Week 17 Game Recap: Arizona Cardinals 20, San Diego Chargers 27

What you need to know

Arizona Cardinals

QB Kurt Warner looked very good, especially considering the long layoff he’s had between starts. He didn’t look jumpy at all, he had time to throw, and he didn’t turn the ball over once.

The wide receiver duo of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin combined for 145 yards and a touchdown, and whenever one of them wasn’t going great, the other one was.

RB Edgerrin James started off well, but once San Diego opened up a 27-7 lead, Arizona threw almost exclusively for the remainder of the game.

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego enthusiasm over clinching home field advantage was tempered a bit by injuries to QB Philip Rivers and RB LaDainian Tomlinson. Of the two, Rivers’ injury appeared to be the more serious. He was sacked late in the first quarter and limped continuously the rest of the game before coming out for good late in the third quarter. Also in the third, Tomlinson stumbled and lost his footing on a sideline run to the left and jogged off the field. He came back in on a kickoff with the hands team late in the fourth quarter, suggesting his injury was not very serious. But he did not return on offense. Both players remained on the sidelines the entire game and never went to the locker room, and both appeared fine after the game.

Despite relatively (for him) meager stats, RB LaDainian Tomlinson won the league’s rushing title over Larry Johnson of the Chiefs. Tomlinson finished up with 1,815 yards to Johnson’s 1,789.

Aside from the injury (and one awful pass to Antonio Gates), Philip Rivers appears to have gotten himself back on track. Despite hobbling, he looked very good in the pocket for the most part and made all of the throws.

HC Marty Schottenheimer won for the 200th time in the regular season. He joins Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry, and Curly Lambeau as the only men in NFL history to win 200 games as a head coach. Schottenheimer was visibly ecstatic on the sidelines following the game, and the announcers made it a point to tell the audience that Schottenheimer had told them this week that “Martyball” is dead.

What you ought to know

QB Kurt Warner, Pass: 22 - 32 - 356 - 1 TD / 0 INT

Warner looked surprisingly good for someone who hadn’t seen significant action since October 1. He was given plenty of time by his offensive line, and he responded well by hitting the open receivers in stride and making effective reads all game. He looked nothing like the QB that had trouble with decision making that we saw early in the season, and even when there was a little bit of pressure he showed a good ability to find the pocket and remain cool. About the only time he came close to making a costly mistake was when he threw a pass into heavy traffic down near the goal line intended for Larry Fitzgerald. San Diego S Marlon McCree nearly picked it off, but dropped it at the two yard line. Aside from that, Warner played a smart and efficient game.

RB Edgerrin James, Rush: 16 - 66 - 1

James did the majority of his damage very early on, when the game was still relatively close. He managed to find the end zone for the sixth time this season, and generally looked pretty good running the ball against a tough San Diego defense. But his touches were few and far between as the Chargers began pulling away, and James never was established as a part of the passing game. Instead, Obafemi Ayanbadejo saw three passing targets out of the backfield, and Marcel Shipp saw two.

WR Anquan Boldin, Rush: 2 - 18 - 0, Rec: 4 - 112 - 0 (6 targets)

Boldin put up very nice stats, and gave the Chargers all kinds of problems in the defensive secondary. He took an early handoff off a pitch and rumbled around the corner for 18 yards on one play, and later broke downfield for a huge 64 yard reception that involved most of the yardage coming after the catch. His strength was on full display, as he eluded most of the defenders on the team during the reception and he broke several tackles before finally being taken down at the five yard line. Early in the game, he managed to fortunately avoid a turnover when his fumble was recovered by a Chargers player whose foot was on the line. The play was designed to be a wide receiver option pass, but Boldin never really got a handle on the ball and lost the ball when he was hit.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Rec: 4 - 33 - 1 (9 targets)

Fitzgerald didn’t record his first reception until the third quarter, and was actually once thrown to twice in the first half. He had a chance at a touchdown grab late in the second quarter on a jump ball from Kurt Warner, but he was unable to hold onto the ball on the back line of the end zone. Fitzgerald did pick up a few late receptions as the Cardinals closed the gap and he eventually managed to find the end zone on a nine yard slant for the final score of the contest.

WR Bryant Johnson, Rec: 3 - 76 - 0 (4 targets)

65 of Johnson’s 76 yards came on the next to last drive for Arizona, when San Diego’s defensive coverage was a bit softer and the pass rush was lacking. And Johnson’s biggest impact on the game didn’t even come offensively; it came on special teams. Early in the third quarter, with San Diego leading 17-7 but punting for the first time all game, Johnson muffed the catch in front of his own goal line. Tim Dobbins recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead that pretty well put the game out of reach.

