A painful day for New York, Beckham
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Los Angeles Chargers finally grabbed a win, while the New York Giants just about lost everything.
Philip Rivers threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Gordon with 2:58 to play and the Chargers rallied for a 27-22 victory Sunday in an ugly game between teams that each went 0-4 in the first month of the season. For New York, it was a fifth straight defeat, and dynamic wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr . departed with a broken left ankle.
The worst of all was the injury to Beckham on the series before the Chargers’ winning touchdown. He jumped to catch a high Eli Manning pass and had Los Angeles cornerback Casey Hayward pin his ankle making a tackle. Players immediately signaled the sideline and Beckham was eventually carted off in obvious pain with a hand covering his face.
The touchdown pass was Rivers’ third of the game and came three plays after Kyle Emanuel had a sack, forced fumble and recovery against Manning at the Giants 11-yard line. It also came four plays after Beckham became the fourth Giants receiver knocked out of the game.
“We found a way,” said Chargers coach Anthony Lynn after his first win. “We’ve been looking for a way to win close games, and we found a way. Now we’re going to enjoy this one, and tomorrow we’ll work on what that lesson really was.”
Rivers also hit Gordon on a 6-yard TD pass in the second quarter and had a 25-yarder to tight end Hunter Henry in the third as the Chargers ended a ninegame losing streak dating to late November.
The loss was the sixth straight for the Giants, who also lost to the Packers in the wild-card playoff game last season.
“I’m hurting right now. It’s a tough loss,” guard Justin Pugh said after the Giants were beaten for the third straight time late in the fourth quarter. “We will bounce back. We will go out and flush it. We’re still professionals. This is still our job. We have to go out there and execute, get this thing done.”
Manning had given the Giants a 22-17 lead early in the fourth quarter with a 48-yard TD pass to a wide-open Beckham. New York missed the two-point conversion attempt after being hit with a delay-of-game penalty.
Manning, who was sacked five times, also threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to backup Roger Lewis Jr. in the third quarter. Orleans Darkwa scored on a 23-yard run and the Giants got a safety in scoring their first first-quarter points this season.
Manning’s attempt to rally the Giants in the final minute ended when he was intercepted by Tre Boston at the Los Angeles 33.