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Week 15 Game Recap: San Diego Chargers 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
What you need to know
| San Diego Chargers |
QB Philip Rivers finished with terrific stats after a mostly underwhelming first three quarters. He led the team on two long touchdown drives over the final five minutes of the game to pull out a very improbable victory.
TE Antonio Gates was the primary target early on, but gave way to WR Vincent Jackson later. Jackson caught a long pass and a touchdown reception on the game winning drive to turn a mediocre performance into an outstanding one.
RB LaDainian Tomlinson was very involved both in the rushing game and the passing game (Philip Rivers threw to him a whopping 12 times), but was again unable to do much with it yardage wise. He did score a touchdown to salvage a decent fantasy output.
| Kansas City Chiefs |
QB Tyler Thigpen was outstanding for much of the game, and the stats don't really indicate just how well he played. He combined very solid passing with terrific athleticism and really kept San Diego defenders off balance with his rushing and passing all game long.
TE Tony Gonzalez has made it a habit of dominating the San Diego defense, and this game was no exception. He had a team high six receptions for 62 yards and a score.
WR Dwayne Bowe scored a touchdown, but had a costly fumble on the onside kick recovery attempt. That gave possession back to San Diego, and they won it on that drive.
What you ought to know
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 34 - 48 - 346 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 12 - 0 |
For Rivers, the first three quarters went one way and the fourth quarter went entirely different. On his second pass attempt of the game, Rivers limped off the field after having his leg rolled up on by teammate LaDainian Tomlinson. He checked out okay on the sideline, but his performance was miserable. He turned the ball over three times, none of which were defensible. Rivers fumbled twice, both times coming when he failed to protect the ball from oncoming rushers. His arm was hit and the football was jostled loose on each occasion. Then he tossed a very poor interception to Patrick Surtain, though he did help to keep Surtain out of the end zone by chasing him down and cutting off the angle at the goal line.
Despite all the early bad plays, the Chargers found themselves somewhat within striking distance, down 21-10 with just five minutes left to play. Rivers quickly marched the Chargers 89 yards downfield on 15 plays and took just over three and a half minutes to do it. Rivers was 11-14 for 92 yards on the drive (he was able to throw for 92 yards on an 89 yard drive because they had lost yardage on a fumble). The drive culminated with a touchdown pass to WR Malcolm Floyd, a great effort on a diving catch in the end zone. They were unable to convert the two point try, so they tried an onside kick. The Chargers recovered, and Rivers wasted no time in moving them downfield, hooking up with WR Vincent Jackson for a 42 yard gain on the first play of the possession. Following a dropped pass by Tomlinson, Rivers ran one up the middle for nine yards. On the next play, he floated a pass into the end zone perfectly for Jackson, a play that went for the game-winning score. After the touchdown, Rivers sprinted around the field and was absolutely pumped when he arrived at the sideline. In the fourth quarter alone, Rivers had thrown for 190 yards and two touchdowns.
| RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 15 - 39 - 1, Rec: 6 - 35 - 0 (12 targets) |
Fans are going to see that Tomlinson totaled just 74 yards against Kansas City's suspect defense and assume that he was once again shut down. While he didn't dominate the game by any means, he was very close to big numbers. He lost 25 yards on a first quarter screen pass that was negated by a holding penalty. And on the game-winning drive, he dropped what may have been a 20 yard touchdown on another screen. The play was very well set up, there was no one in front of him but two blockers, and Philip Rivers got him the ball in plenty of time. But he tried to run before he had secured the ball, and he dropped it. Tomlinson was very upset with himself immediately following the play, the second time in the game that he let his emotions get to him. The first was on another pass from Rivers a bit earlier. Rivers threw the ball very awkwardly off the wrong foot in Tomlinson's direction, and the ball landed well short of the intended target. Tomlinson began to toss up his hands in disgust and shook his head at the awfulness of the pass. Despite all the negativity, he did find time to score the 123rd rushing touchdown of his career, tying Marcus Allen for second place on the all time list. Interestingly, the score came on a handoff right up the middle -- one play after the team's starting center, Nick Hardwick (who typically blocks up the middle), left the game with a concussion and what appeared to be a neck injury of some sort.
