(Best E Casino) - The San Diego Chargers haven't been big on quick starts during the Norv Turner era, and you could hardly say they bucked that trend on Monday night against the New York Jets.

When Philip Rivers floated a pass that was intercepted and cashed in for a 25- yard David Barrett touchdown early in the first quarter, a stone-silent Qualcomm Stadium began to have painful visions of an 0-3 start for a team that most held up as a Super Bowl contender in the preseason.

But it's not how you start, and it's not even how you finish if you have a middle period like the Chargers experienced on Monday.

In a stretch of 5:46 in the first and second quarters, San Diego turned a 7-3 deficit into a 24-14 lead, and was never seriously threatened by the Jets thereafter.

A much-maligned defense helped turn the tide, forcing a Thomas Jones fumble that the Chargers turned into a touchdown in the first quarter, then benefiting from an Antonio Cromartie pick-six to up the lead to 17-7.

When Rivers atoned for his mistake by hitting Chris Chambers on a perfectly- thrown 27-yard touchdown pass moments later, the Bolts were off to the races in an eventual 48-29 win.

"When you get turnovers obviously you get great field position," said Chargers head coach Norv Turner. "We have playmakers on the offense. When you get great field position like that we usually find a way to turn them into points."

Though the 48 points for San Diego were nice, the more encouraging development in the win had to be the re-emergence of the Chargers defense.

A team that had not pressured the passer particularly well through the first two weeks managed three sacks of the usually well-protected Brett Favre, including two from Jyles Tucker, Shawne Merriman's replacement at one of the outside linebacker spots. Fellow OLB Shaun Phillips had the other sack.

A secondary that had been mostly clueless against Jay Cutler and the Broncos one week prior suddenly looked like itself again, as Cromartie bounced back from a weak performance in Denver to intercept Favre twice. Opposite corner Quentin Jammer had the key fumble recovery that set up the team's first touchdown, and safety Eric Weddle turned in a pick of his own.

In addition, the Jets never established a ground game, totaling only 36 rushing yards in the contest.

If San Diego wishes to get back into the AFC West hunt and make itself a viable contender again, its Monday night display represents a formidable formula for such success.

"I think you saw what this team can do," said Rivers. "We didn't play a perfect game. We had some things not so good in all three phases but it's good to win a game. We needed to win a game. We'll still go in there and look at all the mistakes we made but having won the game certainly helps."

BRONCOS: "The Greatest Show on DD Grassmaster" doesn't have a very snappy ring to it, but after Sunday's 34-32 win over the New Orleans Saints, the Denver Broncos are indeed eliciting comparisons to the great St. Louis Rams teams of the early part of the decade.

Denver has an NFL-best 114 points through three games, the exact total put up by the record-setting New England attack in its first three contests of 2007.

Unfortunately, the Broncos defense hasn't reminded anyone of the great units in NFL history. Like most of those Rams teams, Denver might have to score a high number every week to overcome the deficiencies of its defense.

The Chargers and Saints combined for 70 points at Invesco Field at Mile High in the past two weeks. New Orleans lost on Sunday despite racking up 502 yards on the afternoon, including 421 through the air for quarterback Drew Brees.

Denver did get a big play from linebacker Nate Webster in the form of a 34- yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter, and Mike Shanahan's club is going to need impact plays like that in order to keep its collective heads above the waves in 2008.

Despite the flaws, Shanahan was optimistic that a unit that held the Saints to 88 rushing yards would pick up its play.

"You have to be able to stop the run to have a chance to have a good defense, and we did that holding [New Orleans] to 3.5 yards per rushing attempt," Shanahan said. "That is where you start. We will get better with our pass defense as time goes on. We are doing a number of things that are new in comparison to a year ago. It just takes some time. If we have the effort that we had overall, offense, defense and special teams, good things will happen for our football team."

CHIEFS: After Kansas City's 38-14 loss to rebuilding Atlanta on Sunday, it is time to break out the record books to determine whether this Chiefs team has worst-in-franchise-history potential.

The numbers confirm the reality that most Chiefs fans have already acknowledged - 2008 could indeed mark a historical low point.

The worst record in franchise history came in 1977, when Paul Wiggin's final team went 2-12. Wiggin was fired after a 1-6 start, and defensive backs coach Tom Bettis took over and led the team to an identical mark the rest of the way. The only other 12-loss seasons in team history came in 1978, Marv Levy's first year on the job, and in 2007. The 1987 team went 4-11 in a strike- shortened year.

The Chiefs are on pace for just 171 points, which would be the fewest in team history and fewer than even the 176 the team scored in a nine-game slate in 1982. Kansas City's 14.1 points per game last season currently ranks as the worst per-game average in team history, but the '08 team is scoring 10.7 per contest.

With a point differential of -14.0, the current team could also challenge the 1977 club as the least competitive unit in team annals. That club lost games by an average of 8.9 points.

RAIDERS: Though the Raiders managed 23 points for a second straight week in this past Sunday's 24-23 loss to the Bills, it would be a reach to say that Oakland played well offensively for a second consecutive Sunday.

-Oakland posted just 10 first downs in the loss to Buffalo, going 2-of-12 on third-down conversions.

-Four of the team's five scoring drives totaled fewer than 27 yards, a testament to the play of the defense and special teams that placed the Raiders in favorable field position.

-After running the ball well in Kansas City one week prior, the Silver and Black mustered just 98 yards on 30 carries versus the Bills (3.3 yards per carry), including 42 on 14 totes by Week 2 star Darren McFadden.

-Though JaMarcus Russell made highlight reels from coast to coast by hooking up with Johnnie Lee Higgins on an 85-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, take out that play and Russell was 8-of-18 for 71 yards with no touchdowns and a lost fumble for the afternoon. Only four of Russell's completions went to wide receivers on the day.

"There's no finger-pointing going on because all three phases could have won that game for us," said head coach Lane Kiffin, who looked to be secure in his job for at least another week as he held his Monday press conference. "People are going to point out the defense, but the offense had a chance with the ball with four minutes left to finish the game out. You're about three first downs away from ending it.

"I thought the defense was out there a long time in the second half. A lot of that is due to the third-down conversions by the offense, that was a big issue [Sunday]."