Chargers Go Out Kicking and Beaming : NFL: Chris Bahr’s 45-yard field goal as time expires finishes a 6-10 season on an upbeat way, a 19-16 victory over the AFC West champion Denver Broncos.

Everything was following its usual course Sunday, just as 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 bizarre? The Chargers, whose two-minute offense has not worked 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 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 afterwards, 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,” Charger receiver Anthony Miller said. “We’re the type of team that 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 said that they had no excuses, are 11-5 with possibly five weeks still remaining in their season. They clinched the AFC West title before UPS even got busy.

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 it by yanking starting quarterback John Elway with nine minutes remaining.

In the second quarter.

“We hated to see him leave, because you always want to beat their best,” said Charger linebacker Gary Plummer, “but if I was them, I would have done the same. There’s no sense taking a chance when there’s bigger fish to fry.

“Hey, it was still fun to pretend it was Elway.”

But it was Gary Kubiak instead, and by the time the Chargers’ front line was finished harassing him, he probably was looking forward to taking that clipboard back and standing on the sidelines for the playoffs.

The Chargers finished the day with seven sacks, and the two by Lee Williams gave him an AFC-leading 14 for the season.

“Hey, that front line was tough,” Kubiak said. “They were chasing me all over the place. I think they wanted to show us that we’re going to have a battle on our hands, and you know something.

“I think they may be right.”

The Chargers, who played 13 games that were decided by a touchdown or less--losing nine--indeed may have proved that they have the talent to be competitive in 1990. Now they just have to figure out a way to avoid these late disasters, the kind that nearly felled them once again Sunday.

The Chargers, it seemed, had the game wrapped up with 1:55 left when Leslie O’Neal sacked Kubiak on fourth down at the Charger 38.

The Broncos still had three timeouts left, but the moment Kubiak was dropped, a few Bronco assistants in the press box 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 a 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 and lost control of the football. He looked in anguish at Bronco linebacker Michael Brooks, who was on the bottom of the pile with the football underneath him.

The crowd of 50,524 groaned. Miller spat. And Charger Coach Dan Henning sighed. “Here we go again.”

The Broncos still needed 41 yards for a touchdown, but remember, these are the Chargers. And when it comes down to the final two minutes of any game, they have this bad habit of self-destructing.

It took the Broncos all of two plays to gain 40 of the 41 yards, and typical of the Chargers, all were attained on penalties. Kubiak’s first-down pass to Michael Young at the Charger five was incomplete, but Vencie Glenn was draped all over him and 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.

“On the first call, I had to agree with,” he said. “I just did what I had to do. But the second call, no way. But what are you going to do? You can sit there and argue all day if you wanted to, and nothing’s going to change.”

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, Alexander threw the football into the stands, and the fans started heading toward the exits.

David Treadwell came on for the extra-point try. Treadwell, who was selected Wednesday to the Pro Bowl, had made all 39 of his previous PATs this season. And he tied a franchise record by making 27 field goals.

The snap was good. The hold was perfect. Treadwell kicked it solidly. And. . . .

Wide right.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Treadwell said. “I still can’t.”

There were 31 seconds left when the Chargers got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff, but they were on their own 28. Charger Coach Dan Henning had to decide to play it safe or unleash Tolliver, who already had thrown four interceptions.

He let Tolliver loose, watching him complete a 22-yard pass to Craig McEwen at the 50. And a nine-yard pass to Darrin Nelson at the 41. And a pass to Quinn Early at the 33. And his final pass to Miller at the 27.

Bahr and company rushed onto the field with six seconds left. Bahr kept his head down. The next time he looked up, he saw the ball drifting toward the right upright. At the last instant, it sailed over the crossbar.

“To tell you the truth, I was probably more nervous about the 22-yarder in the first half than that one,” Bahr said. “It’s been rare that we’ve (the special teams) had the opportunity to really contribute, and fortunately, we came through.”

As Bronco linebacker Karl Mecklenburg observed: “The game meant nothing to a lot of us, but it was quite clear today that a lot of them were playing for their jobs.”

It’s unknown who’ll stay and who’ll be fired now that the Charger season is over, but it’s quite evident that there indeed will be changes.

The banner that was unfurled in the east end zone before the game tells you all that’s needed concerning the Chargers’ attempt to return to respectability:

Dear Alex,

Please bring us an Offense, Special teams, and Beathard.

Love,

Santa

P.S. Thanks for sacking Ort.

The right contract might be able to lure Bobby Beathard into Steve Ortmayer’s vacated job as director of football operations, but as Charger fans painfully have learned the past six years, Santa can deliver a whole lot more promises than Charger owner Alex Spanos has.

Perhaps this is why stadium officials removed the sign shortly after kickoff.