Chicago Bears at San Diego Chargers - Week 11 - November 14, 1993

tonight football and that wild afc west it's the chargers making a move they're against the bears mike and joe on the call guys thank you chris this is jack murphy stadium in san diego where we have a record crowd of more than 63 000 to watch the chicago bears take on the san diego chargers my focus is to be the hunter you know to seek it out to seek out the past to the run and and really attack him you grab anything that that's there whether it's flesh jersey helmet face mask you're gonna go down you can dream and you can go out there and perform we've got to be performers not dreamers you want to go head-to-head and show your eagle i'll be there last week the bears blew a golden opportunity to gain ground in their division now they have to get back on track to stay in the nfc wild card race san diego can stay within two games of the division lead in the afc west with a win tonight and every team in this division is still thinking playoffs good evening everybody mike patrick along with joe theismann it's great to have you with us after winning the division last year a lot was expected of the san diego chargers but like last year they got off to a slow start the offense produced only six touchdowns in the first six games and with john freeze at quarterback they've had seven touchdowns in the last two games both of them big road wins well mike john freeze has done what the chargers want their quarterbacks to do in the last two weeks he has not thrown an interception he has also gotten the ball in the hands of anthony miller and ronnie harmon and these are the guys that have to be productive for the chargers to move the ball tonight they'll be facing a bears defense that has carried the team only one club in the nfl has allowed fewer points what are they going to do against that unit well what they have to do is they have to run the football and the reason why is they must run the football to get the safeties of the bears involved in trying to stop the run that will open up the passing game i also mentioned that they have to get the hand the ball in the hands of miller and harmon they have to do it yeah but they have to do it early and let these guys establish themselves in the game dave wants dad came to the bears with a reputation as a defensive genius after his work in dallas and he hasn't done anything in chicago to harm that reputation teams averaging 13.8 points a game against they have great statistics in the other categories they should be better than three and five ah you say they should be better than three and five and that's the truth the problem really is stem from the lack of offense and i mean the lack of offense they have had very big problems on the offensive line they've struggled there they also can't find a big play maker so what do the bears have to do tonight to win the football game first of all they must create defensive turnovers then the offense must capitalize on those turnovers also jim harbaugh must be protected he's been sacked 17 times in the last three games but the big thing that dave wants that is looking for in this game either on offense defense or special teams he's looking for somebody to come up with big plays there's dave juan stamp the longtime assistant in college then having such a great success in the jimmy johnson and dallas for the defensive scheme that had the cowboys ranked number one bobby ross virtually a consensus choice as coach of the year in his rookie season winning the afc west for the first time since 1981. chicago bears have won the toss and they will receive before a record crowd of 63 000 they've added some seats here biggest crowd ever to see a chargers game in the stadium john carney who qualified as the offense early is set to kick off you see his touchback percentage lower than the league average the man in the middle curtis conway the rookie out of usc standing at the goal line nice kick by kearney conway a yard deep good return teams for both clubs and conway can't get past the 10-yard line for the bears on offense jim harbaugh taking a beating sack 29 times the most of any quarterback in the league the passing game is last in the nfl tom waddle uses quickness not speed to find open spots he is a courageous possession receiver but no deep threat mark fort's the only starter left from that great offensive line in the mid 80s when he's healthy sports is still a quality player on first down good protection and dropped by neal anderson out at the 14-yard line take a look at the chargers defense as always leslie o'neill among the game leaders in sacks he has seven speed or power rush he's one of the best junior seau could be the finest player in the game today a brilliant run stopper he's also a great cover man the secondary is hand problems but darren carrington continues to be the ball hawk eight interceptions in a year and a half in the nickel first round draft choice darian gordon adds speed to the secondary they think he needs work on his technique bob christian number 44 checks into the backfield for the bears on second and ten along with hayward harbaugh throws short incomplete would have been a short game for conway i'll tell you i really like the way the bears have tried to start the game you want to give jim harbaugh confidence so you give him a couple of short passes to make the play the first one is dropped by neil anderson you can't do anything about that now he tries to get it out to the lone wide receiver with a when they move waddle in and that one's a little bit low in the ground i like the idea but you got to get the execution in this game it's not the thought that counts darion gordon is in as part of the nickel package pressure on heart both rosie out incomplete intended for his tight end chris gudney here is the kid that they are delighted to have back tremendous player out of syracuse who has been hurt almost all year but it's three and out for the chicago bears and three passes too it's not like they tried to hammer the ball they realize that this san diego charger defense is ranked 28th in the league so they figure they may try and take a shot at it gardacki to kick to the rookie gordon second in the afc averaging 13.4 yards of return beautiful high sailing kick and gordon will make the fair catch at midfield 139 and no return san diego's offense john freese had been starting because of stan humphrey's injury but after showing accuracy and