Ron Dayne didn’t play much, but it was just enough.
Now Broncos fans might wonder if he should play some more.
The game was tied, the game was late, and Broncos starting tailback Mike Anderson finally had succumbed to his ripped-up rib cage. Enter Dayne, even though until that point his season totals consisted of one carry for 1 yard.
“I was a little surprised,” Dayne said.
Dayne rushed for 13 yards and a first down at the Broncos’ 47 with 3:48 remaining. He carried seven times on the Broncos’ final drive for 43 yards. His biggest run came on fourth-and-1 with the ball at the Chargers’ 33. Coach Mike Shanahan called for an option pitch left and Dayne ran 10 pivotal yards.
It put the ball at the 23, and gave kicker Jason Elam a considerably easier 41-yard field-goal attempt than the 50 yarder he would have faced. When Elam made it, Dayne became a Broncos hero.
Perhaps the great running back competition isn’t finished. Tatum Bell, the Broncos’ backup running back through training camp and the season opener, was benched, then hobbled by an ankle sprain suffered on a kickoff return.
Anderson was mostly ineffective, rushing for just 49 yards on 15 carries and fumbling the ball away on the Chargers’ 2-yard line to thwart the game’s opening drive. The problem wasn’t necessarily Anderson’s rib injury, but the jacket he wore to protect his ribs.
“It wasn’t the best performance I could have had, but anything to contribute,” Anderson said. “For me personally, I hate wearing those rib protectors. It takes me out of what I’m used to. When I’m carrying the ball, I need it tight to my body. It creates space.”
Too many what?
It took awhile for anybody to spot the flag. Partly because it took awhile for the referee to throw the flag.
Early in the fourth quarter, Broncos punt returner Darrent Williams seemingly put the Broncos ahead with a 61-yard touchdown run. Wrong. As Williams was past the 10, in the open and about to score, at least three members of the Broncos’ extra-point team ran onto the field – in celebration and anticipation.
Although the early jaunt from the sideline is common practice in the NFL, the ref flagged the Broncos for having too many men on the field. Instead of a Williams touchdown and a 17-14 lead, the ball was brought back to the Chargers’ 29.
“I’ve never, ever seen that called,” said Broncos tight end Stephen Alexander, one of several eager members of the extra-point team. “I talked to the (ref) afterwards and he said, ‘You know, I probably shouldn’t have called it, but that’s one thing they want us to crack down on this year.’ I’m like, ‘The ball’s in the end zone.’
A ref saying he shouldn’t have called it?
“I’m not answering that,” Shanahan said. “I pay a lot of money to the National Football League for talking about that. You saw the conversation I had (with the ref) on the sideline. It had nothing to do with the play. Darrent was in the end zone. For them to call it back was disappointing. I probably just cost myself $5,000.”
The play did not cost the Broncos, as they scored a touchdown two plays later, but it was the second touchdown nullified by a penalty.
Late in the third quarter, Jake Plummer threw a 36-yard TD pass to tight end Jeb Putzier that was erased by a double penalty against the right side of Broncos’ offensive line: a head slap by tackle George Foster and holding call against guard Cooper Carlisle.
“When Jake threw me the ball, I saw them throwing the flags,” Putzier said. “So the whole time I was running, I was like, ‘Oh, geez.’ That’s the way it goes. It wasn’t the first time I had a touchdown called back, it won’t be the last one.”
Tomlinson sets record
When Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson trotted past Denver safety John Lynch on a 16-yard pitchout to put San Diego ahead 7-3 early in the second quarter, he set an NFL record by scoring a rushing touchdown in a 14th consecutive game.
“We ran that play one or two times and they were stacked in the box to stop the fullback,” Tomlinson said. “We saw that I would be wide open.”
Rookie has big day
Who says Shanahan can’t draft? There shouldn’t be too many complaints about Williams, who the Broncos selected with their first pick in the second round of the 2005 draft.
