SAN DIEGO — Eddie Royal was running so fast that even his brown-and-white striped socks were a blur.

Royal became the first player in Broncos history to return a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the same game, leading undefeated Denver to a wild 34-23 win over the San Diego Chargers last night.

Royal thinks one of the Chargers got a hand on him during his 93-yard kickoff return in the first quarter. He knows no one touched him on his 71-yard punt return in the second quarter.

"Man, it was a great feeling. The guys did a great job of blocking," he said of the second return. "I've got to give them a lot of credit. They opened up the seams and it was a home run."

Royal is the 11th player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in a game.

Darren Sproles, one of the other players to have a kickoff and punt return for touchdowns in the game, had a 77-yard punt return for a San Diego score.

The three returns for TDs tied the NFL record for a game.

Royal said the Chargers have aggressive special-teams players, and the Broncos knew they had to take them out.

"You've got to believe it can happen before you do it," he said. "I've got a lot of faith in the guys in front of me, so I wasn't surprised."

Coach Josh McDaniels agreed.

"I think our guys did a great job of blocking and giving Eddie a chance to get started," McDaniels said.

"It doesn't matter who you are playing; you give up two big returns on a punt and a kickoff and it makes it tough," Chargers coach Norv Turner said.

This is the fifth time the Broncos have been 6-0, the first since going 13-0 in 1998 en route to winning their second straight Super Bowl behind John Elway. They opened a 3 1/2-game lead in the AFC West over three-time defending division champion San Diego (2-3).

"It's going to be tough," Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. "We have to get over this one quick or we'll find ourselves in trouble in Kansas City because it's a short week."

Denver outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil had two sacks to extend his NFL lead to 10. His second sack caused Rivers to fumble, with Vonnie Holliday recovering to set up Matt Prater's 29-yard field goal. The Broncos sacked Rivers five times, three in the fourth quarter.

The Broncos didn't get an offensive touchdown until Kyle Orton threw a 19-yard pass to tight end Tony Scheffler late in the third quarter for a 24-23 lead. Denver added a field goal by Prater and a late 5-yard touchdown catch by Brandon Stokley that was upheld on review.