TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- The NFL gave away tickets. Drew Brees gave away the game.
Brees threw two interceptions on his first four pass attempts and the Miami Dolphins converted both into scores en route to a 26-10 victory over the San Diego Chargers, who were pushed south due to fires in Southern California.
After moving the game from San Diego, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue decided that the tickets at Sun Devil Stadium would be free.
A day after the Arizona Cardinals attracted only 40,824 fans for their game against the San Francisco 49ers, this Monday Night Football contest drew a capacity crowd of 73,014 to the same building.
"There are situations that come up that are unusual and unique, and this was one of them," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said.
With a neutral crowd still filing in, Brees threw two interceptions in the opening 4:35.
On 3rd-and-2 from San Diego's 32, Patrick Surtain picked off a pass and returned it 32 yards to the 6. Two plays later, Brian Griese found Chris Chambers from five yards to open the scoring 2:02 into the game.
Just 2:18 later, Brees dropped back on 2nd-and-5 and hit star running back LaDainian Tomlinson in the helmet. Linebacker Zach Thomas ended up with the ball and returned it 19 yards to San Diego's 24. Olindo Mare later kicked a 44-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.
"You can attribute this to my inaccuracy in the beginning," said Brees, who was 19-of-30 for 190 yards with three interceptions.
"You can put this whole loss on my shoulders, because our defense played their butts off and our offensive line fought their heart out, too."
Possibly disracted by fires that forced the game to be moved from San Diego to Tempe, the Chargers (1-6) never recovered from the early turnovers and kept a share of the worst record in the NFL.
"It is a distraction," said Chargers safety Kwamie Lassiter, a former Cardinal. "You can't brush it off because a lot of people lost their homes and their life earnings."
The game was especially difficult for Dolphins linebacker Junior Seau, who starred for the Chargers before being traded in April for a conditional pick in the 2004 draft.
"This was the hardest game I had to play," he said. "The game was secondary compared to the things going on back there."
Making his first appearance of the season, Brian Griese completed 20-of-29 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Dolphins (5-2) to their fifth win in six games.
"We finally got to the game and we played well offensively for a half and got the job done," said Griese, who played for the injured Jay Fiedler. "We had some help from our defense and took advantage of some turnovers."
When Griese took his first snap, he became part of the first father-son duo in NFL history to play quarterback for the same team. Bob Griese led Miami to the only perfect season in league history in 1972 and consecutive titles in 1973 and 1974.
"It felt pretty special," Brian Griese said. "I have waited seven weeks and wanted to contribute to the team in some way. I had the opportunity and it felt great. On Monday Night Football, I don't think I could have asked for anything more."
Griese played well with the early lead, completing all six of his attempts in the first quarter and 13-of-14 for 145 yards and three scores in the first half as Miami built a 24-3 lead.
Following a 51-yard field goal by San Diego's Steve Christie that slammed off the upright, Griese finished off a 65-yard drive with a two-yard TD pass to James McKnight, making it 17-3 with 13:28 left in the half.
The Dolphins later went 80 yards in six plays, building a 24-3 cushion on Griese's seven-yard strike to tight end Randy McMichael 1:55 before halftime.
Thanks mostly to a pass rush that totaled six sacks, Miami allowed only 250 yards of total offense. Tomlinson was held to 62 yards on 24 carries.
"They played like they always play," Schottenheimer said of the Dolphins' defense. "When you get in a situation where you have to throw against them, they're going to sack your quarterback. We didn't have a way to answer."
Miami's Ricky Williams rushed 23 times for 69 yards. His fumble at the Dolphins' 1 led to a TD run by Tomlinson as the Chargers closed within 24-10 with 12:27 remaining.
The Dolphins' pass rush accounted for the final points of the game as Jason Taylor pressured Brees in the end zone. Brees fumbled and Taylor fell on lineman Damion McIntosh for a safety.