TE Leonard Pope, Rec: 2 - 40 - 0 (3 targets)

Pope wasn’t targeted much, but he was the recipient of a nice 33 yard reception down the seam late in the third quarter. He was also later targeted at the goal line from two yards out, evidence that suggests the 6’8”, 265 pound target could become more of a goal line fixture in 2007.

PK Neil Rackers 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points

Rackers converted his only two field goal tries, but booted a kickoff out of bounds to close out his tough campaign.

ARI Rush Defense

The Cardinals clearly were determined to not let RB LaDainian Tomlinson break any long runs against them, as much of their defensive focus was on keeping the linebackers up close to the line. That worked well in slowing Tomlinson, who gained just 66 yards on 16 carries. But it opened up the soft middle of the field where San Diego receivers were open all game. As they grew more tired, Arizona also had a lot of trouble with the much stronger, bruising back Michael Turner. Turner filled in for a hobbled Tomlinson and ran 11 times for 58 tough yards, many of those carries coming when Arizona basically knew he was getting the ball. To close out the afternoon, little used FB Lorenzo Neal scampered 43 yards down the right sideline to seal the victory and stamp it as a very poor game for Arizona’s run defense on the whole.

ARI Pass Defense

The Cardinals were given a gift early on when QB Philip Rivers badly underthrew TE Antonio Gates on what should have been an opening touchdown drive. After that point, however, Arizona was very poor in this facet. The got some pressure on Rivers, sacking him three times. But they didn’t come at many crucial moments, and they were unable to sustain the pressure once Rivers was injured. And because of the extra focus given to Tomlinson, the linebackers were rarely able to slow the passing game. The middle of the field was completely exposed for pretty much the entire first half, and even the Rivers injury did nothing to slow the San Diego passing attack. San Diego attacked with a lot of short, quick passes, which helped set up several key deep balls. The Chargers threw the ball just six times after halftime, yet still put up 235 passing yards and two scores through the air which demonstrates just how effective they were in the first half. The Arizona defensive backs tackled very poorly, particularly on the Gates touchdown. And they were actually beaten deep on the previous play by a flea-flicker that was dropped in the end zone by WR Vincent Jackson.

QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 19 - 24 - 231 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0

Rivers played very well during the time he was able to remain in the game. Unfortunately for him, his day ended prematurely when he injured his leg during a sack. The leg was originally injured in the first quarter, when he was landed on. On the ensuing play, he misfired a pass attempt to WR Eric Parker in the end zone and came up limping without ever being touched. Upon leaving for the sidelines and having his foot re-taped, he came back in and looked great throwing the football, despite being in constant pain after each pass he threw. Finally in the third quarter, he tried scrambling to avoid the oncoming rush during a pass attempt and re-injured the leg. He ran off the field extremely awkwardly and never returned. After the game, he was seen laughing and joking with several other players, which suggests he wasn’t in much pain and the injury shouldn’t affect his status for the postseason. But we’ll keep you posted either way.

As far as his play, Rivers looked very good for most of the game, even with the injury. He made one terrible pass to TE Antonio Gates early in the first quarter on what should have been a touchdown but instead was an interception. The ball was horribly underthrown, and Rivers knew it right away. That was the last mistake he made, as the majority of his passes found their mark. The Chargers opted to attack Arizona mostly with short, quick passes at the outset but eventually opened that up a bit and moved down the field. They attempted a flea-flicker to Vincent Jackson early in the second quarter and the pass from Rivers was thrown perfectly in stride and hit Jackson right in the hands. Unfortunately for them, he was unable to hang onto the ball and it fell incomplete. On the next play, Rivers found a crossing Antonio Gates for the touchdown. Ironically, the pass to Gates actually wasn’t a well-thrown ball and was a bit behind him, but that ended up being the one that went for the score. The next time Rivers threw to Jackson was again in the red zone, when he zipped another perfect pass in between two defenders for a 14 yard score. The Chargers soon opened up a 27-7 lead after halftime, and the team threw just six passes in the second half (four by Rivers).

QB Billy Volek, Pass: 1 - 2 - 4 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0

Volek filled in for an injured Philip Rivers, and his job consisted mostly of handing the ball off to LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner. He threw just two passes, completing one of them to Vincent Jackson for a minimal gain.

RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 16 - 66 - 0, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets)

Tomlinson gained enough yardage to surpass Larry Johnson of the Chiefs for the league’s rushing title, with a final count of 1,815-1,789. Tomlinson did fall just short of Steven Jackson’s overall yards from scrimmage total (2,334-2,323) however. He also finished 106 yards shy of Marshall Faulk’s all-time record for total yards from scrimmage (2,429). Perhaps most importantly, Tomlinson appeared to injure himself slightly on a run towards the sideline late in the third quarter. He was running to his left when he slipped and lost his footing. His legs went under him, but nothing bent awkwardly or got twisted. After the play, he jogged over to the sideline and was examined for quite awhile. He returned to the hands team for a kickoff late in the fourth quarter (in case Arizona was going to attempt an onside kick), but never returned to play offense. He never went to the locker room, and after the game he was on the field walking around and talking to several players, so the injury is not considered to be serious.

