Chargers Gain Title, Lose Quarterback : AFC: San Diego completes climb from 0-4 to division title by beating Seattle, 31-14. Humphries suffers shoulder injury.
The Chargers completed their NFL record-breaking climb from an 0-4 start to win an AFC West Division championship Sunday, but lost quarterback Stan Humphries, the catalyst in their rise from a last-place finish in 1991.
Backup quarterback Bob Gagliano, who had not thrown a pass since Week Three, relieved moover the Seahawks (2-14) before 49,324 in the Kingdome.
“The key thing is we hung on and looked adversity in the eye,” Charger Coach Bobby Ross rgsaid. “I think it’s very fitting that we won in this fashion because of the problems we have faced all season long.”
The Chargers (11-5), who have won 11 of their last 12 games and seven in a row, claimed the AFC West Division crown for the first time since 1981. In NFL history, 132 teams have opened the season 0-4, but the Chargers are the only one to advance to the playoffs.
They will play their first playoff game since 1982 on Saturday in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium against Kansas City.
The Chargers, however, might have to play without Humphries. He dislocated his left shoulder in the closing minutes of the first half after trying to stiff arm Seattle linebacker Rufus Porter.
The team’s medical staff popped his shoulder back into place on the field, but he was unable to return. X-rays later were negative.
“I’m hopeful that he can play next week,” Charger trainer Keoki Kamau said. “It depends on Stan. How much pain can he tolerate? How much swelling will there be? If it was his throwing arm, he’d be out, but it’s not.”
The Chargers appeared shaken after losing Humphries, but the Seahawks failed to take advantage.
“You look at the score of this game and it looks like it was a lopsided game, but they kicked us around,” Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “But the thing that this team has done, and more than once this year, is persevere and come back. They weren’t going to lose and just settle for making the playoffs. They were going to win the championship.”
The Chargers trailed Seattle, 7-6, when Gagliano came on in place of Humphries. Gagliano, who has taken only four or five snaps each day in practice, had completed 10 of 27 passes for 133 yards with three interceptions.
“I was concerned about how long it was going to shake off all the rust that had piled up on my body,” said Gagliano, who completed nine of 15 passes for 125 yards. “But I was pretty pumped up.”
Gagliano gained the confidence of his teammates, who had come to embrace Humphries’ leadership in recent weeks, by taking them 80 yards in 10 plays to open the third quarter.
Running back Marion Butts ran the final seven yards for the Chargers’ first touchdown and a 13-7 lead.
“That drive was vital; we needed to come out of the locker room in a positive mode and get some points,” Gagliano said. “The whole deal was on the line, and I know how hard these guys have worked for this, so I certainly didn’t want to be the guy to let them down in any way.”
The Seahawks didn’t make Gagliano’s job any easier. In addition to playing solid defense, they began scoring, something they hadn’t been very good at throughout much of the season.
The Seahawks finished the season with a 140 points, breaking the Colts’ 1991 record low of 143 points in a 16-game season. Despite such futility, they looked overpowering at times against the league’s No. 2-ranked defense.
They opened the game with a seven-play scoring drive, including Chris Warren’s 30-yard touchdown run, and then, after Butts had given the Chargers the lead in the third quarter, quarterback Stan Gelbaugh took the Seahawks 86 yards in seven plays, capped by his two-yard scoring pass to tight end Trey Junkin.
“We had the lead, but we weren’t able to get it done in the fourth quarter and that’s been our whole season,” Seattle Coach Tom Flores said. “To finish 2-14, well, it’s a very dismal year. It hurts. It takes a little chunk out of you.”
The Seahawks had a 14-13 lead going into the final quarter, but John Carney, who has now hit a Charger team record 16 field goals in a row including three Sunday, was good from 47 yards with 9:43 to play.