poise he's earned the job anthony miller off to the best start of his career on track for yet another thousand yard season he's been to three pro bowl courtney hall uses his quickness to handle bigger defenders and may be the best in the nfl making line call as a third down back ronnie harmon is the best although his numbers are down from last year's career season charges start with excellent field position and 20's to throw on first down and knocked away at the last minute donald wolford who is having a great year at corner and has turned into a tremendous cover guy what a great matchup these are true great athletes with great speed great physical you're going to see something here on the left side of your screen anthony miller now they're about even watch the burst of speed he can put on look at that little acceleration but yet danelle reaches out with the hand closest to the ball his left hand and swats it away if he had tried to knock it away with his right never would have happened so the chargers go for six on the first play carmen the man in motion butts on the draw first man to get a piece of him was dante jones in the linebacker and slowed him up on defense richard having his best season since breaking his leg five years ago seven and a half sacks only one less than all of last year dante jones waited behind mike singletary for five seasons he's now making the most of his chance averaging over 12 tackles a game and wilford who you just saw developed into an excellent corner he has a feel for and an understanding of that position third call it seven for the charges on their opening possession bringing an extra defensive back and rush three frees the screen to harmony got a block got a first down dante jones made the tackle a gain of 11. and joe i enjoy watching ronnie harmon as much as anybody in this entire league i agree with you mike he's just a great athlete and as soon as he gets his hands on the ball you know something's going to happen there he is offset to the left he's going to block a little bit and slide out give the line a chance to get out in front of him slides in figures he's going to help that move set now watch him set his blockers up see how he cuts in behind him comes in behind courtney hall just picks it up up for the first down spotted the bears 37. but slips through a hole and dives to the 30-yard line john freeze the starter in 91 missed all of 1992 with the knee injury and right now he is playing courtesy of the injury to stan humphreys that's how he got his job back well stan wasn't playing well stan humphries had an injury that he tried to play through but really it was a problem with his right throwing shoulder and it was a six to eight week injury that he just didn't give time to heal he is a hundred percent now but free is playing well enough to certainly keep his job and as long as the chargers win he'll save it threes to miller depending on the spot he should have enough for a first down and does just outside the 25-yard line wolford makes the tackle the two guys that the san diego chargers want to get in the game early ronnie harmon anthony miller you saw the third down play to harmon that means harmon's head is now in the game you saw just a little quick hitch of course they tried to go big to anthony didn't complete it came back hit him with the little hitch something positive all of a sudden both these guys heads are in the game johnny barnes number 85 is in but inside the 25 to about the 23-yard line dante jones again made the tackle a guy who waited so patiently behind the legend mike singletary jones big eight player of the year when he played in college in oklahoma just a tremendous player there he's leading this club in tackles and even though he's been around five years hasn't played that much they have to give him a chance to grow into the role when he is butts on second and eight near the 15. when he goes airborne people clear out 252 50-pound plane taking off weinsted says we got to bring him down watch the left side of this charger line they create a little bubble he gets into the bubble now the rest he does on his own he leaves the ground at about the 20 30 yard line and he's sailing now i mean you're not going to take him down sean gale's trying but you're not going to take him down when he's 250 pounds in the air that's mike zandoski the starting left guard who they got in a trade from phoenix three years ago he's playing because eric who was the starting left guard injured in his gone for the year we'll check on zandovsky's condition when we come back nothing nothing opening moments first quarter espn's sunday night nfl is brought to you by isuzu makers of incredible four-wheel drives by badran the less filling beer with a lot more taste why ask why and by ge from aircraft engines to appliances we bring good things to life sandowski on the sideline able to walk off under his own power and third round draft choice out of michigan joe caputo was in his places natron means with his first carry throw from the end zone miller and he couldn't get that high to bring it down wide open there wasn't anybody within 10 yards anthony miller is going to come down and fake like he's going to block you'll see it here's anthony miller he's going to come down fake and he's going to wind up now penetration does not allow means to make the throw he holds it longer than he wants to there comes a great penetration that's the problem right there great job by sean gale disrupts the timing of this particular trick play coaches don't like to call them trick plays but that's what they are second and ten frees with a draw harmon to the 10. finally cut down by jeremy lincoln they need to get just inside the six for the first down watch this shot from our goal post cam you see him start through the line now he reads the middle linebacker now watch what he does to sean gale number 23 a little shake at the at the 15 and it picks up five more yards right here watch it head and shoulders going one way him going the other dante jones doing an excellent job you see him right here he's going to read the back he's going to see harmon harmon's going this way he's going to fill right into the hole slides along just doesn't hesitate at all finds a nice gap to get through they can't get to him derek walker number 89 trying to make the block but he closed the gap too soon carney comes on for a 28-yard field goal having a great year 18-22 two of the missiles were blocked and