SAN DIEGO - If Chargers fans wonder if general manager A.J. Smith is listening to them voice their frustration with choice words and raucous booing and chanting the first name of former coach Marty Schottenheimer, the answer is a resounding yes.

Smith hears the fans loud and clear. He acknowledges that fans should be expressing frustration with the team's 1-3 record and a losing streak that reached three games with Sunday's 30-16 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

"That's the passion of the fans," Smith said Monday in response to the earsplitting chants of "Marrrty" that bellowed loudly late in the fourth quarter. "That's the way they are. It's never going to change.

"They'll ask for your firing if things aren't going well and then they'll be the same ones that will be lining the streets throwing confetti at the parade. They'll be happy for you then."

The Chargers currently don't look like they will need to order confetti for any postseason celebrations based on their standing at the quarter pole of the NFL season. A team forecasted to be a leading Super Bowl contender has instead been a monumental flop and resides in last place in the less-than-ferocious AFC West.

The fans aren't happy with the product and neither is Smith.

"I'm extremely disappointed that we're not sharp and we're not playing well," Smith said. "We're all looking for answers in the building - the coaches, the players. There's no question about that.

"But it's a long hard season and there's a long way to go."

A primary reason why Schottenheimer is no longer coach of the Chargers is because of the icy relationship he and Smith shared. By chanting the first name of the former coach, fans were expressing that they aren't happy with the efforts of new coach Norv Turner, whose career record fell to 59-85-1 after Sunday's loss.

"I understand the responsibilities of the job I have," Turner said Monday. "I'm ultimately the one who's responsible. So it's my job to get the things done we're talking about. The inconsistencies, the problems we're having with turnovers, giving up big plays (on defense). I've got to get those things eliminated."

It's the inconsistency that has been particularly maddening over the first four games. The Chargers will play well for a while - they were highly dominant in building a 10-0 first-quarter lead against the Chiefs - and later hit a stretch of mistakes.

Sometimes a poor play occurs right after an impressive one. An example of that occurred Sunday when the Chiefs scored the winning points on a 51-yard pass play on third-and-19. The touchdown came immediately after linebacker Shawne Merriman revved up Qualcomm Stadium with a punishing sack followed by the popular "Lights Out" sack dance.

The ups and downs frustrate the executive who built the Chargers from a league doormat into a division-winning squad.

"We have to come together," Smith said. "We're too inconsistent. We're playing well in spurts and that's not good enough. If you play in spurts, it's going to get you in trouble or disaster.

"We're 1-3, we're at the bottom of the division. There's a lot of football yet to be played and that's good. There's a lot of time left and that's good. But eventually you're going to run out of time.

"We need to get our act together and get it together very quickly."

Getting it together and ending their losing skid this Sunday could be difficult. The Chargers visit the Denver Broncos and the Mile High City has traditionally been a place where they experience Mile High lows.

When the Chargers won in Denver last season, it was only their fourth win in Denver in the past 24 visits.

The last time they won back-to-back games in Denver was 1967-68 during the days of the American Football League.

On the positive side, the Chargers remain just one game out of first place as the Broncos, Chiefs and Oakland Raiders all have 2-2 records. If they were in any other NFL division, they would either be two or three games behind the leader.

"The only good thing is when I'm looking up at the division, I don't see a team 4-0 and I don't see another one 3-1," Smith said. "I'm looking up and seeing 2-and-2, 2-and-2, 2-and-2 and then the Chargers. So that's a good thing.

"But what are we going to do about that? We're in a hole. We need to get out of it. We need to fight out of it and we're on our way to Denver."

Key players continue to have difficult explaining the early-season struggles.

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson said players and coaches alike have to accept the blame and that everybody has to be careful to avoid finger-pointing.

Quarterback Philip Rivers pointed out that three quarters of the season remains: "They don't give a prize for who won the first quarter (of the season). They give a prize at the end."

Linebacker Shaun Phillips said the players are at fault for the 1-3 start, not Turner and the coaching staff.

"We personally don't like to attribute it to the coaching staff because we hold ourselves to such high standards as players and professional athletes," Phillips said. "We understand that the coaches, at the end of the day, do not take a snap. It's all about us, and we bear that burden. We've just got to concentrate on getting better.

"I just hate the fact that Norv has to take the scrutiny, and it's not his fault. Coach Turner, he's the head man and he runs the show, but bottom line, we take every snap. Norv ain't never had a chance to throw a fourth-down pass or cover somebody on fourth down in the NFL. So it's all about us, and we need to hold ourselves accountable."

One thing the Chargers learned Sunday is that the paying customers will hold them accountable if they continue to sputter and underachieve.

"The voice of the fan is to be heard loud and clear," Smith said. "They will cheer with you when you're on top and they'll kick you in the pants when you're down. That's the way it should be. They have a perfect right to do that."

- Contact staff writer Mike Sullivan at (760) 739-6645 or msullivan@nctimes.com.