Chargers’ Darren Sproles ends it in a flash
The backup took the football and never looked back.
Darren Sproles, the smallest member of the San Diego Chargers, pulled off one of the biggest endings in club history Saturday night -- a 22-yard touchdown run in overtime that lifted his team to a 23-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the NFL playoffs.
The 5-foot-6 Sproles, pressed into action because of a groin injury to starting tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, scored a pair of touchdowns and rolled up a staggering 328 yards of all-purpose offense -- the third-highest total in postseason history.
“Sometimes they can’t see me,” Sproles said of would-be tacklers. “I get up in the hole and stuff like that.”
There was no disappearing act this time. Sproles’ blistering-fast run was on display for all to see, a prime-time masterpiece. With 68,000 screaming fans on their feet, he brought the Colts to their knees.
“He’s like a Barry Sanders back,” Chargers lineman Jeromey Clary said. “He’s all over the place, and if you cover up your guy and stay on him long enough, Darren will find a place to run the ball.”
As a result, the Chargers kept their own run going. Depending on the outcome of today’s Baltimore-Miami game, they will either play at Pittsburgh or at Tennessee next weekend in a divisional game.
Incidentally, Sproles’ big night could lead to an even bigger payday. He’s due to become a free agent after the season.
“He earns every bit of the pay he receives,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “And he deserves a lot tonight.”
Tomlinson played sparingly, collecting just five carries in the first 20 minutes before retiring to the sideline. After the game, he refused to talk about the injury.
“It’s a medical issue, that’s all I’ll say about it,” said Tomlinson, who was similarly hampered by injuries in last year’s playoffs. “I’m not a doctor. So I’m not going to sit up here and act like I know.”
For a night, at least, his job was in good hands. The winning touchdown more than made up for a mistake by Sproles in the third quarter, when he fumbled at the Indianapolis two and the Colts recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
“I wanted that touchdown bad to make up for that fumble,” he said.
The Colts know Sproles well. He scored on a 56-yard touchdown reception in last year’s divisional-round playoff victory over them.
“Sproles is a tough guy,” Colts Coach Tony Dungy said. “He makes things happen. . . . That’s what good teams do, other guys step up and fill in.”
Indianapolis came into the postseason having won nine in a row, and led, 17-14, in the final two minutes of regulation Saturday. But the Chargers forced overtime with a 26-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play, and then -- to the delight of an already supercharged crowd -- won the coin toss to start the extra period.
The clinching touchdown was set up by several uncharacteristic breakdowns by the Indianapolis defense. The Colts were penalized three times on that drive -- twice for defensive holding, once for a facemask.
Then, on second and 12 from the 22, when the Chargers looked to be moving into position for a short field-goal attempt, Sproles took things into his own hands. He was mobbed by teammates in the end zone, and the crowd eruption was so loud it seemed to shake the stadium to its pilings.
The victory was the fifth in a row for the Chargers, just the ninth 8-8 team in NFL history to reach the playoffs.
“We talk about the character and the close-knit group of guys that we have,” Rivers said. “Everybody has it when you’re 14-2 and 11-5. But when you’re 4-8, that gets tested. Our guys prevailed, and we’ve got a head coach [Norv Turner] that hung in there and kept sticking with the plan.”
San Diego led, 14-10, at halftime, but that type of situation didn’t fluster the Colts this season. With the help of Peyton Manning, they overcame second-half deficits in seven games to win.
Manning completed 25 of 42 passes for 310 yards and a touchdown. But the one time Chargers rushers got to him was a big one: a sack on the Colts’ one-yard line late in the fourth quarter. The Colts got off their punt on the next play, but that set up a short drive for San Diego’s tying field goal.
“It’s disappointing to lose a playoff game, especially a game that you certainly had some chances to win,” Manning said. “The Chargers made plays when it counted; give them credit.”
Sproles wasn’t San Diego’s only unlikely hero. Punter Mike Scifres had a spectacular game, pinning the Colts inside their 20 on all six of his punts.
Asked if he has ever had a game like that, Scifres said: “I think I’m going to answer this question nine times tonight, and the answer is no. . . . I could never even dream it up like that.”
San Diego fans will second that feeling. Again and again.
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