| RB Darren Sproles, Rec: 4 - 11 - 0 (4 targets) |
For a brief time in the first half, Sproles was the only player doing much of anything to move the football for the Chargers. It wasn't in the offensive gameplan, but rather in the kick return game. He had returns of 40 and 38 yards in the first half, but was uninvolved in the offense save for a short reception. He was a bit more involved in the second half, seeing three more receptions but still no touches on the ground. His last catch of the day ended up costing the team eight yards. He caught a pass for -2 yards, and then fumbled it out of bounds behind him after a big hit.
| RB Jacob Hester, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (4 targets) |
Hester has perhaps found his niche within the team as the fake punt rusher. Two weeks after converting a fake punt for a first down against the Falcons, he did it again against Kansas City. Unfortunately for San Diego, the fake didn't result in any points on the possession.
| WR Vincent Jackson, Rush: 1 - 8 - 0, Rec: 6 - 89 - 1 (7 targets) |
Through nearly 59 minutes of play, Jackson had four receptions for 37 yards, a lost fumble, and no scores. Then on one drive, he demonstrated his big play ability on two receptions to turn in an outstanding game. The Chargers recovered an onside kick with 1:11 left in the game. On the very next play, Jackson got in deep behind the Kansas City defense for a deep bomb. It could have gone for a touchdown if Rivers had put it out in front of him, but the ball floated a bit and Jackson had to wait for it for quite awhile. Jackson made up for that elusive game winning touchdown three plays later when he hauled in the score off a play-action fake.
| WR Malcom Floyd, Rec: 5 - 67 - 1 (6 targets) |
Floyd wasn't thrown to once in the entire first half but more than made up for it with a very busy fourth quarter. All five of his catches came during one fourth quarter drive, with the most important of those being his touchdown grab. On a pass that may have actually been intended for TE Antonio Gates, Floyd dove to the ground and cradled the ball to him as he slid to his knees. The only ball thrown his way that he didn't catch was a desperation fourth down pass on his very first target. He appeared to have made a spectacular grab along the sideline, but couldn't maintain possession as he came to the ground and was jarred by a defender.
| WR Chris Chambers, Rec: 2 - 28 - 0 (8 targets) |
Chambers was thrown to just once before halftime, and despite some more involvement in the second half he didn't really respond with significant stats. He is clearly the fourth (or fifth) option at best in the offense at this point, and wasn't thrown to downfield once. He did receive one look in the end zone, but it was a completely uncatchable pass that bounced well in front of him and may have been nothing more than a throwaway. Chambers did make a very heady play early in the second half. He went over the middle and was drilled by S Jarrad Page. The ball was jarred loose and sat on Chambers' chest. Despite the crushing hit, he managed to regroup and get his hands on the football as he lay on his back to maintain possession and get the reception. He also had a diving reception wiped out by a penalty on the Chiefs. The Chargers opted to accept the penalty call because even though both plays gave them a first down, the penalty yardage (five) was greater than the reception yardage (three).
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 7 - 78 - 0 (10 targets) |
Gates was a very busy man for the better part of three quarters, but was quieter in the fourth quarter as San Diego focused on getting the ball to the receivers more. His long catch and run on the game's first play from scrimmage suggested the Chargers were going to make a conscious effort to get him the football one week after he failed to catch a single pass. He responded with his best game in weeks, though it could have been far better. He dropped a long pass down the sideline early in the fourth quarter that would have put him up over 100 yards for the afternoon. He may have been thrown to once more later in the fourth quarter, but it was tough to tell. Philip Rivers was rolling to his left and fired a pass into the end zone. Gates thought the ball was intended for him and he lunged to make the play, but it was out of his reach. WR Malcolm Floyd slid into the picture from the back line of the end zone to make the diving reception for the score instead.
| PK Nate Kaeding 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Kaeding didn't have a bad game. He made his only attempt, which was an easy one from 32 yards out. But what was more telling was what he didn't do. The Chargers opted to punt the ball midway through the third quarter rather than attempt a 53 yard field goal that would've made the score 21-13. And due to the uncharacteristic scoring nature of the game, the Chargers scored three touchdowns but kicked just one extra point. The Chargers also opted to have punter Mike Scifres attempt the onside kick rather than Kaeding. San Diego recovered, though it was mostly because Dwayne Bowe couldn't hang onto the ball rather than an extraordinary kick by Scifres.
