Chargers Give Denver Flaws to Celebrate : Pro football: Broncos exploit foibles to snap a six-game losing streak with a 20-10 victory. ‘We let them off the hook,’ Chargers’ Gill Byrd says.
Wanted: One brave soul in San Diego willing to fill entertainment void left by the Denver billboard sitter.
Be advised: It might be next year before freedom can be assured.
The Chargers (6-8), relying on the one-step-forward, two-steps-back formula that resulted in 6-10 finishes the past two seasons, were at it again Sunday in Mile High Stadium.
Add up the dropped passes, defensive lapses, penalties and botched scoring opportunities in the Chargers’ 20-10 loss to the Broncos in front of 64,919 fans, and has anything really changed?
Well, it is a new day for Rich Goins, thank you, San Diego. For the first time in 34 days, he is on the ground to stay. The radio personality, who vowed to remain perched 40 feet up on a Denver billboard until the Broncos won, was unharnessed courtesy of the Chargers.
“I don’t know who’s happier, us or Rich Goins,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said after the Broncos snapped a six-game losing streak. “I know he’s glad to be off that billboard, and it was a great win for us. It seemed like we had really forgotten what it feels like to win. It was so long ago.”
The Broncos’ last victory was Oct. 21 in Indianapolis; their last victory at home had come Sept. 23 against Seattle. But against the Chargers, who were still counting playoff hopes on their Christmas wish list, Denver scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-3 lead early into the fourth quarter.
“You dominant them in yardage, time of possession, everything and come out of the half down 7-3,” Charger linebacker Gary Plummer said. “That was the key.”
That was the ballgame. The Chargers had been in control. They had squandered a first-quarter scoring opportunity with tight end Derrick Walker’s fumble at the goal line, but they had come back in the second quarter to post a 3-0 lead on John Carney’s 30-yard field goal.
With only 56 seconds left in the half, the Broncos’ offense had run 16 plays and gained 62 yards against the Chargers’ fourth-ranked defense.
“And then we let them off the hook,” cornerback Gill Byrd said, “and everything seemed to fall apart.”
In the final minute of the first half, quarterback John Elway moved the Broncos 65 yards and into the end zone. On second and nine, Elway was forced from the pocket by an aggressive pass rush, and, while running to his left, threw to his right, between Sam Seale and Vencie Glenn and into the hands of Michael Young for the touchdown. Time left on the clock: 15 seconds.
“It gave them the motivation they needed,” Plummer said. “I think they were ready to quit. Unfortunately, we haven’t realized as a team that we have to give the knockout punch when the opportunity presents itself. That’s something a mature team, a team headed for the playoffs, can do.”
However, high expectations could turn into a third consecutive 6-10 campaign if form holds true down the stretch. The Chargers already have lost to the Chiefs and Raiders, their final two opponents, and Kansas City and Los Angeles remain playoff-motivated.
“We better get ready to strap it on the next two weeks,” Charger quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver said, “or we’ll get the hell beat out of us.”
They had every chance Sunday, however, to defeat the Broncos, even their record and remain alive as a playoff longshot. But when Elway & Co., came out in the third quarter and put another touchdown on the board for a 14-3 lead, the Chargers were finished.
Running back Marion Butts, who gained 63 yards on 19 first-half carries, ran three times in the third quarter for eight yards and was never seen again.
Forced to throw, Tolliver attempted a Dan Fouts-like 51 passes and completed a Babe Laufenberg-like 26. He was hurt again, however, by an undependable receiving corps that dropped six passes.
“This was kind of a microcosm of the season; we had opportunities and didn’t make them happen,” Charger Coach Dan Henning said. “This points out to me that if you’re not good enough to take advantage of the opportunities, you just have to get better. We have to do a better job of putting people out there to make the plays.”
The Chargers placed themselves in position to grab the lead on their first possession. After moving to the Denver three on third and goal, Tolliver hit Walker with a short pass in the flats.
Walker was hit by safety Steve Atwater, and tried to reach the ball across the goal line as he fell to the ground. The ball fell out of his hand, however, and Denver cornerback Randy Robbins recovered in the end zone and returned it to the Broncos’ 22-yard line.
The first in what would become a series of instant replays throughout the day went against the Chargers as the officials ruled the play stood as called.
“I thought I was down, but I can sit here and question it all day,” Walker said. “The play stands.”
Down 7-3, the Chargers opened the third quarter with Donnie Elder muffing the kickoff. The Chargers were forced to go on the attack from their six-yard line, and after failing to gain a first down, put the Broncos back in good field possession at the Denver 43.
Elway then took apart the Chargers’ defense and finally hit Young again with a three-yard strike.
“John Elway was the difference,” Charger linebacker Leslie O’Neal said. “He started to get his confidence near the end of the first half when he scrambled and threw that touchdown pass. In the second half, he was a totally different player.”
Elway put the Broncos in position again in the fourth quarter to set up David Treadwell’s 49-yard field goal--the longest of his career--for a 17-3 advantage.
The Chargers retaliated with their only touchdown drive of the day as Tolliver marched his team 80 yards in seven plays. He brought the Chargers within a touchdown of the Broncos with a well-aimed 22-yard shot to H-back Craig McEwen, but how fast can you say, “Elway?”
On the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage after accepting the kickoff, Elway found a wide-open Melvin Bratton, and the 225-pound running back chugged 63 yards before being dragged down. A few moments later, Treadwell came on to the end the game’s scoring with a 26-yard field goal.
“I can’t say this win saves the whole year,” Elway said after completing 18 of 29 for 248 yards. “We won today, but we are still disappointed with how the season has gone.”
And so it goes for the Chargers. They were playing a team that had lost six games in a row, a team that lost defensive starters Steve Atwater (rib cartilage separation) and Simon Fletcher (ankle sprain) during the game and a team they already beat 19-7 earlier this season.
But the Chargers self-destructed. Tolliver had Quinn Early deep for a touchdown in the first half and overthrew him. He had Anthony Miller wide open for a 79-yard touchdown, and Miller dropped the ball.
“I just dropped it,” Miller said.
Bratton went 63 yards because linebacker Junior Seau was caught out of position. And in the fourth quarter, a Tolliver pass for Miller was intercepted by Le-Lo Lang in the end zone.
“It’s not rock bottom,” O’Neal said. “We’re still 6-8 and still have a chance to be 8-8. We can’t give up the ship. Sooner or later we’re going to start winning the games like this, but until that time, then you have to be frustrated.”