DENVER -- The difference between the Broncos and the Chargers is the development of their offenses. The Broncos have a massive playbook that Mike Shanahan has catalogued through the years. Marty Schottenheimer is just starting his version of Marty Ball in San Diego.

A week ago, Schottenheimer joked during an impressive win over the Patriots that he might have set the NFL back with his Neanderthal offense. Down 19-0 in the first half of Sunday's 26-9 loss to the Broncos, the Chargers didn't have the arsenal of plays to run.

For the most part, Schottenheimer was calling reverses and fake reverses and running plays when he was behind. By halftime, the Chargers had 17 running plays versus only nine passes. Though that might be their normal percentage, remember that they were trailing 7-0 two minutes into the game.

This is not a slam at the play-calling or quarterback Drew Brees. The Chargers are trying to find their personality as an offense, and to find that personality, you start with emphasizing strengths. Their strength is running the football and getting play-action passes to Curtis Conway. More is needed from tight end Stephen Alexander and flanker Tim Dwight to allow Brees the opportunity to spread the ball around.

	“	We were able to drive the ball a little, but turnovers killed us. We kinda beat ourselves. But the reverses and fake reverses are part of our offense. They are going to have respect our reverses. If not, we are going to run our reverses and get some big plays that way. ”
		— Chargers QB Drew Brees

Compare Brees' situation to that of Brian Griese with the Broncos. Against a tough Chargers defense, Griese was able to spread the ball to nine different receivers. He had six each to wide receivers Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith. He threw three to tight end Shannon Sharpe. Running backs Olandis Gary and Clinton Portis combined for five.

There are options on every play. Because the offensive playbook has grown under Shanahan, Griese was able to use some no-huddle, a nice mix of one or two running backs, and some interesting two tight end sets. Knowing that the Chargers are so talented in their front seven, Shanahan spread the field with three and four receivers to keep the Chargers off base.

"When you stop Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith will step in," tight end Shannon Sharpe said. "When you stop him, the backs and I will go in and do a good job."

The Chargers don't have that luxury. The key to stopping them is stopping halfback LaDainian Tomlinson. Though Tomlinson still broke off a couple of nice runs, he was held to 48 yards on 14 carries and wasn't going to be as much of a factor with a huge deficit at halftime.

The Chargers were forced to pass, and that's not their strength right now.

"We were able to drive the ball a little, but turnovers killed us," Brees said. "We kinda beat ourselves. But the reverses and fake reverses are part of our offense. They are going to have respect our reverses. If not, we are going to run our reverses and get some big plays that way. We are going to run it inside and we are going to run it outside."

The Chargers had a chance to stay in the game, but that situation fell apart in the second quarter. Trailing 7-0, Brees started a drive from his 8-yard line and, mixing in runs with short passes, marched to the Broncos 6. A second down pass to tight end Stephen Alexander was intercepted by Deltha O'Neal, who just happened to be near because the receiver he covered was close to Alexander.

The Broncos marched 84 yards to get a touchdown and put the game out of reach.

"We will just keep plugging," Brees said. "A quote from Marty Schottenheimer that I like is 'that which does not kill you only will make you stronger.' There was going to be a point in the season where we were going to lose a game. We will deal with this. I hope this will make us better."

The loss did leave the Chargers thinner. Alexander suffered a foot injury that will be X-rayed Monday. It's not considered serious, but the injury could leave him questionable for next Sunday's game against the Chiefs. Alexander left the locker room wearing a boot. So did backup halfback Terrell Fletcher, who suffered an ankle injury.

Defensive end Marcellus Wiley didn't last past the second quarter because of a groin injury. Middle linebacker Junior Seau missed the game with an ankle injury.

"The Broncos game planned to stop what we do best -- run," Conway said. "They came out and played ball today and we didn't."

The Chargers offense will grow from this loss.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.