| SD Rush Defense |
Against RB Larry Johnson, the Chargers did a fine job. He was unable to break many long runs and most of his rushes were met by a lot of resistance at the line of scrimmage. But against QB Tyler Thigpen, the Chargers had a lot of trouble. Thigpen rushed for 40 yards on ten carries, including a three yard touchdown. They constantly overpursued Thigpen, allowing him to shake free of defenders at nearly every turn. The one time the San Diego run defense really came up huge, though, was late in the fourth quarter when they really needed to. Trailing 21-10, the Chiefs had a third and one situation. RB Larry Johnson took the handoff up the middle, but was stuffed backwards. This proved to be critical because it gave the Chargers the ball with enough time to score twice rather than Kansas City running out the clock. Following the third down, the Chiefs obviously punted the ball and didn't see it again until they were down 22-21. The Chargers have been far better in short yardage situations in recent weeks, and it's probably not a coincidence that NT Jamaal Williams has been getting healthier each week of the season.
| SD Pass Defense |
Early on, it looked like more of the same from this unit. A lack of a pass rush, combined with terrible overpursuit, and a large dose of missed tackling in the defensive secondary. More often than not, a San Diego defender would have the ball carrier sized up and dead in the water, only to whiff on the tackle and come away with nothing. This went on for the better part of three quarters. Fortunately for San Diego, the Chiefs stopped throwing it in the fourth quarter. They opted to run the ball most of the time in an attempt to drain time off the clock. Until that decision was made, Tyler Thigpen was carving up the San Diego defense. He had thrown one touchdown, RB Larry Johnson had thrown a touchdown, and the Chargers were powerless to stop just about anyone. They had no sacks, which has become a recurring theme for them. And the lone interception they got was the result of a tipped pass in the end zone. So in essence, they were bailed out by the Kansas City decision to take the air out of the ball.
Perhaps the biggest culprit for San Diego was CB Antoine Cason. He dropped a sure interception early in the second quarter, and that wasn't even close to being the worst play he made in the game. Following San Diego's touchdown to make the score 22-21, the Chiefs had one final chance to win it. Following a completed pass over the middle to TE Tony Gonzalez, Cason was whistled for a delay of game penalty when he knocked over the official that was trying to spot the football. That turned a desperate situation for Kansas City into a potentially winnable game. The clock had been running and the Chiefs needed to hustle up and spike the ball. Without the penalty, it's unlikely they'd have had enough time to do that. Even if they had spiked it, it would have been a 55 yard field goal attempt. But what the Cason penalty did was twofold: 1) It stopped the clock, allowing the Chiefs to set up the kick in a normal fashion, and 2) It made it a 50 yard attempt after the five yard penalty was enforced. It was only due to Connor Barth missing the kick that the Chargers' playoff hopes remained alive.
| QB Tyler Thigpen, Pass: 19 - 28 - 171 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 10 - 40 - 1 |
Thigpen played a lot better than the statistics indicate. He started off the game exceptionally well, and even the interception wasn't entirely his fault as it was batted up in the air. Thigpen kept the Chargers off balance pretty much the entire game by using his legs to create space and give himself extra time. Head coach Herm Edwards tried all sorts of gadget plays involving Thigpen, even running a college-style option run twice. The first time they tried it, the Chiefs awkwardly picked up a couple of yards on a pitch to Larry Johnson. But on the second one, Thigpen kept the ball and was flattened by 350 pounds Jamaal Williams. They didn't run any more options after that. Williams was also responsible for getting a hit on Thigpen's hand late in the third quarter. He was seen grimacing and shaking the hand, but it was difficult to tell if it affected him much afterwards as he threw just two more passes the rest of the way (both completed for short gains). Thigpen's rushing score came on a draw from the three yard line. The Chiefs had spread out five receivers across the formation, and the call for a draw seemed to be obvious to everyone except the San Diego defenders.
| RB Larry Johnson, Pass: 1 - 1 - 4 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 17 - 55 - 0, Rec: 3 - 18 - 0 (4 targets) |
As far as rushing and receiving, Johnson was pretty much held in check by the San Diego defense. His longest run of the day was 17 yards, but he gained just 38 yards on his other 16 carries. And when he had a chance to just about ice the game with a third and one run, the Charger defense clamped down and sent him backwards. But he was involved in a number of gadget plays, among them an option with Tyler Thigpen and a hook and lateral with Tony Gonzalez. Neither of those worked all that well, but the one that did work was a halfback option pass by Johnson. He took a handoff to the right side of the formation, stopped short, and lobbed a pass to the back line of the end zone for TE Tony Gonzalez. Officials initially ruled that Gonzalez had failed to maintain possession of the football but that he was interfered with on the play. That would have given Kansas City a first and goal at the one yard line. But head coach Herm Edwards challenged the call anyway, believing Gonzalez had caught the football. He was right, and the call was overturned. Johnson was credited with a four yard touchdown pass on the play.
