Monday Night Football had an AFC West match-up between old rivals, The San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos. What started out ugly for the Broncos, ended in the largest comeback in Monday Night Football history 35-24.
The Broncos fumbled two consecutive attempted punt returns early in the first quarter. The Chargers quickly turned the turnovers into 10 points. It didn’t get any better for Denver in the second quarter, as Quentin Jammer returned a Peyton Manning interception 80 yards for a touchdown. Later, the Chargers scored right before halftime with a 10 play 66 yard drive, finished by a Phillip Rivers to Antonio Gates 11 yard touchdown pass.
Everything turned around in the second half for the Broncos. Peyton Manning led a touchdown drive to start the 3rd quarter. Then the collapse began for the Chargers. On the Chargers’ next possession, Phillip Rivers was hit and fumbled, and Tony Carter picked up the ball and ran 65 yards for a touchdown. The third quarter ended with San Diego still leading 24-14. It couldn’t get worse, could it? Guess again.
The Broncos drove 55 yards in 8 plays, to get within 3 points, early in the 4th quarter. Then with just over 9 minutes left, Manning hit Brandon Stokley for a 21 yard touchdown, giving the Broncos their first lead of the game, 28-24. After all that happened in the second half, the Chargers could still win this game. They only trailed by 4 with lots of time left. Then with 2:08 left, and the Chargers with their last chance to take the lead, Rivers thew a pass that was intercepted by Chris Harris, and returned 46 yards for a touchdown. This was the final nail in the Chargers’ coffin. Not a good way to go into the bye week for the San Diego Chargers.
