Broncos Get Early Gift From Chargers : AFC: Denver turns two turnovers into 17-14 victory, a bye and a home game in the playoffs.

The Denver Broncos spent the weekend accepting gifts, and thus will spend next weekend off.

The AFC West champion Broncos turned two turnovers into the first 10 points and beat the San Diego Chargers, 17-14, on Sunday to earn the AFC’s No. 2 playoff seeding. They have a first-round bye and a home game in the divisional round.

Denver (12-4), which won its fourth game in a row, got the inside track for the bye when AFC Central champion Houston lost to the New York Giants on Saturday. Houston will play host next weekend to the New York Jets, who beat Miami to clinch the final wild-card slot.

The game might have been the last for San Diego Coach Dan Henning, whose final guaranteed year of a five-year contract was also his third losing season in a row. NBC reported that Henning would be fired today and replaced by Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Ross. Henning is 16-32 with the Chargers, who finished 4-12.

“That was a very disturbing report,” said Bobby Beathard, Charger general manager. Beathard was a commentator for NBC during the 1989 season. “It’s absolutely not true. I didn’t even have the chance to respond to that report. No one asked me.”

Beathard said he discussed the coaching situation with owner Alex Spanos in his private box and planned to speak with him again later Sunday night, then meet with Henning today.

When asked about a meeting today with Beathard, Henning said: “I’m not going to discuss that. That’s Bobby’s business right now.”

With the Broncos leading by 10-7 late in the third quarter, John Elway twice passed successfully to offset penalties on a drive capped by Greg Lewis’ two-yard run for a 17-7 lead.

Tackle Ken Lanier was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct with a chop block and a false start, leaving the Broncos with a third and 22. But Elway threw a 24-yard, cross-field pass to Shannon Sharpe to the San Diego 34. Two plays after Sharpe was called for holding, Elway found Michael Young wide open for 29 yards and first down at the five.

Lewis scored two plays into the fourth quarter to cap the 10-play, 76-yard drive.

San Diego then drove 62 yards in nine plays, with Rod Bernstine’s one-yard scoring run setting the final score.

“This was a typical game against Denver,” Henning said. “Elway came on and made two big plays on long yardage, which is typical of him. Other than that, our defense held them down pretty good.”

Elway was sacked six times, including 4 1/2 by Leslie O’Neal. Elway completed 14 of 32 passes for 196 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. Gaston Green gained 90 yards on 25 carries to finish with 1,037 yards, the third consecutive year a Bronco has rushed for 1,000 yards.

“We came in here a little flat. I don’t know why,” Elway said. “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We got it done defensively. We made enough plays to win it.”

San Diego’s John Friesz was intercepted by Charles Dimry shortly before the two-minute warning and by Le-Lo Lang on the game’s final play. Friesz had one of the worst games of his two-year career, completing only 12 of 34 passes for 123 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

San Diego started its final drive on its four-yard line with no timeouts. “That’s a real difficult situation,” Friesz said. “It was an ugly deal all around.

“The way I started, it was close to being good. But we couldn’t hit anything and continued to have third-and-long. When that happens, the defense has the advantage. I saw the field real well, but I could never figure out where or what (Steve) Atwater was doing.”

Denver’s David Treadwell kicked a 42-yard field goal during the first quarter on a drive set up when Randy Robbins recovered Kitrick Taylor’s fumble on a punt return. Punter Mike Horan kept the drive going with a nine-yard gain after a bad snap forced him to run.

Three plays after Elway was intercepted by Darren Carrington, Atwater, voted a starting spot in the Pro Bowl, intercepted Friesz and ran 49 yards to the San Diego 26. Six plays later, Steve Sewell scored on a two-yard run for a 10-0 lead.

The Chargers went six possessions without getting a first down. On their seventh possession, Friesz moved them 82 yards in 11 plays. On second-and-goal from the one, Friesz passed to Craig McEwen make the score 10-7.