Whistle-blower comes to Broncos' aid

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If the Denver Broncos end up winning the AFC West by a game or a tiebreaker over the San Diego Chargers, they should vote referee Ed Hochuli a playoff share.Maybe two, one for each of his impressive biceps. The NFL might want to suggest their famous bodybuilding ref spend a little less time in the weight room and a little more in the film room. The Broncos, like Billy Joel, love him just the way he is.Not that Sunday's 39-38 shootout win wasn't memorable enough without Hochuli's last-minute gaffe. All day, the former Mile High Stadium parking lot reverberated with echoes of the old AFL:-- More than 900 yards of combined offense.-- Two sensational young quarterbacks, cementing a rivalry that should last for years, throwing for 350 yards or more.-- One of them, Jay Cutler, completing 36 passes, tying the Broncos franchise record.-- Wideout Brandon Marshall returning to action after his one-game suspension and catching 18 balls, a Broncos record and second only to Terrell Owens' 20 in NFL history.-- Trailing by one in the final minute, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan's gutsy, all-or-nothing decision to go for two, eschewing overtime to try for the win. That gambit has been successful just three times (in seven tries) since the NFL adopted the two-point conversion.You don't have to deny the wonders of this game to admit, in all fairness, that the Chargers should have won it. When the ball slipped from Cutler's hand as he cocked his arm to throw on second-and- goal from the 1-yard line with 1:17 to play and the Bolts up seven, Hochuli not only mistakenly ruled an incomplete pass, he blew his whistle to signal the play dead rather than let it run just in case he was wrong.As a result, when the replay booth correctly ruled it a fumble, it could not award the ball to San Diego, which recovered. Because of Hochuli's premature whistle, the ball was dead when it hit the ground and the Broncos retained possession, setting up their winning score. To his credit, even Cutler acknowledged afterward it was a fumble."It was a fumble clear to everyone on our sideline (and) I'm sure all the fans," said Norv Turner, the normally mild-mannered Chargers coach still steaming 15 minutes after it was over."Ed came over to me ... and said he blew it. And that's not, to me, acceptable. This is a high-level performance game and that's not acceptable to have a game decided on that play.""You expect more from the NFL," said LaDainian Tomlinson. "The NFL holds the players accountable for everything and I think it's time to hold the refs accountable, too."Bad calls are part of life in the NFL, and every team can cite some that they believe cost them games. Instant replay is supposed to correct the most egregious, which brings us to the second fortuitous outcome for the home team in this one.The Chargers were beginning their first possession when Hochuli's crew ruled that Champ Bailey intercepted a pass from Philip Rivers to Chris Chambers. Replays showed Chambers' elbow on the ground before Bailey took possession. Both of CBS' game announcers -- Dick Enberg and Randy Cross -- predicted the ruling on the field would be overturned in the booth. Instead, Hochuli announced the replay system wasn't working and the call would stand. "Huge break for the Broncos," Enberg intoned."Chris has the ball," Turner said afterward. "It should never have gone to review."As if that wasn't enough karmic assistance, there was also this: Commissioner Roger Goodell originally suspended Marshall for three games. Without explanation, he subsequently shortened it to one. It's not going too far out on a limb to say the Broncos might have had trouble getting to 39 points without Marshall's 18 catches.None of this is to diminish the Broncos' remarkable performance against a very good Chargers team. The return of fireworks to their offense promises a season of entertainment the likes of which the Rocky Mountains haven't seen in a decade.Sunday's classic can only add to a burgeoning Broncos-Bolts rivalry, especially with Rivers insisting afterward the Broncos are basically the same team they were last year, which made you wonder if his vision is any better than Hochuli's."As much as we can complain about it, it's not going to change the record," Rivers said of Hochuli's memorable flubs. "We're 0-2 and those guys are in the driver's seat very, very early in the season. I think it's too early to get carried away with the 0-2, 2-0 record. Because I think we let 'em escape one today."We'll get another shot at them later in the year. Hopefully, it'll be for all the marbles."If they can come close to matching this one, the season finale should be something to see.(Contact Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News at kriegerd(at)rockymountainnews.com.)