Philip Rivers was glad to put a disappointing year behind him, and he shared a New Year's resolution with Ryan Mathews, San Diego's highly touted running back whose rookie season was bogged down by injuries and inconsistency.
"I had mentioned to him, 'Hey, this is the first game for next year. Let's go. Let's do something we can build on," Rivers said.
Ryan Mathews answered with a great performance, gaining 120 yards on 26 carries and scoring on runs of 27, 12 and 31 yards.
"I thought it was a great start to this new year," Rivers said. "He's going to be a great runner for us, a great player for us. When you're a rookie ... a lot is being asked of you."
All week the Chargers talked of wanting to finish strong.
They prepared with as much urgency as they could muster.
In the locker room before the game,Philip Rivers fired up his teammates with a speech that they said made them believe it was important to win, no matter that they had already fallen short of the postseason.
“It’s a letdown,” center Nick Hardwick said as he left a locker room as quiet as it’s ever been after a victory. “You get in here, that’s when you can let down your guard. It hurt.”
Denver took a 7-0 lead 12 minutes into the game, but the Chargers scored on six consecutive possessions to take a 26-7 lead midway through the third quarter.
Rookie quarterback Tim Tebow, his every move cheered by the Invesco Field crowd, led two touchdown drives and the Broncos returned a kickoff for another score as Denver (4-12) closed to within five points with 26 seconds remaining. But after recovering an onside kick, two Hail Mary passes from the Denver 46-yard line fell incomplete.
Then the Chargers (9-7) left the field already feeling the void of their offseason.
“This is the low point, certainly, of these last seven days,” Rivers said. “Before kickoff I was so aggravated and fired up to play I couldn’t stand it … We finished with a win, but it’s tough.
“We gotta watch Kansas City play a (playoff) game next week. That’s tough.”
They prepared with as much urgency as they could muster.
In the locker room before the game,Philip Rivers fired up his teammates with a speech that they said made them believe it was important to win, no matter that they had already fallen short of the postseason.
“It’s a letdown,” center Nick Hardwick said as he left a locker room as quiet as it’s ever been after a victory. “You get in here, that’s when you can let down your guard. It hurt.”
Denver took a 7-0 lead 12 minutes into the game, but the Chargers scored on six consecutive possessions to take a 26-7 lead midway through the third quarter.
Rookie quarterback Tim Tebow, his every move cheered by the Invesco Field crowd, led two touchdown drives and the Broncos returned a kickoff for another score as Denver (4-12) closed to within five points with 26 seconds remaining. But after recovering an onside kick, two Hail Mary passes from the Denver 46-yard line fell incomplete.
Then the Chargers (9-7) left the field already feeling the void of their offseason.
“This is the low point, certainly, of these last seven days,” Rivers said. “Before kickoff I was so aggravated and fired up to play I couldn’t stand it … We finished with a win, but it’s tough.
“We gotta watch Kansas City play a (playoff) game next week. That’s tough.”
No comments:
Post a Comment