San Diego SportsChargers Lose Critical Game To Denver 34-23
Not So Special In Primetime Monday nights’ game between the San Diego Chargers (2-3) and the Denver Broncos (6-0) provided an NFL first. Each team scored a touchdown on a punt return and Denver scored an additional touchdown with a kickoff return, all of which happened in the first half. Despite allowing two touchdowns on special teams, the Chargers still had a 20-17 lead at halftime revealing that the real story behind the Chargers’ 34-23 loss to the Broncos was that neither San Diego’s offense nor defense did enough to win the game. The Chargers’ first possessions of the game foreshadowed trouble and indicated that even though the Chargers had a bye week and over two weeks to prepare for Denver, they had not resolved key problems. Failure to resolve these problems is as if they are haunted by the ghosts of Norv Turner's previous two seasons as head coach. With an eerie degree of predictability the Chargers won the opening coin toss, received for the opening possession, and for the 20th game in a row failed to convert their first possession of the game into a touchdown. Not predictable was the Chargers defense holding Kyle Orton and the Denver Broncos on their first possession. This gave the Chargers offense the ball back without having to work out of an early deficit. Starting on the 6-yard line, Rivers revived the Chargers offense by throwing 4-5 for 76 yards. LaDainian Tomlinson assisted with a 14-yard run to set the Chargers up with a first and goal at the 4-yard line. The Red Zone curse that has plagued the Chargers throughout the season returned as Turner took the ball out of Rivers’ hot hands. Three running plays later, the Chargers settled for a disappointing 20-yard Nate Kaeding field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Eddie Royal then made the Chargers special teams look like stiffs as he returned Kaeding’s kickoff 93 yards for his first of two special teams touchdowns. The Broncos had their first lead at 7-3. Rivers had the ball again and this time he was perfect with an astonishing 5-5 for 63 yards. This time Turner allowed Rivers to finish the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson and the Chargers regained the lead at 10-7. In the two consecutive scoring drives, Rivers completed 9 of 10 passes for a career high first quarter with 139 passing yards. In the second quarter the Broncos quickly answered back with a very balanced offensive attack. Orton and Knowshon Moreno constantly moved the ball down the field to set up a 34-yard Matt Prater game-tying field goal. The Chargers were unable to do anything with their next drive and Mike Scifres kicked a booming punt from the Chargers 25-yard line. However, he out-kicked the coverage. Royal was back to receive and he returned the ball 71 yards for his second special teams touchdown. Despite only giving up one field goal on defense, the Chargers now trailed 17-10 with 5:33 to go in the half. The next two possessions for the Chargers then mirrored that of Denver’s previous two. With 2:44 to go in the half, Kaeding hit a 44-yard field goal to bring the score to 17-13. The Chargers defense then held and Brett Kern punted to Darren Sproles. Sproles had his own electrifying 77-yard return for a touchdown. The Chargers took a 20-17 lead into the locker room and it looked promising that they could win the game. Rivers had been explosive in the first half and, although they were leading by only 3 points, the Chargers defense looked much improved since they had given up only a field goal in the first half. This trend continued to start the second half. The Chargers defense held Denver on their opening possession and Kaeding extended the Chargers’ lead to 23-17 with a 50-yard field goal in their first possession of the 3rd quarter. The game then dramatically turned. The Chargers’ performance on both sides of the ball matched what it has been prior to the bye week. Meanwhile, Orton began to look like Rivers did in the 1st quarter as he completed 5-6 for 60 yards including a 19-yard pass to Tony Scheffler for the Broncos’ first offensive touchdown of the night. They now had a 24-23 lead with 3:43 to go in the 3rd. Rivers was unable to revitalize his passing performance as the Broncos put constant pressure on him. Rivers was sacked four times in the Chargers’ final four possessions. The first sack resulted in turnover at midfield that Denver converted into a 29-yard field goal extending their lead to 27-23. Denver secured the game when Orton found Brandon Stokley for a 5-yard touchdown pass on a 3rd and goal play. Initially it looked as if Antonio Cromartie had stopped Stokley just short of the goal line. However, even with a challenge from Turner the ruling on the field stood. Like the previous two seasons with the Chargers under Turner, the Chargers are off to a disappointing slow start and now they trail the Broncos by 3 ½ games. The only silver lining to this dark cloud for the Bolts is that in each of the last two seasons they did eventually come back to win the division. However, if they are to even compete for a playoff spot this year, they must now win their next two games against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. If they do not, for all intents and purposes, the Chargers’ season will be dead by Halloween.
 Dan McLellan About the author: Dan McLellan is a San Diego native and Charger season ticket holder since 1993. He also has a weekly Charger podcast at www.DanMcLellan.com. More by this author Subscribe to Sports:
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