Season Closes With 17-14 Loss

If Sunday was the end for Dan Henning, his critics couldn’t have asked for a better send-off.

The Chargers were in a familiar position in the last two minutes against Denver--they had a chance to win.

But for the 22nd time in Henning’s three-year coaching tenure here, the Chargers did not.

They lost, 17-14, in front of 51,449 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and finished the season at 4-12, the team’s worst record since 1986. Denver (12-4) is assured of playing host to a playoff game Jan. 4 or 5. The only team Denver would not have a home-field advantage against is Buffalo.

For the Chargers, it was their 22nd loss in 28 games decided by seven or fewer points since Henning became coach. This season, the Chargers were 2-8 in that category.

“The whole season can be wrapped up into this game,” Chargers linebacker Gary Plummer said. “There are lot of things you can point to that are positive, but yet we’re not able to get it done when we need to.”

Said nose tackle Joe Phillips: “You can always say it. ‘The close games, we lose.’ ”

The game was not lost until the last play, when Broncos cornerback Le-Lo Lang intercepted John Friesz’s pass from the Charger 28.

The Chargers began their final drive on their four with 1:42 remaining after a Denver punt.

But with no timeouts left, the Friesz could get the Chargers no farther than the 28 before his desperation pass.

“There isn’t much you can do in that situation,” he said. “They were giving us the underneath stuff, but you can’t go eight yards, eight yards and get anywhere. It was an ugly deal all the way around.”

The Chargers had a better scoring opportunity in their previous possession, but that ended when Denver cornerback Charles Dimry picked off Friesz’s sideline pass with 2:15 left at the Charger 42.

Friesz nearly saw another pass intercepted by Dimry just minutes earlier on a similar play, but Dimry dropped the ball. Was Friesz picking on Dimry, who was replacing an injured Wymon Henderson?

“We didn’t feel there was necessarily a weakness there,” Friesz said. “We felt they were all pretty good guys. We tried to stay in a left formation and take what they gave us.”

Said Dimry, who went to Oceanside High: “They kept coming at me and I had to make the big play. We were in a man coverage and they threw a 10-yard comeback. I just took it from (Taylor) actually.”

Friesz also threw an interception in the first half to Steve Atwater and finished 12 of 34 for 123 yards. He had three interceptions and one touchdown pass.

“John Friesz didn’t play as well in this one as he had all year,” Henning said. “He made some plays, but he also had some things he didn’t do as well.”

One reason was Atwater, who gave Friesz trouble all day. Whether he was blitzing from his free safety spot and stuffing runners in the backfield or cutting in front of receivers, he was giving Friesz headaches.

“I saw the field real well, but Atwater, I couldn’t figure him out,” Friesz said.

The Chargers fell behind in the fourth quarter, 17-7, but they did not give in.

Friesz put together a 62-yard drive in nine plays; it was capped by Rod Bernstine’s one-yard run with 10:25 left in the game.

Denver led 10-7 at halftime, but increased that to 17-7 when Greg Lewis scored from two yards out with 42 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

Elway had to overcome 30 yards worth of penalties during the drive. His biggest play was a 24-yard pass to Shannon Sharpe, on third and 22, that gave Denver a first down on the Charger 34.

Elway, 14 of 32 for 196 yards with one interception, was in another hole two plays later. Faced with a second and 20 from the Charger 24, he found Michael Young at the 5.

“We held Elway down pretty good,” Seau said. “But pretty is the key word. He still made enough big plays to beat us.”

Neither team made any plays in the first quarter. The Chargers had only 11 yards of offense and did not have a first down. Friesz was one of seven for six yards.

The game was eight minutes old and Elway and Friesz were a combined two of 13.

Denver was lining up for its fourth punt of the first quarter when Horan ran for nine yards on fourth and seven to the Charger 31.

The fake was not planned, but when Horan got a high snap and saw an opening, he took off.

“Mike always has that option,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “But if he doesn’t make it . . .”

Three plays later, David Treadwell converted on a 42-yard field goal to give Denver a 3-0 lead with 5:24 left.

Denver had another opportunity to score in the first quarter, but Treadwell was wide on a 45-yard field goal.

The Chargers got their first break when safety Darren Carrington intercepted Elway’s overthrown pass to Michael Young. Carrington returned the interception nine yards to Denver’s 39. But Friesz returned the favor two plays later when his pass to Nate Lewis was picked off by Denver safety Steve Atwater and returned 49 yards to the Charger 26.

Denver scored five plays later on Steve Sewell’s two-yard run to make it 10-0 Denver with 11:27 left in the first half.

The Chargers finally woke up late in the second quarter when they put together a 82-yard, 11-play scoring drive. Harmon gained 38 yards on three draw plays and Kitrick Taylor caught an 18-yard pass on third and 15 to give the Chargers a first down on the Denver 18.

Craig McEwen scored on a one-yard pass from Friesz with 47 seconds left in the half to cut Denver’s lead to 10-7.