Thomas Didn’t Have a Chance on Either Kick

Bronco kicker Rich Karlis put his arm around Bob Thomas as the dejected Charger kicker walked off the field following San Diego’s 30-24 overtime loss.

The two met under the south goalposts at Mile High Stadium. Moments before when Thomas had eyed those goalposts, they represented the means to a Charger victory.

Now, they were a memory of what might have been if Thomas had not had two 40-yard field goal attempts blocked.

“I told him he didn’t have a chance on any of them and to keep his head up because it wasn’t his fault,” Karlis said. “It is easy to get down on yourself after that.”

It was a confusing and bizarre ending to a game dominated by the special teams.

The first game-winning field goal attempt did not count because the Broncos had called a timeout just before the ball was snapped. However, the officials did not signal the timeout until the play was under way.

“We were crying after we found out a timeout had been called,” Karlis said.

Miracles don’t usually repeat.

“After that play, I told the referee that I had just had my best rush of the day,” safety Dennis Smith said.

Smith blocked the ball on the game-winning attempt and was one of a number who was in on the block that did not count.

“Our timing seemed like it was there, but things didn’t work out,” Charger holder Ralf Mojsiejenko said. “I thought after the first one was blocked and they called timeout, they had a good chance on the second one.”

What the Broncos pulled off is a real rarity.

That is, block two field goals in a row. The Broncos had not blocked a field goal in their first 10 games and had already blocked a 47-yard attempt by Thomas in the first quarter.

On Thomas’ second attempt, Smith broke through the left side of the line.

Louis Wright grabbed the loose ball on a big hop and raced 60 yards down the left sideline for the game-winning touchdown.

The last time the Broncos returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown was when John Bramlett did it against the Chargers on Dec. 27, 1966.

“Our second block was even better than the first,” Wright said. “Right away, I knew the ball was blocked. I was following the bouncing ball. I figured if I got it in stride, I could go the distance. It was getting sweeter and sweeter as I got closer and closer to the end zone.”

In the San Diego locker room, quarterback Dan Fouts tried to console Thomas, who still appeared to be shocked over what had transpired.

“I thought I hit the second one better,” Thomas said, “and I don’t know where the guy came from to block it.”

In adjoining lockers in a jubilant Bronco clubhouse, Smith and Wright described their last-minute heroics.

“The second block hit me right on the arm,” Smith said. “I had blocked one earlier in the game, and they were kind of paranoid on that side of the line.”

Smith was talking about the left side of the Charger line.

“You could see them overcompensate on that side after I blocked the first one,” Smith said. “They were scared of me getting inside. Daniel Hunter and I felt that whichever way they blocked, we had a good chance at blocking the kick. We think the attempted block is more effective with two defensive backs coming from the right side.”

According to Karlis, who is used to seeing onrushing linemen try and block his kicks, Thomas had virtually no chance to get off those final kicks.

“The way our line was rushing, I was surprised they didn’t catch the ball when it was snapped back,” he said.

Denver special teams coach Chan Gailey said that during the pregame warmups Sunday he noticed that Thomas was kicking the ball even lower than usual.

Coming into Sunday’s game, Thomas had spent the previous week thinking about snowballs and the pairs of white socks that teammates were throwing at him during practice.

Now, he’ll surely spend this week dreaming about players wearing orange jerseys.