Joseph endures tense ending in Denver debut Cardinals shuffle Johnsons at RB
DENVER — Vance Joseph watched his team go from cruising along to a nearly colossal collapse over a nightmarish fourth quarter.
In the end, the newest Denver Broncos head coach was presented the game ball to go with all that unexpected late-game stress.
Joseph and the Broncos walked away a 24-21 winner over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night when Shelby Harris sliced through and blocked kicker Younghoe Koo’s 44-yard field goal attempt with a second left.
“It’s a hard league,” said Joseph, whose team led 24-7 heading into the final 11 minutes.
No arguments from Anthony Lynn, who also was making his head coaching debut for the Chargers. It marked the first time two black head coaches worked their first NFL game against each other.
This was more of the same for the Chargers, a team that had five losses by four points or less last season.
“There are some things we could’ve done better to help ourselves,” Lynn said.
Philip Rivers caught fire in the fourth quarter and guided the Chargers into range goal.
Koo nailed it — but Joseph called timeout just before he kicked. The rookie coach wanted to ice the rookie kicker.
Koo made good contact on the second attempt as well, but Harris was right there to block it with the right side of his hand.
“I’m going to be real with you: I have no clue what happened,” Harris said. “I felt it. I just couldn’t tell you where I felt it. It just happened.”
The Broncos held Rivers and the Chargers offense to 115 total yards heading into the final quarter. But the Broncos didn’t do themselves any favors with drives down the stretch ending like for game-tying field this: Interception (bounced off a defender’s foot), fumble (Jamaal Charles), missed field goal (Brandon McManus, who just signed a new deal) and a punt.
That opened the doors for Rivers.
“We just waited too long to get started but then you could feel it,” said Rivers, who threw for 132 of his 192 yards passing in the final 15 minutes. “You could feel it in the place.”
Joseph kept his team focused by imploring them to remember it wasn’t over. He was right.
Harris’ heroics saved the Broncos from blowing a 17-point fourth-quarter lead for just the second time in their history.
The Cardinals placed All-Pro running back David Johnson on injured reserve and re-signed veteran running back Chris Johnson.
ESPN reported Tuesday that David Johnson would undergo surgery on his dislocated left wrist and would be sidelined two to three months.
Although the Cardinals didn’t say anything about the surgery, placing him on injured reserve would seem to confirm the report. Under NFL rules, David Johnson would be eligible to come off IR in eight weeks, which coincides with the Cardinals’ bye. But he could well be out another month after that.
David Johnson, considered among the best running backs in the league, was injured late in the third quarter of Sunday’s seasonopening 35-23 loss in Detroit when he made a catch and was hit hard at the 3-yard line. The next and final time he touched the ball he fumbled at the Cardinals’ 10-yard line to set up a Lions touchdown.
The Cardinals had released Chris Johnson in their final roster cuts this year.
The team also signed ex-Arizona State running back D.J. Foster, who grew up in nearby Scottsdale, off the Patriots practice squad.
Don’t tell Anthony Lynn about the Chargers’ voluminous recent history of narrow defeats and heartbreaking fourth-quarter mistakes. He wasn’t around for any of them — until Monday night.
Lynn believes the old reputation doesn’t apply to the Los Angeles version of this franchise, even after a loss that felt a bit like so many painful Chargers defeats in recent years.
Even after falling behind by 17 points after three quarters in their season opener, the Chargers were one blocked kick away from taking Lynn’s debut into overtime in Denver. If Younghoe Koo’s last-second field goal attempt had been allowed to make it over the line untouched, Lynn has no doubt the Chargers would have completed their impressive comeback instead of losing 24-21 to the Broncos.
“Every man in that locker room was hurt,” Lynn said. “Those guys wanted to win that game so bad. I know they’re going to bounce back this week. A lot of character in that locker room.”
Star LBs Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher and game-breaking WR Randy Moss are among 11 first-year eligible players for next year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class . ... The Steelers are optimistic that DE Stephon Tuitt (biceps), who left two plays into their season-opening win over the Browns, will return soon and could be ready for Sunday’s game against the Vikings . ... The Jaguars placed WR Allen Robinson (torn left ACL) on IR and signed WR Max McCaffrey off the Saints’ practice squad . ... The Eagles signed K Jake Elliott off the Bengals’ practice squad and placed K Caleb Sturgis (left hip) on IR . ... The Lions signed P Jeff Locke after Kasey Redfern went down with a knee injury in the season opener . ... The Rams signed T Cornelius Lucas, who spent the last three seasons with the Lions . ... The Bills signed veteran LB Jelani Jenkins.