Chargers Whet Ross’ Playoff Appetite : NFL:Coach says team deserves to be in hunt for post-season spot after 27-21 victory puts Chargers in tie for first.
The last time a Charger coach had a bucket of water thrown over his head, he (Al Saunders) had to do it to himself.
The Chargers have finally got it right. They are winning games they appear in danger of losing. They have climbed into a first-place tie in the AFC West and now the victory celebrations no longer are contrived.
“We dodged a bullet. It may have been a cannon,” said Coach Bobby Ross after the Chargers’ 27-21 come-from-behind victory Sunday over the Phoenix Cardinals before 26,880 in Sun Devil Stadium. “It has been quite a turnaround, but we deserve to be where we are.”
The Chargers, 8-5, are parked in first place with the Chiefs, and although Kansas City holds the tie-breaking edge with a pair of victories over San Diego, the Chargers would be a wild-card team if the playoffs were to begin today.
“It totally caught me by surprise,” said Ross, who was doused with a bucket of water after the game. “I didn’t see it. They got me from the rear. It was a little dirty.”
It was the first, of what might be several showers to come, if the Chargers persist on remaining the AFC’s hottest team.
“It was mostly the offensive and defensive linemen who doused Ross,” said defensive lineman Shawn Lee. “He never let us down and he kept us together, so he got the bucket.”
Ross’ tenure as Charger coach started here Aug. 8 in the exhibition opener. It was a disaster. The Chargers fell all over themselves in a 35-14 defeat, and quarterback John Friesz crumbled to the ground with a season-ending knee injury.
The Chargers have won eight of their last nine games, and while the Cardinals (3-10) continue in retreat, the playoffs loom for San Diego for the first time since 1982.
The Chargers have three games remaining, against teams with losing records, and should the magic continue, there is not only the possibility of gaining a home-field edge in the playoffs, but pinch yourself, the chance of winning the AFC West.
“This is pretty special being in first place, but we can’t let it go,” guard David Richards said. “I was watching the scores come up on the board, and I was saying we got to win today or we’ve given a game back.”
The Chargers of old might have given that game back. They might have called it quits after falling behind 14-0 in the first half and 21-10 in the third quarter. They might have come back to make it exciting, but the old Chargers would have lost by seven or fewer points.
“These are games, that teams that are going to the playoffs, have to win,” quarterback Stan Humphries said after completing 20 of 32 passes for 275 yards with a touchdown and interception. “It doesn’t matter how you do it.”
Charger running back Ronnie Harmon fumbled the opening kickoff, and 2:45 later they had a 7-0 lead on Chris Chandler’s four-yard pass to Ernie Jones.
“When that happened, I knew it was going to be tough,” Ross said. “We weren’t in sync, and I kind of sensed that all week long confidentially.
“But we just kept reminding them, ‘Hey, men, we got a chance to win, we got a chance to win.’ It’s hard to get up week in and week out and I think we peaked emotionally for the Raiders last week. But we learned a lesson in this game. You need total concentration.”
The Chargers were not only flat in the early going, but they were down for the count after trailing 14-0. On the Cardinals’ second possession, they went 73 yards in four plays and running back Johnny Johnson ran six yards for a touchdown.
They were marching again on their third possession, but Charger defensive back Darren Carrington intercepted a Chandler pass to slow the Cardinals. Carrington returned the ball 37 yards to the Cardinals’ 27-yard line, and in the early moments of the second quarter, Humphries completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller.
The Cardinals kept pounding. They advanced to the Chargers’ seven-yard line, but on third and two Johnson was stuffed for no gain. On fourth and two, after taking a timeout, the Cardinals opted for the easy 25-yard Greg Davis field-goal attempt.
Davis, however, yanked the kick wide left.
“Huge play. Big miss,” Charger linebacker Gary Plummer said. “We got a tremendous lift from that.”
Instead of trailing 17-7, the Chargers took possession trailing 14-7 and worked themselves into position for John Carney to boot a 50-yard field goal--the third successful 50-yard field goal or longer in eight attempts. Carney’s field goal sent the Chargers to the locker room trailing 14-10, but feeling pretty good about their chances of pulling out a win.
“I don’t think anybody in here thought for a second that we were going to lose,” Richards said. “We just needed to get it going in the second half.”
The Cardinals, however, struck first in the third quarter. A scrambling Chandler eluded a pursuing Chris Mims and he lofted a 63-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl, who had gotten behind Carrington.
“I knew San Diego was an explosive team,” Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel said. “A seven or 10-point lead is not good enough against them.”
The Cardinals had a 21-10 lead, but the Chargers began their rally with a five-yard run for a touchdown by Eric Bieniemy in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
Bieniemy gained 24 yards on nine carries, and gave the Chargers a boost after their running game went nowhere with Marion Butts. Butts ran nine times, and gained a total of five yards.
“We got a change of pace from Eric,” Ross said.
In the fourth quarter they also caught several breaks thanks to the Cardinals’ inability to hold onto the football.
Linebacker Junior Seau forced Phoenix wide receiver Randall Hill to fumble, and Gill Byrd recovered to set up the Chargers’ go-ahead touchdown. Byrd later forced Proehl to fumble and Lee recovered to put a halt to the Cardinals’ comeback effort.
“The thing that is plaguing us is that our good football players are putting the ball on the ground,” Bugel said. “You can’t do that and expect to win.”
Lee convinced Johnson to fumble in the second quarter, after the Cardinals had advanced to the Chargers’ 13-yard line, and Mims had recovered. Good fortune, it seems, has become a good friend of the Chargers.
“Good teams are capable of overcoming adversity and that’s what we were able to do,” Plummer said. “It was almost like watching the Chargers ‘86-through-’91 (in playing the Cardinals). I know the feeling on that side of the ball. There’s a lot of frustration.
“Unfortunately that starts to feed on itself, and that’s why were so confident because you say to yourself, ‘We’re going to be able to overcome this and be able to win.’ ”
The Chargers had confidence, and a little help from the Cardinals. When it came time for a third-and-goal run from the one, the Cardinals placed nine defenders on the field. The Chargers didn’t notice the mix-up, but nine defenders were not enough to keep Ronnie Harmon from diving into the end zone to give the Chargers a 24-21 lead with 8:44 to play.
“That’s what someone said--they had nine men on the field,” Ross said. “I don’t know. It was hard enough against 11, I know that.”
The Chargers added a 43-yard field goal by Carney with 1:44 to play to add to their lead, and the Cardinals’ collapse continued. Their last fling for the upset ended with Charger defensive back Donald Frank intercepting a pass from Chandler at the Phoenix 45-yard line on fourth down and six seconds remaining in the game.
“To come from an 0-4 start and be in first place at this stage in the season,” Plummer said, “I’m sure nobody in their right mind thought we would be in the situation we are now. Denver and Kansas City play each other again, and basically we control our own destiny.”