the man who holds the nfl record for consecutive field goals at 29 puts the charges on the board from 28 yards away it's nothing san diego draws first blood on a 28 year old 28 a yard john carney field goal this is how technology and football has changed see this machine right here now that machine is putting out pictures that the players can look at as as the defenses form or as the offensive formations form and that's all he does there's the picture right there that's all you're looking at that's what rojo rojo's looking at i don't need it anymore i saw enough i threw it away kearney to kick once again conway is the deep man waiting at the goal line conway from the two dumped it to 15 this time excellent special teams by the chargers darren carrington made the tackle and that scoring drive five minutes and 28 seconds they didn't get the touchdown came away with the field goal and the bears have to feel good about that key play right here is a penetration by the safety to throw off the timing see sean gale get up the field it forced natron means to change his delivery and throw the ball a little bit late the bears on their first possession threw it three times they go to the runway anderson on the toss and anderson five yards out to the 20. bears offensive line this is not the group of guys you've been used to seeing for 10 years boards the only starter from that line in 85 that was the super bowl champion and you could see it coming really for a couple of years joe that they were all getting old and getting hurt together that's what happens when so many of them are so good over such a long period of time second five charges with a blitz and the run blitz works as christian is dumped by junior sayo well you can make a case for a lot of the best linebacker in football today he'd get a vote he's just going to fire right up the middle he's a middle linebacker nobody blocks him you know that yes it's a great play by junior seau but also i think anybody could be really great if they didn't have anybody to block them too so credit him for understanding what the offensive line is going to do but also that bear offensive line's got to wonder who's going to block number 55 somebody better the chargers second in the nfl against the run screen to christian and he just got back to the line of scrimmage guess who seau not only can he play the run he is a brilliant cover guy bobby ross said he could return punts or kickoffs play anything else on the field see him key he goes back he reads he now he finds the back fights off perry and makes the tackle i mean and hardly had to fight him off at all gardaki beautiful high punt there's a flag down as gardaki was hit eric the enemy trying to get a piece of the kicker trying to get a piece of the ball instead got a piece of gardaki now will it be roughing or running into a five yard penalty would be just short of a first down and if you can read lips it's roughing a lot of time kickers do a nice job of faking this to get the referee to make the call personal fall number 32 on the defense roughing the kicker running into the plant leg first off he comes around the corner now he lays out and he just takes a bad angle i think it's a good call by the official running into the plant leg you can seriously hurt somebody good call they're so exposed i'd much rather see him call a fatway than the other play action to anderson harbaugh running for his wife o'neal knocks the ball loose chargers have it leslie o'neal with the strip and shawn lee gets the football leslie o'neil was the guy they wanted to protect they want to help out they don't want to leave him one-on-one you're going to see him get great pressure play action fake but you can't block him alone noising ozine gets beat inside that's not the place you can let him go he's going to take a direct shot at the quarterback result fumble chargers ball 21-yard line o'neal one of several big play people on the chargers defense freeze with bucks behind him two wide receivers in the h-back is walking freeze with time end zone overthrown to jefferson double coverage back there good coverage by wolford and gale tony wise the offensive line coach and i'll guarantee you what he's telling troy arsene is listen what you can't do is you cannot let leslie go inside on any kind of passes whether they're play action passes or whether they're dropbacks leslie o'neil felt like he likes playing against the nfc's because he says these guys like to take you one-on-one i feel like i can have a big game comes the blitz draw to butts and a saving tackle by vincent smith dave lonstadt engineered a trade with jimmy johnson to get him from dallas and i asked dave once that last night if he believed in speed as much as jimmy johnson he said you bet that's what does it now you're going to eventually see the chicago bears take on a great similarity to the way the dallas cowboy organization has run and they did it from management to ownership there is no middleman between dave wanstadt and mike mccaskey third and ten have him in motion carmen flanker screen couldn't slip a tackle about a yard shy of a first down it will bring up a fourth and one and it was dante jones who saved the first down yardage here comes the field goal team that's a nice play for harmony to get him free that way it really is we saw um tony martin of the of the miami dolphins run a long touchdown run against that last year you see a lot of young united college football teams running because they get that great athlete outside and ronnie harmon is of course a great athlete kearney who has already connected from 28 to try this one from 30. and goes into the end zone danny abramowicz the special teams coach of the chicago bears number 98 carl simpson gets credit for the block it stays three-nothing second round draft choice who pays off for the block field goal to keep the score at three nothing and the bears need something to get started on often they have minus eight yards in total offense first quarter conway knocked away at the last minute sean van horse finally closed the gap the ball under thrown or it's a touchdown they felt like the corners of the san diego chargers were vulnerable to pump and goes conway comes out does a little hesitation van horse bites on it the ball's got to be up now it's got to be up earlier this is harbaugh's fault not conway this ball has got to go up as soon as the guy bites on a fake you got to get it up in here jim waited a little too long