Mile High Sports

Special teams comes up big for Broncos in 27-19 win over Chargers

Casey Light

In a game full of big plays, two of biggest ones came via the Denver Broncos special teams unit in a 27-19 victory over the San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Yes, the defense had three interceptions, but it was a blocked point after touchdown by Shaq Barrett that wreaked havoc on San Diego’s game plan for the remainder of the day.

And yes, the defense sacked Philip Rivers four times for 21 yards and had at least four batted passes at the line of scrimmage, but it was a 68-yard punt by Riley Dixon in the game’s closing minutes that gave the Chargers an almost impossible hill to climb against the swarming Denver defense.

The Denver field goal defense unit set the tone early, forcing a missed kick by Josh Lambo that would have tied the game at 10 in the second quarter. The biggest play by that unit would come later.

Bradley Roby, T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart each recorded interceptions for Denver, twice resulting in points. Roby took his interception back for a touchdown and the Denver offense converted a TD after Stewart’s. Were it not for a Devontae Booker fumble at the San Diego 2-yard line, Denver likely would have been rewarded with points after Ward’s as well. But it was the Booker fumble that eventually set up Barrett’s big block.

After the fumble recovery, Rivers and the Chargers drove 98 yards for a touchdown that would have brought them within a field goal following the PAT. Instead, Barrett burst through the line and blocked the kick to keep the margin at four points. San Diego head coach Mike McCoy was forced into tough decisions for the rest of the day.

The Chargers again found the end zone on their own pick-six and had a chance to bring the game within a field goal, but had to attempt a two-point conversion instead of the PAT. After a pass interference penalty moved them back, they failed on their second attempt and trailed by five.

Denver responded to the poor offensive execution on the previous drive with a field goal to move their lead back up to eight with 5:19 to play. The Denver defense stiffened its back on first-and-goal from 2-yard line, forcing Rivers to throw the ball away twice and forcing another two incompletions. The stand was huge, and set up the final huge play of the day by Broncos special teams.

After the offense gained just one yard on three plays, Dixon was forced to punt from the back of his own end zone needing to execute the best kick of his young career. The rookie delivered, booming a 68-yarder that went for net of 64 yards after the stop.

How important was the punt? Gary Kubiak gave out only two game balls after the win. One went to linebackers coach Reggie Herring, who called the defense in place of Wade Phillips. The other, the only one to go to a player, went to Dixon for the punt.

The defense again buckled down with pressure on Rivers on San Diego’s final possession, forcing three incompletions by Rivers to effectively end the game.

The game was not without some big plays on offense for Denver. Booker had a touchdown run before his fumble and some redemption yards in the fourth quarter that helped secure the win. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders both made spectacular catches in San Diego territory to help move the offense. But the day belonged to the defense and special teams.

Roby, Ward and Stewart no doubt deserve huge credit for their interceptions. Were it not for the Booker fumble, Denver might have cruised to a much more comfortable victory. But it was Barrett and Dixon who made two big plays that changed the game and might go overlooked. They didn’t end up on the NFL’s highlight reel for the game, but they made the difference.

Here’s how some of the game’s biggest plays went down on social media…

Bradley Roby made the biggest play of the first half with this pick-six…

https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/792843215862845440

San Diego, meanwhile, dropped several potential interceptions, including one that would have gone 98 yards for a score…

Emmanuel Sanders made an amazing catch that would go for naught. Trevor Siemian fumbled later in the drive. Luckily, the Chargers missed a field goal on the ensuing possession…

Denver looked ready to take a commanding second-half lead before Devontae Booker fumbled at the San Diego 2-yard line…

Travis Benjamin got San Diego back into the game with this spectacular catch, but Denver would block the PAT…

The Chargers finally got an interception on Siemian, although this pick-six was as much on his receiver as him…

A failed 2-point conversion was yet another fail by San Diego’s special teams…

 

The Broncos got a big play from Demaryius Thomas, who has mostly struggled to live up to expectations this year…

The defense made four big plays to stop a touchdown that would have put the Chargers within two points with less than three minutes to play…

But it was a big kick by rookie Riley Dixon that helped Denver ultimately escape with a win.

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/792870377374425088

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