Chargers Get Past Denver on Last Play : San Diego: A 45-yard drive in final 31 seconds sets up winning field goal.
Everything was following its usual course Sunday, just like it had all season. The Chargers had seemingly found yet another way to blow a game. The fans were booing. The coaches were cursing.
Only a funny thing happened.
Someone changed the script.
You want strange? The Chargers, just 43 seconds away from defeat, watched the Denver Broncos miss an extra-point.
You want crazy? The Chargers, who have not had their two-minute offense work all year, drove 45 yards in the final 31 seconds.
And before you could say Merry Christmas, Chris Bahr hit a 45-yard field goal with no time remaining, giving the Chargers a 19-16 victory over Denver.
Bahr was mobbed by his teammates. Defensive back Elvis Patterson threw his towel into the stands, and raised his index finger to the fans. And quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver raised his helmet to the crowd in triumph.
“This was a great, great win for us,” said Tolliver, who completed 22 of 48 passes for 305 yards, the most any quarterback has attained against Denver this season.
The Chargers, of course, would like everyone to believe that their victory signifies a new era.
Why look, they boasted in the locker room afterward, they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs and Broncos in their last two games, didn’t they? And the last time they played the Raiders, they whipped them, too.
“We showed what kind of team we are today,” said wide receiver Anthony Miller, who caught the pass that set up the winning field goal. “We’re the type of team which is capable of winning a lot of games. Shoot, we could have easily won 13 games this season.”
Of course, that’s the big difference between the Chargers and Denver. While the Chargers talked about all those games they should have won, the standings reveal that they finished with a 6-10 record.
The Broncos, who had no excuses, are 11-5 with possibly five weeks still remaining in their season. They clinched the AFC West title before Christmas shopping commenced.
That is why this game was just one of three during the weekend that had no bearing on any of the NFL playoff races.
And the Broncos showed just what they thought of this game by yanking starting quarterback John Elway out of the game with nine minutes still remaining.
In the second quarter.
The Chargers, it seemed, had the game all wrapped up with 1:55 left when Leslie O’Neal sacked Kubiak for a nine-year loss at the Charger 38.
The Broncos still had three timeouts left, but the moment Kubiak was sacked, a few of the Bronco assistants actually headed for the elevators.
The Chargers ran Marion Butts around the left end for a three-yard gain on first down. He went around the left end again on second down, losing one yard.
And then it happened.
The Chargers, who had been successful running Miller on a reverse twice earlier in the game for gains of 24 and 12 yards, tried it a third time.
Oops.
Miller was running for the first down when he was popped, lost control of the football, and looked on in anguish when Bronco linebacker Michael Brooks was on the bottom of the pile with the football underneath him.
The crowd of 50,524 groaned.
The Chargers, just like clockwork, began to self-destruct. Kubiak’s first-down pass to Michael Young at the Charger five-yard-line was incomplete, but Vencie Glenn was draped all over him, and was called for pass interference.
The Broncos picked on Glenn again. This time, they tried a halfback-option pass with Steve Sewell throwing to tight end Pat Kelly in the end zone. That was incomplete, too, but again, Glenn was called for pass interference.
The Broncos had first-and-goal from the one, and two plays later, Jeff Alexander ran through the middle for the touchdown. The Broncos celebrated wildly on the sidelines. And Alexander threw the football into the stands.
But David Treadwell missed the extra point, leaving an opening for the Chargers. And they made the most of it, with Tolliver hitting all four of his passing on the game-winning drive.