chargers linebacker said, we were ready whether it was Orton or Simms.

San Diego (7-3) has won five games in a row and Denver (6-4) has lost four consecutive games, turning the race in the division upside down. Only five weeks ago, Denver had a 3 1/2 game lead over San Diego.

The AFC West balance of power has seen a dramatic shift.

Rivers looked very crisp, going 17 out of 22 and leading the Chargers to score on 7 out of their 10 drives. Kicker Nate Kaeding booted four field goals. San Diego was also able to recover an onside kick, forced three turnovers and recorded three sacks as well.

Denver drew nine penalty flags while San Diego only had one. During the final minute an extra point attempt was blocked by Marcus Thomas.

The game wasn’t anything like the one last month when the Broncos defeated the Chargers in San Diego by a score of 34-23.

Rivers said, the guys playing up front the last four weeks have been unbelievable. This game the Broncos didn’t blitz as much. We were kind of surprised they didn’t bring stuff from the earlier game. Our guys also handled their good pass rushers really well. I only remember getting touched one time.

The first start for Simms since almost getting killed three years ago during a game didn’t last very long. After he was sacked twice and lost a fumble with the Broncos falling behind early in the game, Orton replaced him, despite not having taken any snaps last week during practice due to a sprained ankle.

Chris Simms only went 2 out of 4 for a total of 10 yards passing. The first six times he handed off the ball . When he attempted to pass for the first time from the 17 yard line of the Chargers, Shaun Phillips, San Diego linebacker, sacked him and raked the football from his left hand.

Steve Gregory, safety, recovered the ball and San Diego drove the ball down field to score a touchdown.

Merriman said, it set the game’s tone. We pressured him the very first time he tried to pass. We got a turnover. They didn’t get a score but we did.

After Denver had three ineffective drives, leading to a deficit of 13-0, Josh McDaniels, Denver coach, brought in Orton. All week he didn’t practice, but looked good enough during his warm-ups to try.

Merriman said, I thought that was kind of a tactic that was desperate. Or he was brought in to try and move the football.

Orton was able to drive the Broncos quickly 60 yards down field with three pass completions. However on first down and goal from the 4 yard line, Knowshon Moreno, rookie running back, fumbled the ball. Russ Hochstein, left guard, jarred the football lose after slipping with his knee.

As the Chargers were celebrating the recovery by Gregory inside the end zone, Denver’s frustrations came out. Brandon Marshall, wide receiver, got into the face of Moreno, who responded by shoving Marshall with two hands. It was the most fight displayed by the Broncos all day.

Marshall said, those kinds of plays kill drives. Next time we need to punch the ball in. Marshall described the game as the most frustrating one he had ever played in.

Moreno did take the blame for attempting to reach the football on first down across the goal line. However he brushed the sideline spat off as just something happening in the heat of the moment. Marshall didn’t apologize.

Marshall said, I don’t have any regrets. This is like a playoff game. On the sideline there were guys that weren’t angry. They weren’t showing much emotion. They need to take a look at the mirror at themselves. This game we had to have it. We can’t make terrible plays.

When a reporter said that it appeared his own teammate had caused the fumble then asked if he had known that if he would still have berated Moreno, Marshall got agitated.

Marshall said, I didn’t see that play. I’m not sure. A single play isn’t what beat us. I’m not sure what you are attempting to accomplish. It’s not any one guy’s fault, not Knowshon’s fault. The team lost as a whole. If I drop the football, if I make some big mistake, then I expect the guys will get on me about it. You need to know the way to approach every guy. For every guy it’s different. I might have handled things wrong. We’ll see.

Orton went 15 for 29 for a total of 171 yards passing and had one interception. They played from the shotgun almost exclusively. Denver called on him after deciding to abandon their game plan when they trailed 13-0 and went to an air game. According to Orton he didn’t suffer any setbacks despite receiving a scary hit from Merriman to his injured leg. He said this week he’d be able to practice and make the start versus the Giants on Thursday night.

The last start for Simms was on September 24, 2006 while playing for the Buccaneers. The Panthers battered him so badly that he need to have emergency surgery done and have his spleen removed.

This game was painful in a different way. The big blind side hit came from his own coach instead of the Chargers. Simms didn’t see the quick hook from McDaniels coming.

Simms said, I didn’t expect it. I was a little surprised, yeah.