Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler left the Broncos' game with the 49ers after taking a hit from Anthony Adams early in the second quarter on Sunday. He was replaced by Jake Plummer.

So maybe the 49ers weren't good enough to make the playoffs after all. Coach Mike Nolan already suspected that, even if he never acknowledged it to his players, and he's already at work making sure those dreams are more realistic next season. After losing 26 games in the previous two years, and after a 2006 season that included losses by 41, 31 and 29 points, the 49ers finally were eliminated from postseason contention in the mediocre NFC. But Nolan won't allow his players to neglect their rebuilding project for even one week. San Francisco finishes the season by visiting Denver, who can clinch a playoff spot with a victory.

Javon Walker has a first-degree shoulder separation and will likely be listed as questionable for Sunday, when the Broncos (8-6) host the Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) in a game that could go a long way to determining a wild-card spot. Walker suffered the injury in the first half of last Sunday's 37-20 win at Arizona. He finished the contest but did not have a catch in the second half. "He (Walker) had a first-degree separation of his shoulder and took a shot, I believe, in the second quarter," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "I think it's a little bit sore." Walker saw his production drop once Cutler assumed the starting quarterback position against Seattle on December 3. But prior to Walker's injury, the duo hooked up five times for 84 yards and a touchdown against Arizona.

LaDainian Tomlinson broke Shaun Alexander's NFL single-season touchdown record of 28 when he scored three times Sunday in the Chargers' game against the Broncos. With the fans chanting for Tomlinson, the star running back took a handoff from Philip Rivers and scored on a 6-yard run with 3:57 left to tie it. After Denver fumbled, Tomlinson got No. 29 on a 7-yard run just 47 seconds later.

Broncos fullback Cecil Sapp will miss the rest of the season because of a broken left leg, but linebacker Al Wilson could return to practice this week after injuring his neck in the Broncos' loss to Seattle. Sapp was hurt while returning a kickoff with about three minutes left in the Broncos' 23-20 defeat in Week 13. He was tackled by Niko Koutouvides and Lance Laury and was bent backward in the pile. One of Denver's top special teams players, Sapp will have surgery sometime this week and will go on injured reserve. There wasn't an immediate corresponding roster move.

Broncos linebacker Al Wilson sprained his neck and was carted off the field and taken to a hospital by ambulance after a fourth-quarter hit Sunday night against Seattle.