Kaeding kick lifts Chargers to win
Even without LaDainian Tomlinson, the San Diego offense was in midseason form.
Luckily for Arizona’s defense, it’s the exhibition season.
With quarterback Philip Rivers finding receivers all over the field, the Chargers’ first-team offense moved the ball at will against the Cardinals’ first-string defense in a 33-31 victory on Saturday night at Glendale, Ariz.
Arizona appeared to have the game won when third-team quarterback Shane Boyd threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Matt Trannon, giving the Cardinals a 31-30 lead with 1:05 to play.
But Arizona’s reserve defense let San Diego, led by Billy Volek, drive 53 yards in seven plays to set up a 37-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding with two seconds to play. It was Kaeding’s fourth field goal.
The Chargers’ first-team offense mounted four drives of at least 64 yards in the first two quarters and one series in the third quarter.
Rivers completed 20 of 29 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Vincent Jackson for touchdowns of 33 and six yards.
Arizona’s Matt Leinart completed 10 of 16 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown. He did not play after halftime.
Arizona’s Anquan Boldin, a Pro Bowler last season, finished with five catches for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Arizona running back Edgerrin James was held out of the game. Marcel Shipp started in James’ place.
Besides Tomlinson, three other San Diego regulars -- defensive end Igor Olshansky, linebacker Matt Wilhelm and receiver Buster Davis -- also sat out.
Peyton Manning threw three first-half touchdown passes and was nearly perfect as the Indianapolis Colts routed Detroit, 37-10, at Indianapolis. . . . Jeff Garcia played three series at Miami, and he helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Miami Dolphins, 31-28, with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway on his final snap. Miami’s Trent Green, formally awarded the No. 1 job this week, pulled off a trick play for one touchdown and threw for another to cap an 18-play drive. He also threw a screen pass that linebacker Cato June intercepted and returned two yards for a score.
Matt Schaub connected with Andre Johnson early in the second quarter and found rookie Jacoby Jones before halftime to lead the Texans to a 28-16 victory over Dallas at Houston. . . . Kellen Clemens came off the bench in the second half and engineered two third-quarter touchdown drives against the New York Giants’ backups to lead the New York Jets to a 20-12 victory at East Rutherford, N.J.
The game between the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins was halted with 11:38 remaining in the third quarter because of lightning, giving the Redskins an abbreviated 13-7 victory at Landover, Md. The start of the game had been delayed by more than an hour because of lightning. . . . Rex Grossman played the first half and passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears held off the San Francisco 49ers, 31-28, at Chicago.
Matt Hasselbeck, playing for the first time since he had a single series in the exhibition opener two weeks ago, completed 12 of 17 passes for 129 yards with one interception in Seattle’s 30-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Seattle. . . . Brady Quinn was efficient and effective for the second game in a row, leading the Cleveland Browns past the Denver Broncos, 17-16, at Denver. Quinn completed seven of 11 passes for 81 yards and had one pass intercepted.
Damon Huard, a career backup who played well in relief last season, was selected the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. Huard, 34, went 5-3 last season after Trent Green was injured in the season opener. He had been battling second-year quarterback Brodie Croyle for the job after Green was traded to Miami.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver David Boston was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after police found him passed out behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle in Pinellas Park, Fla. Boston was slumped over the steering wheel of a red Range Rover on Thursday evening, police said.