Don’t despair, San Diego citizens.
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said, after finishing his usual postgame officials report for the NFL, he felt head referee Ed Hochuli and his crew did a fine job officiating the game Sunday at Invesco Field.
“This was the best crew that we’ve had in the last 20 crews I’ve graded,” Shanahan said. “They did a heck of a job.”
Take comfort, Norv Turner. The Broncos beat the Chargers 39-38 on a touchdown pass and two-point conversion from quarterback Jay Cutler to receiver Eddie Royal with 24 seconds remaining.
The Chargers didn’t think Cutler and Royal should have had a chance for such heroics. With 1:17 remaining, the Broncos had the ball second-and-goal at the 1-yard line when the ball slipped out of Cutler’s hands just before he was attempting to pass for a fumble that San Diego recovered.
But Hochuli had prematurely blown his whistle while signaling an incomplete pass. Hochuli confessed his error to Turner, the Chargers’ coach, but by rule, because he had already blown the whistle, he could only rule a fumble, not a recovery.
Instead of San Diego ball, game over, the Broncos got the ball at the 10, which is where the fumble hit the ground. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league’s competition committee will look into altering the rule during the offseason. But that doesn’t help the Chargers now, and it probably won’t prevent the occasional bum call from affecting a game in the future.
“Every game that you see that’s within a point or a field goal you can go back and there might a noncall, there might be a call — that’s the nature of this game,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to find a way to win. We’ve still got third-and-10. We’ve still got to get it in the end zone. Third-and-10, fourth-and-4 and then we’ve got to make a two- point (conversion). It’s not like somebody gave you a touchdown.”
D.J.’s best friend.
Forget the Chargers. The upcoming game Sunday against the New Orleans Saints will be special for Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams as he plays against former college teammate and close friend Jonathan Vilma.
Williams and Vilma helped the University of Miami win the national championship in 2002 and have become two of the league’s best linebackers. Vilma, a middle linebacker, leads the NFL with 25 tackles.
“The funny thing is the last time we played against each other, I had one tackle and he had, like, (13),” Williams said. “And we won the game.”
That was 2005 when Williams was lost as a strongside linebacker but the Broncos had a strong team, crushing Vilma’s New York Jets 27-0.
During the offseason, Vilma lives a few floors up from Williams in a Miami-area residential building.
“We travel together, hang out,” Williams said.
Four-point hustle.
Overlooked in the AFC West shootout Sunday was Broncos middle linebacker Nate Webster chasing down Chargers rookie fullback Mike Tolbert at the 5-yard line. Tolbert had turned a short pass into a 67-yard gain in the third quarter, but Webster stopped him from scoring. San Diego had first-and-goal at the 5 but couldn’t get into the end zone and instead of seven points, settled for three.
The final score says Webster’s four-point save was huge.
“It goes to show, never give up,” Webster said.
Footnotes.
Shanahan said defensive tackle Josh Shaw played the second half despite a lacerated left calf that later required 40 stitches. “It looked like there was a hole in his leg,” Shanahan said. “That just shows you the mental toughness these guys have.” . . . The Broncos gave up 284 all-purpose yards to the Chargers on four plays — a 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Darren Sproles, the 67- yard reception by Tolbert, a 48- yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Chris Chambers and a 66-yard touchdown pass-and-run play from Rivers to Sproles. . . . Dating to last year, Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall has 55 receptions in his last five games. That’s the most receptions over a five-game period in NFL history.
Mike Klis, The Denver Post
