Broncos Add Dose to Chargers’ Pain

SAN DIEGO —  Drew Brees hustled out of the locker room with his right arm in a sling.

LaDainian Tomlinson said he played the last 4 1/2 games with a cracked rib that made it tough to breathe every time he got hit.

It was a painful ending to a lost season for the Chargers, who were roughed up Saturday in a 23-7 loss to the playoff-bound Denver Broncos.

Denver safety John Lynch, who is from San Diego, did a lot of the damage himself, helping knock Brees out of the game with a dislocated shoulder, then forcing Philip Rivers to fumble in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

The game, played on a rainy afternoon in front of a crowd that included thousands of Bronco fans, meant nothing in the standings to the teams.

That didn’t keep the Broncos (13-3), who had already clinched the AFC West title and a first-round bye, from playing all-out.

“In my mind, every time you get an opportunity to play in the NFL, you owe it to yourself, to your team and to the people who pay to watch the game, to play hard,” said Lynch, whose high school coach was in the stands.

Quarterback Jake Plummer got banged around a bit but led the Broncos to a 14-7 halftime lead before making way for Bradlee Van Pelt.

“It’s going to mean nothing if we don’t do something in the playoffs,” said Plummer, who completed eight of 14 passes for 91 yards.

Tatum Bell scored three touchdowns for Denver but was held to 52 yards in 17 carries. He needed 131 yards for 1,000. He and Mike Anderson were trying to become the fourth running back tandem in NFL history to finish with 1,000 yards each.

San Diego (9-7), which won the division last year, lost three of its last four games. After ending Indianapolis’ shot at a perfect season Dec. 18, the Chargers were knocked out of the playoff picture with a listless performance in a 20-7 loss at Kansas City on Christmas Eve.

Tomlinson did set two club records. His six-yard scoring run in the second quarter was his 20th touchdown of the season, breaking out of a tie with Chuck Muncie, who scored 19 touchdowns in 1981. He also eclipsed Hall of Famer Lance Alworth’s team career mark of 9,721 yards from scrimmage, pushing his total to 9,755.