| RB Jamaal Charles, Rush: 4 - 7 - 0 |
Charles was strictly a backup, with just four nondescript rushing attempts and no looks in the passing game.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 6 - 44 - 1 (9 targets) |
Bowe had a mostly solid game. He didn't put up eye-popping numbers, but six receptions and a score would be a good performance for just about any receiver. He also showed great hands on his first reception to lay out for a diving catch against his momentum. But he made two very poor plays that cost his team dearly. The first play seemed innocent enough at the time, and Bowe actually was seen laughing about it immediately afterwards. He caught a quick out that should've gone for an easy first down. But instead of turning upfield to pick up the first down, he turned to the sideline and stepped out of bounds. Following an incomplete pass on third down, the Chiefs were forced to attempt a 34 yard field goal but missed. The kick certainly should have been made, but the drive could have resulted in a touchdown or at least an easier kick had Bowe picked up the extra yardage. His second bad play was far more costly. He was in on the hands team to try and recover San Diego's onside kick attempt. Bowe leapt high in the air to recover the kick, but as he was coming to the ground he was hit hard and the ball popped loose. The Chargers recovered it, drove downfield, and scored four plays later to win the game.
| WR Will Franklin, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (4 targets) |
Franklin caught three passes, but the team's passing game was clearly focused around TE Tony Gonzalez and WR Dwayne Bowe. The rest of the passes were simply scraps.
| WR Mark Bradley (1 targets) |
Bradley was thrown to just once, on a third down deep ball in the end zone that fell incomplete.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 6 - 62 - 1 (9 targets) |
Gonzalez had another big game against the Chargers. He scored an early touchdown, and was clearly Tyler Thigpen's go to guy throughout the afternoon. Interestingly, the touchdown reception came courtesy of a halfback option pass from Larry Johnson and not from Thigpen. Gonzalez was interfered with on the play (and may have been guilty of a pushoff himself), and the initial ruling on the field was that he dropped the ball. But the Chiefs challenged the call, and it was eventually determined that Gonzalez had indeed gotten both feet to the ground with possession of the ball prior to falling down. The catch pretty well demonstrated that he wasn't feeling the effects of the previous play, when he appeared to have been shaken up on a rough tackle out of bounds by LB Stephen Cooper.
| PK Connor Barth 0 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points |
Barth had about as bad a game as any kicker has had this season. First, he missed an easy 34 yard field goal early in the second quarter. Then, with the Chiefs trailing by one and the seconds quickly ticking off the clock, the Chargers committed a costly penalty that turned what would have been a 55 yard attempt into a 50 yard kick. Despite the five yard gift, Barth also hooked the potential game winner to the left, giving the Chargers the narrowest of victories.
| KC Rush Defense |
All one needs to do is take a look at the statistics to determine who won this aspect of play. The Chargers picked up just 68 yards on the ground, with nine of those coming on a fake punt and eight on a wide receiver run. LaDainian Tomlinson averaged just 2.6 yards per carry and rarely had a lot of room to run. Unfortunately for Kansas City, the one run on which he had the most room was on his third quarter touchdown run up the middle. The fourth quarter involved very few rush attempts for San Diego, as they trailed by eleven going into the final frame. They needed to pass to catch up quickly, which is exactly what they did.
| KC Pass Defense |
This unit, which played so well for three and a half quarters, was very responsible for costing the team the game. The Chiefs allowed the Chargers to march 89 yards downfield in under four minutes, which cut the deficit to 21-16. Following San Diego's recovery of the onside kick, WR Vincent Jackson took over. After containment all afternoon, Jackson got deep downfield for a 42 yard bomb. Three plays later, he hauled in a nine yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner. S Jarrad Page was beaten by Jackson immediately off the line when he took two steps forward after biting on the play-action fake. In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs allowed Philip Rivers to throw for 190 yards and two scores, which makes it difficult to lay too much blame for the loss anywhere else.
It wasn't bad all game, of course, S Patrick Surtain nearly took an interception back for a touchdown, being chased out of bounds by Rivers at the three yard line. DE Tamba Hali had a huge game, with two forced fumbles on Rivers (which of course means two sacks as well). Both fumbles came on plays where Hali reached out and stripped the ball from Rivers' outstretched arm. The Chiefs had just six sacks for the entire season entering the game, but had three in this game alone.
