DENVER — The Chargers had new faces on the field, but they found themselves in a familiar situation Sunday. They entered the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos trailing by one score.
The Chargers’ season so far had been defined by one-score losses. With the return of safeties Derwin James and Adrian Phillips, maybe it was finally the Chargers’ turn to come out on the winning end of a one-score game.
But two defenders weren’t going to change the year-long narrative. Quarterback Philip Rivers and the Chargers’ offense were the ones who needed to deliver in the fourth quarter.
They did, but the Chargers found a different way to be on the wrong end of a one-score game.
Broncos kicker Brandon McManus made a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give the Chargers a 23-20 defeat at Empower Field at Mile High. The one-score losses count is now at eight games.
The Chargers’ latest gut-punch might be the final one that matters in the standings this season. They dropped to 4-8 with four games left on the regular-season schedule, and into a tie with the Broncos for last place in the AFC West.
After the Chargers tied the game 20-20 with 14 seconds left in regulation, rookie quarterback Drew Lock took a chance down the field to wide receiver Courtland Sutton. Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward appeared to cut in front of Sutton’s path to the ball and was flagged for defensive pass interference, giving the Broncos 37 yards and setting up McManus’ game-winner.
“He ran into me,” Hayward said. “I thought it was a no-call. … I was trying to find the ball myself. I think I got the same rights to the ball that he do. But (the referee) made the call. We live with it.”
Chargers coach Anthony Lynn disagreed with the call, and assumed it was for offensive pass interference when he saw the flag on the field.
“Officials are not perfect, but I did not like that call at the end of the game,” Lynn said. “I don’t think that’s the way you end a football game. To make that call, it has to be clear and obvious.”
The Chargers tied the game on Michael Badgley’s 46-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in regulation. The drive was kept alive after Mike Williams corralled a 38-yard reception with another acrobatic catch, this one on fourth-and-11 from the Chargers’ 24-yard line.
“That fourth down was amazing,” Chargers running back Austin Ekeler said. “Throw it up to Mike Williams. He was running his route, he’s falling down and still catches the ball. It was incredible.”
Ekeler’s joyous mood didn’t last long after Williams made his catch at the two-minute warning. Instead of going for the win, the Chargers opted for the game-tying field goal. They were nine seconds away from overtime. Then Lock threw it down the field on the first play of the drive from his own 28-yard line.
“We were just sitting on the bench, like, ‘What the heck just happened?’” Ekeler recalled. “Kinda like blindsided. But I was looking at the guys, like, ‘We just lost the game.’”
Rivers shook off an early interception to help the Chargers erase a 17-3 deficit. Rivers connected with wide receiver Keenan Allen for a 36-yard touchdown that tied the game 17-17 with 12:18 left in regulation. Allen took a big hit as he dove into the end zone. The Broncos retook the lead 20-17 after McManus made a 52-yard field goal with 4:26 remaining.
Rivers completed 20 of 29 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Williams had a career-high 117 receiving yards on five catches, and running back Melvin Gordon had a team-high 99 yards on 20 carries for the Chargers.
In his regular-season debut, Lock completed 18 of 28 passes for 134 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Sutton had four catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
The Chargers had an opportunity to take the lead after a Denzel Perryman interception, but Badgley missed a 55-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter.
The Chargers started their rally in the final minute of the first half. Rivers found an open Ekeler near the left sideline and Ekeler did the rest for a 30-yard touchdown reception that trimmed the Broncos’ lead 17-10 with 30 seconds remaining in the half. The Charges went 77 yards on three plays, including a 52-yard catch by Williams.
Rivers threw an interception to Broncos defensive end Dre’Mont Jones inside his own 20-yard line during the Chargers’ second drive of the game. A few plays later, Lock found Sutton for a 5-yard touchdown to give the Broncos a 14-0 in the first quarter.
It was Rivers’ eighth interception in the past nine quarters. He had four against the Kansas City Chiefs and three versus the Oakland Raiders.
Sutton gave the Chargers fits for the second consecutive game, and he did it Sunday with top cornerback Hayward shadowing him for most of the game.
Sutton had two touchdowns in the first quarter to give the Broncos a 14-0 advantage. In the Broncos’ October win against the Chargers, Sutton had one touchdown after one quarter, with Denver holding a 14-0 lead.
Rivers wasn’t the only Charger committing turnovers. Return man Troymaine Pope muffed a punt in the second quarter that was recovered by Denver on the Chargers’ 21 yard-line. The Broncos turned the takeaway into three points after McManus made a 31-yard field goal to give his team a 17-3 advantage with 5:32 in the second quarter.
Sunday’s game will be remembered for the last-second defensive pass interference, but the Chargers continued to make the same mistakes by turning the ball over and playing from behind.
But at least for the offensive players’ mindset, they delivered with the game on the line. It didn’t end with a Rivers interception or a goal-line fumble from a running back.
They delivered, but it was still the same result.
“We lose by seven or three,” Ekeler said before repeating himself. “Seven or three. Seven or three. It’s just frustrating for sure.”
Al Riveron explains the ruling on the field of defensive pass interference in #LACvsDEN: pic.twitter.com/IJH2X5wXNk
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) December 2, 2019
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