Chargers 35, Broncos 14
Philip Rivers threw four touchdown passes to guide the San Diego Chargers to their third straight victory, a 35-14 mauling of the visiting Denver Broncos on Monday night.
Rivers finished 15 of 24 for 233 yards in his second straight four-touchdown performance as the Chargers (5-5) reached the .500 mark and moved within a game of AFC West-leading Kansas City.
San Diego spotted Denver (3-7) a 7-0 lead on the game's first possession before roaring back with 35 unanswered points behind a big-play offense.
Rivers threw a 40-yard scoring pass to Patrick Crayton and a 57-yard flip to running back Darren Sproles while also connecting on short touchdowns passes of 6 yards to Malcom Floyd and 3 to fullback Jacob Hester.
A 28-yard pass on a fake punt set up Floyd’s touchdown and a 49-yard screen pass led to running back Mike Tolbert's 1-yard touchdown as San Diego took a 21-7 halftime lead.
Tolbert, playing in play of injured rookie Ryan Mathews, rushed for 111 yards on 25 carries and had two catches for 42 yards.
Kyle Orton completed 24 of 38 passes for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Broncos, who got a 4-yard scoring run by Knowshon Moreno on the game's opening drive and then punted on eight of its next nine possessions, including seven in a row.
Brandon Lloyd had six receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown and Moreno had 136 combined yards for Denver, which is 5-15 in its last 20 games.