Chargers Recapture the Winning Way : AFC: One week after first loss of season, San Diego defeats Seattle, 35-15, despite losing quarterback Humphries.
They were rocking in paradise again Sunday.
Junior Seau was leaping and waving and smiling, even when a fan leaned out of the stands and plucked off his cap.
Natrone Means was bouncing and plowing, his shirttail down to his knees, his opponents on their backs.
One week after their first loss of the season, the San Diego Chargers resumed speed with a 35-15 victory over the Seattle Seahawks that left a crowd of 59,001 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium with only one unsettling thought.
Was this New Year’s Eve? When they wake today, will the party be over?
By the looks of quarterback Stan Humphries’ left elbow, this city is sobering up fast.
While avoiding a rush early in the third quarter, Humphries was tripped by linebacker Bob Spitulski and fell hard on his left elbow.
The diagnosis: A dislocation of his non-throwing elbow.
The prognosis: Doctors say he will be sidelined 10-14 days, which could mean sitting out games in Atlanta and Kansas City.
The result: Gale Gilbert, a career backup quarterback who had thrown 15 passes in the last seven years--that is not a misprint--is now in control of the team with the AFC’s best record.
The 7-1 Chargers led by the 2.1-passes-per-year man.
“The tin man!” said Charger defensive tackle Reuben Davis with a laugh. “At least, that’s what everybody was calling him in the newspaper, saying he had all kinds of rust on him. . . . But I tell you what. The tin man held up pretty well today.”
Gilbert indeed put up decent numbers Sunday, 11 completions in 14 attempts with two touchdowns and one interception.
But it was only the second game in which he has thrown a touchdown pass in eight years .
And memories are still fresh of his performance a week ago against Denver, when he took over on the last drive of the game after Humphries limped out with a twisted ankle.
Needing to lead the Chargers to a touchdown to overcome a 20-15 deficit, Gilbert completed two of six passes for 20 yards and the NFL no longer possessed an unbeaten team.
On Sunday, he was playing against a disorganized, dispirited team that seems badly in need of a new head coach. Perhaps it is time that Seahawk boss Tom Flores rid himself of those dark sunglasses so his players can see what he is thinking.
Gilbert needed only to avoid major mistakes. He took over with the Chargers leading, 14-7, and responded by giving Means the ball on his first three snaps.
So the question remains. Can the Chargers win with Gale Gilbert at quarterback?
Seau, who was brilliant again while leading a defense that held the Seahawks to 76 yards and two first downs the second half, was asked that.
“For me to say that we couldn’t win without Stan would be putting down our second string, putting down some of the other guys on the team, and I will not do that,” Seau said.
Stan Brock, veteran tackle who helped clear the way for Means’ club-record fourth consecutive game of at least 100 yards rushing (104) was asked.
“Uhhhhh,” he said, pausing. “Well, we have the type of team where everyone has to play their best even when our big guy’s in there .”
Means was also asked. He gave an answer that spoke for the mood of a locker room in which the players walked around with victory cigars that nobody dared smoke.
“That is something that nobody is thinking about,” said Means of the prospects of winning without Humphries. “We’re not even talking about that now.”
Humphries sure looked like he was thinking about it. Emerging from the training room with his left arm in a bandage and sling, he sounded as confused as everybody else.
“I’ve never had something like this, I don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I don’t know how long it takes, I don’t know much of anything.”
He did know that most of his left arm was numb, and that it was difficult to extend.
And everyone knows that it is nearly impossible to accept a snap from center and hand a ball to a teammate, even a target as huge as Means, without full feeling and flexibility in both arms.
But Humphries has played with great pain before, as anyone who watched him beat the Raiders with one knee earlier this year can attest.
And his teammates, well, they fell behind the Seahawks, 7-0, early in the second quarter. And they seemed out of sorts when the officials said Tony Martin was out of bounds on what was clearly a touchdown catch that would have given them the lead.
So what happens? They recover a fumble by Chris Warren a few seconds later and score anyway, on a surprise 15-yard run up the middle by Harmon. Leading, 14-7, at halftime, the defense turned it on and it was never close again.
“When things are down, this defense, we get it, and get it, and get it,” Davis said.
As of the third quarter Sunday, they are going to need it, and need it, and need it.
