Chargers Continue Push for Playoff Berth
The best defense in the AFC came up with a big play that preserved a victory Sunday.
Defensive backs Darren Carrington and Gill Byrd of the San Diego Chargers combined to jar the ball loose from Cleveland running back Eric Metcalf in the closing seconds, securing the Chargers’ 14-13 victory.
The Chargers (5-5) took the lead on a 45-yard touchdown pass play from Stan Humphries to Anthony Miller with 2:05 to play.
Cleveland quarterback Mike Tomczak, however, was maneuvering the Browns (5-5) into field-goal range when Metcalf was sandwiched by Byrd and Carrington on a 13-yard reception past midfield. The ball popped loose, and safety Stanley Richard recovered at the San Diego 38-yard line with 52 seconds to play.
“One guy hit me in front and one in back,” Metcalf said. “I was trying to make the guy in front of me miss, and the next thing I knew, I was hit.”
Cleveland got the ball back but was unable to threaten.
“I think I caused the fumble,” Carrington said. “Gill says he caused it. So we’ve got to wait on the film. But whoever caused it, I’m glad he did it.”
Humphries completed 19 of 32 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns for the Chargers.
Until the fumble, the game resembled the Chargers’ 16-14 loss at Kansas City the previous week. The Chargers led that game, 14-13, until the Chiefs’ Nick Lowery kicked a 36-yard field goal in the final minute.
San Diego entered the game ranked first in the AFC and second in the NFL in defense. It gave up 385 yards, including a 99-yard scoring drive, before stopping the Browns at the end.
The victory was the Chargers’ fifth in six weeks, a streak that has them talking playoffs in spite of their 0-4 start.
“It was a big win, considering the situation we’re in,” said Miller, who caught seven passes for 110 yards. “We have an opportunity to make the playoffs if we keep on winning.”
On what proved to be the game-winning touchdown, Miller slipped between Frank Minnifield andEric Turner but had to slow down to catch the ball in the end zone.
“I can’t put the blame on anyone,” Turner said. “All I know is I had an opportunity to make the play, and I didn’t.”
Carrington, a nickel back, returned a first-quarter interception 69 yards to set up Humphries’ 26-yard scoring pass to Shawn Jefferson. He also downed a punt at the Cleveland one-yard line in the third quarter.