Young Punk fuels Chargers’ victory
The showdown for first place in the AFC West didn’t materialize Sunday as the San Diego Chargers put a one-sided whipping on the Denver Broncos.
The dominating 32-3 victory makes it clear that the Chargers still own the division, a message that Broncos coach Josh McDaniels may now understand.
Denver’s young coach — dubbed “The Young Punk” by MrSportsBlog — reportedly yelled “we own you” at some of the Chargers’ linebackers prior to the contest (http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2009-11-22/mcdaniels-stirs-chargers-pregame-shot)
That’s not a smart move. It’s dumb when Pro Bowl-caliber players like Joey Porter do it. It’s really idiotic for a head coach to engage in that type of rhetoric.
McDaniels will awake Monday to see that his Broncos — once sitting pretty with a 6-0 record and a 3 1/2-game lead over the Chargers — now look up in the standings to see San Diego residing at the top with a 7-3 record. Denver hasn’t won since defeating the Chargers in San Diego in mid-October.
The Chargers rushed for a season-high 203 yards while winning their fifth consecutive game. The defense didn’t allow a touchdown for the first time all season.
Denver sabotaged itself early when Chris Simms was sacked by Shaun Phillips and lost the ensuing fumble to San Diego’s Steve Gregory. Failing to score on the opening drive seemed to rattle Simms, who was pulled after three series for limping starter Kyle Orton.
Orton, dealing with a left ankle injury, entered with the Chargers leading 13-0 and gave Denver’s offense an immediate spark but the drive ended without points when Knowshon Moreno lost a fumble at the goal-line that was recovered by Gregory for a touchback. Replays showed that Broncos guard Russ Hochstein knocked the ball away from Moreno by inadvertently hitting the football with his left knee.
Once the Chargers went up 20-3 with less than seven minutes to go in the third quarter, it was clear that Denver wasn’t going to stage a rally. The Broncos struggled to pass the ball downfield — Brandon Marshall had three receptions for 26 yards and Eddie Royal caught four balls for 29 yards — and scored just three points on four trips to the red zone.
Philip Rivers passed for just 145 yards but completed 17-of-22 passes and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Legedu Naanee. LaDainian Tomlinson had 73 yards on 20 carries and scored the 147th career touchdown of his career.
Nate Kaeding booted four field goals, linebacker Kevin Burnett had two sacks and cornerback Antonio Cromartie had an interception.
All in all, it was a complete effort by the Chargers, who host the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday and then visit the hapless Cleveland Browns the following week. Denver plays Thanksgiving night against the New York Giants.
Based on the results of Sunday’s one-sided affair, perhaps the Young Punk ought to worry more about preparing his sinking team better in the days leading up to the game, instead of flapping his gums an hour before it starts.
All Denver owns right now is second place.
