Chargers Take Their Pick Against Elway : Pro football: Denver quarterback’s bid for another late comeback is intercepted by a secondary hungry for respect.
SAN DIEGO — Charger running back Eric Bieniemy had fumbled, and with 3:18 remaining Sunday the ball belonged to quarterback John Elway, the Denver comeback wizard who had engineered 31 game-saving drives.
The Broncos trailed 24-21, but they were poised for the winning rally at the San Diego 34-yard line, and weren’t these the same old Chargers?
“Gill Byrd got us together on the sideline and said, ‘This isn’t it. This is our game,’ ” said Charger linebacker Gary Plummer. “He had a lot of conviction in his voice, and I think it hit home. A lot of us are just tired of losing, and it was time to say, enough is enough.”
History be damned, these are not the same old Chargers. Cornerback Tony Blaylock intercepted an Elway flare in the corner of the end zone, and the Chargers’ offense ran out the clock to preserve a 24-21 victory in front of 53,576 fans in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
The Chargers (3-4) have won three consecutive games, and the Denver Broncos (5-3) continue to struggle away from Mile High Stadium. Their record on the road is 1-3.
“I’ve been on the opposite end before. I know what it’s like to play well all game and then have Elway come back and pull it out,” Blaylock said. “This time I wanted to come up a winner.”
On the first play of what was going to be another Elway miracle drive, Blaylock leaped into position to intercept a pass intended for wide receiver Mark Jackson. When Blaylock landed on the ground, however, it appeared both feet were out of bounds, which would have negated the interception.
Side judge Howard Slavin, who scrambled along the sideline to make the call, ruled that Blaylock had landed with one foot in play before being pushed out of bounds by Jackson.
“The interception man came down in the end zone with one foot,” said referee Jerry Markbreit. “It was ruled he was forced out of the end zone so that his second foot, which would have come down in the end zone, came down out because of the force. A force out constitutes a legitimate catch. Consequently, a touchback was called.”
Markbreit said the call was made by the side judge, who received no help from any other official.
“That was a close call,” said Charger safety Darren Carrington. “Put it like this, we were home, we got the ball. If we were in Denver there’s no way we would have gotten that call.”
Carrington, like everyone else in the stadium, got another look at the play on DiamondVision.
“We got a good call,” Carrington said with a smile. “We got a generous call and I’ll leave it at that.”
The Chargers took possession at the 20-yard line after Blaylock’s interception, and on third and 11 from their 19, quarterback Stan Humphries dumped off a short pass to running back Ronnie Harmon.
If the Broncos had tackled Harmon, Elway would have had another chance to add to his legend, but Harmon weaved his way to the 31-yard line for a first down. Another first down by Marion Butts guaranteed Elway would not touch the ball again.
“You know the history behind Elway and the last two minutes, and then we turn the ball over to him,” said Charger tackle Broderick Thompson. “But you know what happened? Nobody put their head down, nobody quit, nobody said here we go again.
“I didn’t have any emotion because I was watching everybody else and listening to what they were saying. This is what I’ve been wanting ever since I came here. And it happened. I’m just so proud of everybody that contributed out there today. We were talking and we were sounding like we were the first-place team.”
The Chargers dominated the Broncos, rolled up 434 yards in total offense and jumped out to a 21-7 lead after three quarters, but Denver still had Elway.
“If you keep relying on the same old script,” said Denver linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, “eventually you’re gonna get burned. And that’s what happened today.”
It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. If Elway is at quarterback and Byrd is in the secondary, the Broncos are in trouble.
Byrd intercepted a pair of Elway passes, giving him nine in his career against Elway. His third-quarter interception set up the Chargers’ third touchdown, and his fourth-quarter theft off a pass tipped by Carrington led to John Carney’s 37-yard field goal and the game-winning points.
“John’s a great quarterback and I don’t know why I’ve had such success,” said Byrd, who has 41 career interceptions. “It’s a great feeling to win one like this. A lot of boys became men today and realized we can be contenders and win big games. This was a really big game, and we came out with a win.”
The Chargers jumped on top of the Broncos in the first quarter after a scrambling Humphries threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller.
Elway responded with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jackson late in the second quarter to tie the game. It was the first regular-season passing touchdown on the road for the Broncos since Dec. 8, 1991, and the first touchdown of any kind on the road this season.
In the third quarter, Humphries successfully read safety Steve Atwater’s blitz and flipped a short pass to tight end Derrick Walker, who rumbled 59 yards to the Denver two-yard line before being shoved out of bounds. On the next play Humphries fumbled the snap from center, but picked up the ball and bulled his way into the end zone for a 14-7 lead.
Moments later, Byrd’s interception and 14-yard return put Humphries back in business at the Denver 32. On third and five from the Denver 27, he found Walker wide open for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
“This is something this organization has needed and maybe we can get this city excited and behind us,” said Humphries, who completed 20 of 27 passes for 349 yards with an interception. “It’s beginning to be a lot of fun out there. It was a big game, no doubt. I don’t think there’s been a bigger game for this team in a long time.”
The Broncos tried to spoil the Chargers’ resurrection with a fourth-quarter offensive uprising. Elway ran five yards up the middle to bring the Broncos within seven points, but then Byrd’s interception gave the Chargers another chance to extend their lead.
The Chargers took possession at the Denver 17 on Byrd’s interception and chose to play conservatively. They ran Butts for two, and then again for one yard before Humphries went deep and over the head of an open Nate Lewis in the end zone.
Carney connected from 32 yards, the cannon went off and music filled the stadium. The field goal, however, was wiped off the board because the Chargers were penalized for failing to line up seven blockers along the line of scrimmage.
If these were the same old Chargers, Carney would have missed after being pushed five yards back, but he was right on target for a 24-14 lead.
Elway came back with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jackson, who had beaten cornerback Donald Frank for the second time, and the outcome of the game appeared in doubt.
“It’s the situation that we have lost in before, but we reversed it,” said Charger guard David Richards. “Three in a row, we beat Denver in our own back yard, we beat Denver, period. It was a pretty damn important win. It puts us back in the hunt. And I think it shows that this team is learning how to win.”