As for his play in-game, he found running room tougher to come by because Arizona was totally committed to stopping him, even at the expense of leaving the entire middle of the field open for San Diego receivers to roam free. Unfortunately for Tomlinson, he was just starting to find holes and get into a running rhythm in the third quarter when he got hurt.

RB Michael Turner, Rush: 11 - 58 - 0, Rec: 1 - 30 - 0 (1 targets)

As usual, Turner filled in very admirably for LaDainian Tomlinson when called upon. In addition to a career long 30 yard reception, Turner saw extensive work in the backfield, especially when Tomlinson left the game for good in the third quarter with an apparent injury. On his early runs, Turner simply would not go down. On one carry in particular, he literally carried a pile of about six Cardinal defenders for about eight to ten yards before finally being taken down. Late in the game with San Diego trying to run out the clock, it was Turner who got all of the carries because LaDainian Tomlinson was on the sidelines for the entire fourth quarter. It was Turner’s most extensive action since Week 5, and his most productive game yardage-wise since Week 2.

WR Eric Parker, Rec: 5 - 62 - 0 (6 targets)

Parker was heavily involved early, with six first half targets. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t see a pass come his way after halftime. He was targeted on several slants and quick curls, but nothing deep downfield. Parker actually had a scoring chance in the first half, but Rivers missed him on an overthrow in the end zone.

WR Keenan McCardell, Rec: 3 - 39 - 0 (3 targets)

McCardell saw a few balls go in his direction early on for short gains, but he didn’t make a huge impact on the game.

WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 3 - 28 - 1 (6 targets)

Jackson was the target of a 33 yard bomb off a flea-flicker in the end zone early in the second quarter, but he dropped the ball in the back corner. Antonio Gates scored on the very next play. Luckily for Jackson, he was given a chance to atone for the drop later in the second quarter. This time he came through, making a nice sliding catch in traffic for a 14 yard touchdown grab.

TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 4 - 56 - 1 (6 targets)

Gates was the target on an early pass from Philip Rivers that probably should have gone for a touchdown, but was instead intercepted. Gates was streaking down the seam wide open, but the ball was underthrown and picked off. Gates capitalized on a scoring opportunity later on in the first half when he reached back across his body to make a nice grab before rumbling the rest of the way down the sideline for a 33 yard touchdown. Gates’ statistics don’t wow anyone, but they suffered after halftime along with the rest of the receivers as the Chargers played it conservatively. Once they went up 27-7 early in the third quarter (and with both QB Philip Rivers and RB LaDainian Tomlinson hurting), the Chargers threw the ball just four more times the rest of the way.

PK Nate Kaeding 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points

Kaeding closed out his excellent season by connecting on his only two field goal attempts, from 47 and 35 yards out. The 47 yarder was squeezed into the bottom left corner, but had the distance easily.

SD Rush Defense

The stout San Diego run defense actually allowed more than its share of yardage, giving up nearly 100 yards on the ground to a team that has struggled mightily to move the ball on the ground against the league’s top teams. RB Edgerrin James averaged over four yards per carry in addition to scoring a rushing touchdown, and the biggest reason why San Diego was able to hold the Cardinals running game down is because the Chargers offense scored so much. The large lead forced Arizona to basically abandon the running game and take to the air exclusively the entire second half. LB Shaun Phillips was the only player who came close to creating a turnover when he appeared to have recovered an Anquan Boldin fumble along the sideline. However, Phillips was touching the sideline when he touched the football, resulting in Arizona retaining possession. DL Jacques Cesaire was hurt early on with what appeared to be a significant injury to his knee or lower leg. He could barely put any weight on it, and limped off the field with a lot of help.

SD Pass Defense

Kurt Warner lit up the Chargers to the tune of 356 yards, and that only begins to tell the story of how poor San Diego played in this aspect. Because of the lack of pressure up front by the Chargers, Warner had loads of time to throw all game. This enabled the receivers to get open almost at will, and once they had the ball in-hand the defensive backs tackled very poorly. This was never more evident than on WR Anquan Boldin’s long reception late in the game that went for 64 yards, but probably could have been stopped after about 15. The Chargers sacked Warner just once (courtesy of Shawne Merriman) and only came close to intercepting him once when Marlon McCree dropped an interception at the goal line (though that was more a product of a bad pass by Warner than anything). One positive to take from the game is that CB Quentin Jammer played very well for the most part. He got very good breaks on the football, and was part of the reason why star WR Larry Fitzgerald was held without a reception until the third quarter.