Chargers Sink to a New Low at Mile High : Pro football: They lose in Denver for the sixth consecutive time. Broncos win, 21-13.

DENVER — In reviewing the Chargers’ 21-13 defeat Sunday to the Denver Broncos in Mile High Stadium, Coach Bobby Ross and his players said there were a lot of positive things to build on.

It’s a shaky foundation, however.

* The Chargers are 0-2 for the fifth year in a row.

“I’ve run out of words to say,” cornerback Gill Byrd said.

* The Chargers have lost six consecutive games in Mile High Stadium and nine in the past 10 years.

“It’s been difficult for us to win everywhere since ‘86, unfortunately,” linebacker Gary Plummer said. “It’s not just Denver.”

* The offense has not scored two touchdowns against the Broncos’ defense in Denver since 1985.

“If we do a better job against the run,” said Bronco safety Dennis Smith, “we can have an even bigger game the next time we play them.”

* The receivers continue to drop the ball: Six in the first week, seven in the second week.

Explained wide receiver Anthony Miller: “It’s just a lack of concentration on everybody’s part.”

* The special teams specialize in self-destruction.

“It’s not as good as we want,” said special teams coach Chuck Priefer.

* The defense declined to play a full 60 minutes.

“Maybe we can play a full game next week,” said linebacker Junior Seau.

* The offensive line surrendered five sacks, the same number allowed in the opener.

“I thought our offensive line overall held up real well,” Ross said.

* The Chargers now have won one game for every two losses since 1988, compiling a 22-44 record.

“We played very, very hard,” Ross said. “I thought we did some good things on the football field. I know it was another loss, and that’s the reaction of a lot of people, but what I told our football was that I saw a lot of good things out there today. And we’re going to build on the good.”

Looking on the bright side, the opposition is taking much longer to score the first points of the game. It took Kansas City 1:39 to establish a 7-0 lead in the first quarter last week. This week it took the Broncos five minutes before John Elway completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Jackson.

Elway threw a pump fake at Byrd, and Byrd stopped, allowing Jackson to race behind him.

“We got him (Byrd) today, but he’s a tough guy to beat,” said Elway, who completed 14 of 24 passes for 186 yards. “The pump fake was successful, but it’s kind of a game you play with each other.”

Byrd came back later to intercept an Elway pass, the seventh time in his career he has done so. But it was that early score that Byrd wanted to talk about.

“I should have been back there and I wasn’t,” Byrd said. “I thought he was going to throw short. There was a mix-up (in coverage), but I take full responsibility.”

The Chargers’ defense recovered, however, and allowed the Broncos to gain only 21 yards on their next 15 plays before halftime. The Broncos recorded only one first down on their final four possessions of the first half, and were trailing the Chargers, 10-7, at the half.

The Chargers had failed on their first scoring attempt in the first quarter when Denver defensive back Muhammad Oliver blocked John Carney’s 37-yard field-goal attempt.

“It’s probably my fault,” said linebacker Steve Hendrickson, the outside blocker on Oliver’s side. “I get blamed for everything else.”

The Chargers rallied, though, and went on an elephant march in the second quarter. They moved slowly but stubbornly forward despite three penalties and a sack.

After running back Rod Bernstine lost a yard on third and goal from the one, Carney was successful from 20 yards to complete a 77-yard drive that consumed 8:43.

The Chargers took possession again moments later after Elway’s home-run effort landed in Byrd’s grasp. Byrd returned the interception 44 yards to the Denver 16 with 58 seconds remaining in the half.

An illegal use of hands penalty on wide receiver Anthony Miller negated a razzle-dazzle 16-yard touchdown run by Ronnie Harmon, but two plays later Harmon made a one-hand catch at the Denver two for a 29-yard gain.

Quarterback Stan Humphries, who was making his first start for the Chargers, rolled right and fired a dart to wide receiver Nate Lewis for a two-yard touchdown.

“I think Humphries did a good job,” Ross said, “and he can build on this game.”

Humphries suffered a sprained ankle early and completed 23-of-45 passes for 231 yards with two interceptions. Cornerback Tyrone Braxton dropped an interception opportunity in the first quarter, however, and a fourth-quarter interception by Wymon Henderson was wiped out by an offsides penalty.

Cornerback Charles Dimry’s interception of a Humphries pass in the third quarter, however, held up. Dimry stepped in front of Miller, and took possession before hitting the ground at the Chargers’ 34.

On the very next play Elway went deep to a diving Shannon Sharpe for a 34-yard touchdown, and a 21-13 lead.

Elway’s eight-yard scramble up the middle for a touchdown earlier in the quarter had boosted Denver past the Chargers, 14-13.

“I know people get tired about hearing about close games,” said defensive end Burt Grossman. “Georgia Tech went 2-8 when Ross went there and then things changed. When someone is sick it takes time.

“A lot of people have tried to turn it around here, but with each one that comes in new, you’ve got to give them a chance.”

The Chargers return home to play Pittsburgh (2-0). The Steelers have defeated the Chargers three times in a row.

“We just have to regroup,” said Bernstine, who ran 12 times for 83 yards. “Another 4-12 season wouldn’t be very exciting. I hope it doesn’t get that bad.”

It shouldn’t be that bad, not with the easiest schedule in the NFL still to play, but in the interests of future planning: No team that has opened the season 0-2 has ever advanced to win the Super Bowl.