Bledsoe Rides to the Rescue

Except for one particularly brutal series, Drew Bledsoe’s reunion with Bill Parcells is off to a wild and impressive start.

Hit and harassed all afternoon, Bledsoe responded like the veteran he is, throwing three touchdown passes, two to Keyshawn Johnson, to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 28-24 victory over the defending AFC West champion San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

“It is the best feeling in the world to have a close game come down to just a couple of plays and you are able to do it,” said Bledsoe, who became the 10th player in NFL history to throw for 40,000 yards.

Bledsoe threw the winning two-yard touchdown pass with 3:06 left as Johnson beat cornerback Sammy Davis on a quick out.

“That third-down completion to Keyshawn for the touchdown ... I live for this stuff,” Bledsoe said.

The Cowboys didn’t get to celebrate, though, until Aaron Glenn intercepted Drew Brees’ throw in the end zone with 24 seconds left. Brees kept alive a desperation drive with a 33-yard completion to Eric Parker to the Dallas seven with slightly more than a minute left. Then Brees’ fourth-down pass bounced off Parker and Glenn caught it.

“When it got tipped in the air, I knew it was going to be either me or him that was going to get it,” Glenn said.

Signing the 33-year-old Bledsoe on Feb. 23 was part of a sweeping off-season makeover after the Cowboys went 6-10. While with New England, Parcells made Bledsoe the first overall pick in the 1993 draft.

Bledsoe was 18 of 24 for 226 yards, giving him 40,034 yards in his career.

San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson was held to 72 yards in 19 carries. He scored on a two-yard run in the first quarter, his 13th consecutive game with a rushing touchdown to tie the NFL record held by John Riggins and George Rogers.

Brees threw two touchdown passes to Keenan McCardell and was intercepted twice. He was 18 of 35 for 209 yards. McCardell had nine catches for 123 yards.

Bledsoe rallied Dallas after a monumentally ugly second series, when the Cowboys were whistled for three holding penalties and two false starts.