SAN DIEGO -- Broncos defensive end Kavika Pittman cried as he met with friends on the Chargers on Sunday after San Diego prevailed 30-27 in overtime.

Broncos rookie halfback Clinton Portis spoke briefly to the cameras on the field and said, "We had opportunities to put it away, and we didn't."

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan almost accidentally knocked over a television light as he tried to maneuver through a packed interview room near the team's shower. His answers were professional, but you could sense he was burning with rage inside.

After all, for the third time since Oct. 20, the Broncos lost a game on the last play by an opponent's field goal. First, it was Olindo Mare of the Dolphins at the end of regulation. Mike Vanderjagt did it last week in the snow in Denver. Steve Christie, who missed three field goals Sunday, made a 27-yarder with 3:01 left in overtime.

	Shanahan

"You lose these overtime games, you don't find a way to close the game, there's a chance you're home for the holidays," Shanahan said. "So, hopefully, we'll regroup. We'll see what type of character this football team has. Everybody is very disappointed right now. We had our opportunities and didn't get it done."

Since the Broncos' Oct. 6 blowout of the Chargers, 26-9, they have blown too many opportunities. They have gone 3-4 since then to drop to 7-5, one game behind the Chargers in the AFC West.

Not answered was whether there will be a change at quarterback next week when the Broncos visit the Jets. Steve Beuerlein had a decent statistical game, completing 22 of 39 for 288 yards, but he threw two interceptions, had a fumble and was sacked four times. More than anything else, Beuerlein is 0-2 as a starter.

In the season opener, Shanahan almost benched Brian Griese, who was 19-19 as a starter. Shanahan's main stat is that he wants his quarterback with a winning record. Griese was 7-3 before suffering a knee injury, and he was the backup quarterback Sunday.

	“	You lose these overtime games, you don't find a way to close the game, there's a chance you're home for the holidays. ”
		— Coach Mike Shanahan

Best guess is that he will be starting against the Jets, but it's too early to make a call.

"One of my main goals is to play as long as they ask me to play and turn this thing over in good shape," Beuerlein said. "I haven't done that. We've come up short two weeks in a row and now we've got to scramble."

If Beuerlein was feeling low about his missed opportunities, he had plenty of company in the locker room. Jason Elam's missed field goal in overtime hurt. And how about the missed tackles on the defense. The Broncos entered the game with the best run defensive statistics in the NFL. They gave up 220 yards to LaDainian Tomlinson as part of a 434-yard day against an offense that primarily used five rookies among the 11 who were mostly on the field.

"They ran the football extremely well against us," Shanahan said. "They had no turnovers. I believe the Chargers had one penalty in the football game. You do that and you have three turnovers on offense like we did, it's hard to win a football game even though we had the opportunities."

There were several bone-head plays by the defense. During a second-quarter touchdown drive, cornerback Deltha O'Neal had a shaky interference penalty that turned a third down into a first down, and Chester McGlockton was flagged on third down for hitting Drew Brees out of bounds. In each case, the Chargers would have settled for a field goal. Instead, they got a Tomlinson touchdown.

The Broncos had nine penalties for 57 yards, and Beuerlein couldn't shake the thoughts of two interceptions that bounced off the hands of receivers.

"One was a slant and one was a quick out," Beuerlein said. "Both were thrown a little behind the receivers. They're trying to make a play on the ball. It's tight coverage. I've got to put the ball in the right spot and I didn't put it in exactly the right spot. You've got to put it on me."

And put it on the defense.

"Their offensive scheme allowed them to make plays without taking huge risks," linebacker Ian Gold said. "Drew Brees did a great job doing what the coaches told him to do. He dumped the ball off when he needed to and he did that successfully throughout the game."

The Broncos know they are close, but they aren't finishing games. And they might be running out of time.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.