Chargers snatch win from Colts
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego’s defense hit the pick six Sunday night, intercepting Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning six times, but the Chargers on the other side of the ball were the lucky ones.
“It’s probably the weirdest game I’ve ever been involved in,” quarterback Philip Rivers said after a 23-21 victory over the Colts in which San Diego’s offense failed to amass 100 yards either running or passing. “I’ll never apologize for a win, but obviously I didn’t play the way I wanted to. . . . “
The Chargers (5-4), who nearly frittered away a 23-0 lead, got help late in the game from the unlikeliest source. Indianapolis’ Adam Vinatieri, widely considered the greatest clutch kicker in the history of the game, missed a go-ahead field goal from 29 yards with 1 minute 34 seconds to play.
The rain-soaked crowd, which moments earlier had booed Chargers Coach Norv Turner and Rivers when their faces flashed on the scoreboard, roared its approval. All but forgotten was the fact the home team -- the one that led the NFL in scoring last season -- had turned in one of the worst offensive performances in memory.
San Diego had 91 yards rushing, 86 passing, converted just three of 11 third downs, and lost the time-of-possession fight by more than 12 minutes, an eternity in football terms.
And consider this: Even though a career-high six of his passes were intercepted -- three by cornerback Antonio Cromartie -- Manning’s passer rating of 49.4 was still better than Rivers’ 30.6.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Turner said of the overall bizarre nature of the game. “But obviously we’ll take it.”
And they’ll take it happily. Troubling as it was, the victory gave the Chargers sole possession of first place in the AFC West, a division they almost certainly have to win to reach the postseason.
Not only that, but they beat the defending Super Bowl champions, who had the extra incentive of rebounding strong after a bitter defeat to New England a week earlier. The Colts (7-2) were ravaged by injuries, however, leaving Manning to search not for the sidelined Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez, but lesser-known targets such as Bryan Fletcher, Kenton Keith and Craphonso Thorpe.
Even so, the Colts rolled up 386 yards and would have forged a tie at 23 early in the fourth quarter had they been successful on their two-point conversion run.
Colts Coach Tony Dungy apologized to his players afterward for calling a timeout near the end to argue a false-start call -- a timeout his team really could have used on its last-gasp possession.
“Obviously, that was one of the most disappointing games we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Dungy said.
For Cromartie, making his first career start, the night was more padding for his personal highlight tape. A week earlier, he set an NFL record with a 109-yard return for a touchdown on a missed field goal. Then, with the national TV cameras rolling, he one-upped that.
“You’re going against the best quarterback in the NFL, and that means a lot for me,” he said. “For me to pick him off three times, I think it’s quite an accomplishment. But I feel like now I’ve got to keep my stride going and my confidence going and be consistent all season.”
So far, consistency has eluded these Chargers. They won their opener, lost three, won three, gagged one away at Minnesota, then barely held on against the Colts. It’s not the stuff that spawns overflowing confidence.
The same defense that played beautifully against the Colts gave up an NFL-record 296 yards rushing to Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson the week before. And Sunday night, the Chargers offense showed it has many flaws of its own.
“Quite honestly, our offense is not playing good,” said running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who finished with 76 yards in 21 carries and scored the offense’s only touchdown on a four-yard run. “Our defense held us up and made plays for us, and our special teams helped us win the game.
“Offensively, we didn’t have a part in winning this game.”
But, as luck would have it, that didn’t matter in the end.
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