Broncos notes: Ineffective offense led to Orton replacing Simms

Chris Simms was a sad sack after his first NFL start in more than three years. WR Jabar Gaffney, below right, caught a 38-yard pass that set up the Broncos at the 4 before a Knowshon Moreno fumble ended the drive. Gaffney said Kyle Orton's effort despite an injured left ankle showed great leadership. Safety Brian Dawkins, bottom right, injured his neck in the second quarter and didn't return. Bottom left, Chargers QB Philip Rivers was play was 17 off 22 passing as he continued his dominance of the Broncos. Rivers is 6-2 against Denver.
(AP Photos)

Broncos Coach Josh McDaniels says mistakes and an ineffective offense led his decision to yank Chris Simms, who started in place of an injured Kyle Orton.

Orton, who tested his sprained left ankle hours before the game, started warming up after the third Broncos possession of the first half. Orton came in with 4:19 to play in the second quarter. He completed three consecutive passes -- including a 38-yard to Jabar Gaffney -- to march the Broncos 58 yards to the San Diego 4. Rookie running back Knowshon Moreno fumbled into the end zone ending the drive trying to stretch the ball over the goal line.

Simms, who finished 2-of-4 passing for 10 yards, had the ball knocked out his hands on his first pass attempt. Shaun Phillips caused the fumble and Chargers teammate Steve Gregory recovered to end one of four red-zone drives that netted just three points in the 32-3 Broncos loss Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Simms admitted he had a rough day in his first NFL start in more than three years.

"I didn't have the greatest day of my life," Simms told KCNC-Channel 4. "We all have to get our stuff together and figure out what's going on and hopefully get out of this bad streak."

Orton completed 15 of 29 passes for 171 yards, but his last eight passes were all incompletions when the Chargers knew Denver had to throw the ball.

Gaffney said Orton's toughness certainly impressed him and his teammates.

"He came in and showed a lot of leadership coming out there playing hurt," Gaffney said. "He showed some good things, but we didn't score any points."

McDaniels said playing Orton was an easy decision, one he doesn't regret. He felt more comfortable with Orton in the shotgun, feeling the formation would be less stressful on Orton ankle.

"At the same time we didn't have any momentum," McDaniels said of the previous two Broncos' possessions that lost a total of 8 yards. "(Orton) went in there and he was effective. As far as we know (Orton's ankle) has the chance to be the same or even better. As long as it doesn't get any worse. We're not going to go out and do very much in pads or hard hitting (for Thursday's game against the New York Giants)."

BRANDON VS. KNOWSHON: WR Brandon Marshall and rookie RB Knowshon Moreno got into an argument and shoving match on the sidelines after Moreno's drive-ending fumble in the second quarter.

Moreno was trying to stretch the ball over the goal line when left guard Russ Hochstein's leg knocked the ball out of his hands and into the end zone. San Diego recovered to end the drive. McDaniels said he hadn't talked to the players about it but refused to chide either player over the brouhaha.

"He was trying to get the ball in to the end zone," McDaniels said. "We've got a lot of emotional players sometimes that happens."

THE ONSIDE KICK: Perhaps the game-changing moment was McDaniels to let Matt Prater do an onside kick after cutting the lead to 13-3 with 3:58 to go in the third quarter. Prater's kick was good one, but the coverage outran the ball with Josh Barrett barely getting a hand on it until Legedu Naanee recovered at the Denver 41. Six plays later, LaDainian Tomlinson dove in from the 1 and San Diego had a 20-3 lead with 3:09 left in the third quarter.

"We've been practicing for a while," McDaniels said. "There were a couple of situations in the course of the season we felt we might want to use it. We feel very confident in it. We didn't execute quite as well as we needed to.I thought he kicked the ball well and I think we touched it first. That's the kind of play where there is a high reward if you get it. Then if you don't get it can come back to hurt you."

LOOKING AHEAD: The good news? How about the Broncos don't have time for a "pity party," as safety Brian Dawkins likes to say. Denver has four days to prepare for the Giants who come to town for the Thursday night Thanksgiving game (6:20 p.m. kickoff, NFL Network).

"Probably the best thing about this," McDaniels said of a short work week. "Any time you lose a game you'd love to play the next one the next day just to try to get the taste of it out of your mouth. None of us feel good and none of us are happy about what's going on right, so we're looking forward to playing Thursday."

And the Broncos can take heart the Giants ended a four-game losing skid Sunday with a 34-31 overtime victory over Atlanta. So, maybe the Broncos can do the same Thursday.

AFC HONOR TO COME?: San Diego strong safety Steve Gregory recovered two fumbles, one leading to a Chargers touchdown and the other stopping a Broncos drive at the goal line. Look for Gregory to be a leading candidate to win AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. If that happens it will the third straight week an Denver opponent's player has won a weekly honor. Last week Washington punter Hunter Smith was the NFC special teams player of the week when his 35-yard touchdown pass off a fake field goal attempt helped the Redskins beat the Broncos 27-17. Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh safety Tyrone Carter returned an interception of an Kyle Orton pass for a touchdown in the Steelers' 28-10 victory. Carter replaced starter Ryan Clark, who missed the game because of a rare blood disorder which could give him problems playing at altitude.

NOTEWORTHY: Safety Brian Dawkins injured his neck in the second quarter -- about the same time Orton was warming up to replace Simms -- and didn't return. No word on his injury or status for Thursday's game ... Tickets are still available for Thursday night's game at Invesco Field at Mile High against the New York Giants. Check Ticketmaster's Web site or call the Broncos ticket office at 720-258-3333 or email tickets@broncos.nfl.net. The Invesco Field ticket office is on the south side of the stadium at 1701 Bryant St. ... Chargers QB Philip Rivers has a 6-2 record against the Broncos. Rivers has completed 137 of 200 passes 20 of 178 passes (68.5 percent) for 1,963 yards and 14 TDs (most against any opponent). Rivers only threw for 145 yards Sunday, but was very accurate, completing 17 of 22 passes ... The Giants won in overtime on Lawrence Tynes' 36-yard field goal. But the kick was set up by Eli Manning's 29-yard throw to Mario Manningham, who had six receptions for 126 yards. Manning was 25-of-39 for a season-high 384 yards. He also had three touchdowns.