DENVER – Rookie linebacker Brandon Siler made a couple of interceptions in practice this past week and was emboldened to tell his teammates he would get his hands on a ball in the game against the Broncos.

SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune Chargers QB Philip Rivers gets into the act with the first rushing TD of his career on a 2-yard run for the game's first score.

“I was saying it like crazy, too,” Siler said yesterday. “And it just happened to happen.”

What happened is Siler gave the Chargers a 14-point lead just 11 seconds after they took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

On the kickoff following a Philip Rivers touchdown run, Carlos Polk drilled Denver returner Brian Clark at the 20-yard line. The ball popped in the air, caromed off Michael Turner's left hand and flew into Siler's hands.

“I was just running down on the kickoff, I folded in, I saw Polk pop him, the ball popped out and it went over the guy's head,” Siler said. “I grabbed it and ran for the corner of the end zone. .... It felt good. It felt like I was helping the team out. It was big for me.”

Polk has been making hits all season on special teams.

“We have a great cover team,” said Polk, who leads the team with seven special teams tackles. “I saw everybody flying down there. I gotta give a lot of credit to all the guys I'm around. They're down there taking up the wedge. I was running there, and I saw Tim Dobbins on the other side of me. He came down and took out the wedge. There was only one hole open, and I came through and I just tried to take his (Clark's) head off.”

Norv Turner did not hesitate when asked about the Chargers' kickoff coverage team the past two weeks.

“It's as good as I've ever been around,” Turner said.

For two weeks, kicker Nate Kaeding has been driving the ball deep, and the other 10 players have been keeping returners blanketed. Of Kaeding's past 14 kickoffs, 13 have sailed to at least inside the 5-yard line, and only four have been returned beyond the 20.

“I don't know how we could be any better,” Kaeding said.

MT back in it

This is supposed to be Michael Turner's steppingstone year, a pathway to greater riches. Until yesterday, however, he had hardly been used and had not been stellar when he had.

But with runs of 49 and 74 yards, Turner made a case that he is still the league's best backup running back.

“Personally, you want to be playing well,” he said after carrying 10 times for 147 yards. “Everyone was talking about, 'Is he still the same player?' You always want to have those games to get you going again.”

Turner has 27 carries for 201 yards, a 7.4 average. Those are numbers that will certainly make another team wonder what he might get if he got 300 carries.

“That's why he's going to be a hard commodity to keep around here,” tackle Shane Olivea said. “Right now we're going to enjoy having him on our side.”

Rivers flows

Rivers for a week at least stopped the calls for his head.

He completed 13 of his 18 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns and had his first game without an interception. His 151.4 passer rating was 6.9 points shy of perfect.

“The line was able to protect him, and we were able to establish some type of rhythm,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “He's a good QB. He trusts his eyes, he trusts his progressions.”

In his last three games against the Broncos, Rivers is 47-for-67 for 771 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. His 125.9 passer rating is his best against any team since he became a starter last season.

Opening the Gates

Gates is on pace to make 128 catches for 1,565 yards – totals that would obliterate the NFL records for receptions and yards by a tight end.

Tony Gonzalez had 102 receptions in 2004. Kellen Winslow had 1,290 yards in 1980.

Yesterday, Gates had his third 100-yard game of the season and has caught 40 passes for 489 yards.

Back home

Vincent Jackson comes to Denver. He scores.

“Really, it's just like playing in any other game,” said Jackson, who went to high school and college (Northern Colorado) nearby. “It adds a little fun to it, to come back and play in front of the hometown crowd.”

Jackson caught a third-quarter touchdown pass that sent most of what was remaining of that crowd home. Last season, his reception in the back of the other side of the same end zone here gave the Chargers a 28-27 fourth-quarter lead. That's two of his eight career touchdowns.

“I had some guys from high school and college sitting up at the top,” Jackson said. “I knew where they were, and I could see them up there waving the blankets and the flags.”

Nuts 'n' Bolts

The Chargers tied their largest margin of victory over the Broncos in 95 meetings. They beat the Broncos 58-20 at Balboa Stadium in 1963.

The Chargers had not won back-to-back games in Denver since 1967-68. This was just their 13th victory in 48 games here.

This was the Chargers' first game this season without a turnover. By forcing three turnovers, they are on the positive side of the turnover margin (11 to 10) for the first time since the season opener.

The Chargers reported injuries to Jackson (shoulder) and defensive end Jacques Cesaire (ankle).

Maybe it was frustration talking, but Broncos tight end Brandon Scheffler actually said this: “We probably have more talent than (the Chargers). That's what hurts the most.”

---

Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com