Williams almost had a heroic day. Almost, because he made two game-turning plays the refs took away. Besides the punt return that was called back, Williams momentarily appeared to have a game-saving interception at the Chargers’ 2-yard line. The play was overturned, however, as replays showed Williams bobbled the ball before stepping out of bounds.
“It was frustrating to have those plays taken away from me,” Williams said. “I could have been in the top 10 in punt returns without that one call. It’s kind of a disappointment, but at the same time, it was nice to show people what I can do.”
Elam true when it counts
Elam was confused like everybody else. With the score 17-17, fourth-and-1 and the ball at the 33-yard line – meaning a 50-yard field-goal attempt for Elam – Shanahan made two moves. First he tried to draw the Chargers offside. That didn’t work, but instead of sending Elam out on the field, Shanahan sent in another play.
“I wasn’t quite sure what he was doing there,” Elam said. “But it was a smart call because had I missed it they could have boom, boom, boom, gone down the other way pretty easily.”
Shanahan explained that after Elam missed wide twice from 53 yards to the north goalposts with the wind at his back, he estimated the wind was worth 8 yards against his kicker heading toward the south. So the first down was needed before Elam got his chance. Dayne picked up the first down and Elam made the 41-yarder by drawing the ball from right to left.
“I’ve got kind of a natural draw anyway,” Elam said. “Usually when the ball loses its inertia, it’s going to draw a little bit. From my vantage point, I could tell the way it was rotating, it was going to break right in.”
Gates looks good in debut
Suspended for the first game of the season because of his contract holdout, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates made the most of his return to the lineup Sunday, catching six balls for 80 yards, including one when he went up among three Denver defenders to pull the ball down and another when he snatched the ball away from befuddled Broncos linebacker Al Wilson.
“He did a terrific job for us today,” Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “They were hanging all over the kid.”
Added Chargers quarterback Drew Brees: “You could see Denver had a plan for him. But we still got the ball to him and he made some great catches.”
Gates was less impressed. “It was all right,” he said. “But we didn’t make enough plays to win the game.”
Ernster among inactives
Last week, the Broncos were burned by listing Dayne and cornerbacks Roc Alexander and Karl Paymah as inactive. Injuries at both positions hampered Denver in the game.
Sunday, Dayne and Alexander were active. Taking their places on the inactive list were defensive end Marco Coleman and kicking specialist Paul Ernster.
Defensive tackle Monsanto Pope, a starter last year, was replaced on the active list by Demetrin Veal.
The other Denver inactives were receiver David Terrell, safety Marques Anderson, Paymah and tight ends Nate Jackson and Wesley Duke. Jackson missed the game with a hamstring injury, which has been lingering since the preseason. He was the only Denver player to miss the game because of an injury. Shanahan has said Jackson should be ready to play next Monday night against Kansas City.
Ernster being inactive was foreshadowed last Monday when Shanahan said it could be a possibility after Ernster was a disappointment in the season opener at Miami. Some may question why Ernster – the third kicker on the roster – was inactive instead of being cut, but Denver likes his potential. If the team were to make a roster change soon, Ernster’s spot likely will be evaluated.
Punter Todd Sauerbrun did well in Ernster’s place Sunday, kicking two balls into the end zone.
It was Veal’s first action with the team. He came up with a huge fourth-quarter sack.
“This was my opportunity,” said Veal, who ended last season on the practice squad. “It was my chance to get more playing time. Hopefully, I did enough.”
Sideline homecoming
Former Colorado high school players Vincent Jackson, a rookie wide receiver from the University of Northern Colorado and Marques Harris, a rookie linebacker from Southern Utah (by way of CU), were inactive for the game.
“It was an awesome feeling to walk into the stadium and actually be a player,” said Jackson, who is nursing a calf strain. “I wish I could have performed today, but I have to take care of myself for the long run.”
Jim Armstrong and Joseph Sanchez contributed to this report.