on that particular play big plays it's certainly not good in the chicago bears arsenal this year last in the league neil anderson maybe one let's go back to the field goal block joe what happened well what happens is tim ryan and carl simpson line up there's simpson now ryan's out here they're going to go right at the shoulder of this card and simpson's going to come right inside of him see there's the push they isolate they get three on two people he manages to get great penetration and gets his hand up knows exactly where he has to go to get the ball 4 34 to go first half the bears just trying to get a first down and keep the football harbaugh sacked the pocket just collapsed chris mims 290 pounds out of tennessee here's a guy who never lifted a weight in his life until he became a pro football player this is just pure power which is something they really love to see out of mims you'll see him come over the right side he's just going to come flying he moves perry aside throws him away that's that upper body strength that they've tried to get him to have the chicago bears have spent the entire first quarter inside their own 20. gardaki with another high soaring punt fair catch made by gordon a 39-yard kick no return once again the chargers with great field position three-nothing chargers and that aerial shot courtesy of the goodyear blimp eagle which is based in carson california the pilot john creighton from redondo beach having to put up a little southern california rain the last couple of days but they're doing just fine thanks the chargers uh huddling around the offensive coaching staff coming out late this is their worst field position their own 45-yard line natron means is in the backfield percy snow number 96 playing middle linebacker for the bears the chargers describe him as marion butts with quick feet it's a little scary when stan humphries was playing quarterback the offensive numbers were way down joe they've exploded with freeze in there well i think what's indicative is you see the short pass receivers walker and harman weren't affected very much because of humphrey's soil arm but the deep receivers lewis and millis miller really were it's exciting to see a guy that big who is that light on his feet i thought sly grooms the running back coach of the chargers put it as well as anybody he said he's 240 pounds and what he does is he runs like a tailback at 205. look at the niftiness i mean really nifty a nifty 240 a little slide in left a little dance off your toe and bang you pick up six seven yards and then at the end lower the head and use the power that's where the 240 comes in walker is the up man in the eye the h back in front of me they'll give it to him again look at this natron means gets 10. mark carrier came up from the safety spot to make the tackle that's ten five on one leg five on two legs this is where i think he really separates himself it's the move in the hole he makes people miss coming out of the tailback the eye spot through the hole now slides just sort of drags that foot through it comes through keeps his balance and when he's locked up one on one on a safety it is a mismatch it's another bobby beathard draft day deal or exchanged multiple picks with the 49ers in order to draft the young man in the second round and we've watched bobby beathard throughout his career do that give up firsts plus other draft choices for seconds and they always seem to pan out here's a guy who's come on really late look at the yards per carry in the first six games it's 2.7 and in the last two it's 5.6 and that also has to do with the offensive line finally starting to gel for the charges we talked about the problems with the bears the chargers through the early part of the season had the same problems up front butts comes back in as means looked like he was a little ding there's no relief from big box in this offense second and less than a that's the first down yard miller and miller out of bounds the 25 wilford makes the attack isn't it interesting anthony miller sort of disappeared for about five minutes or so right now all of a sudden they're not going to let him get very far out of the game believe me wide receivers get into head games if you leave them standing out there they're like outfielders in a game that don't get a ball hit to them they start looking around at the crowd listening to you but they're not paying attention they're not going to let anthony get out of this game it has been all charges so far means is back in there first and tenth from the 25. the fair defense facing a lot of pressure means got a nice block off the right side cuts back ten five to the one natron means the rookie out of north carolina finally stopped by joe kane but it's a gain of 24 and he's rushed for 46 in the first quarter joe melinda chick 71 stan brock 67 there they are watch the block that they put out here and give him a chance and an opportunity to run brock gets out he's just fought it just doing a great job of giving him lanes to run to they're also doing this with the rookie left guard joe cacuzzo what may have lost the yard boy did he get drilled to the line of scrimmage trace armstrong who said his first goal this year is to stay healthy ron cox number 54 is going to come in from the side he's just going to come flying in and make the play he just he actually comes in buries the fullback hendricks which allows the pursuit that comes him he stops up that hole he doesn't get credit for the tackle he should get an assist kendrick's in the up man in the eye dive didn't make it the bears tied for second in the nfl and allowing points inside the red zone and that will be the end of the first quarter the chargers have dominated yet they only lead three-nothing team's player of the day who else but jerry rice four touchdown passes from steve young as the niners rolled the bucket ears he's now third on the all-time touchdown list with 118 fifth on the all-time list and catches hey mike this just in he's good hey boomer there ought to be a different standard for him four touchdowns shouldn't qualify him for got to do better than that every two he gets you count as one third and goal for the chargers from the two you know mike you get down around the goal line it becomes attitude the bears are showing the attitude they don't want to be pushed back the chargers have to try and do it if they're going to get in the end zone carman is in no running back behind three slam pen and the miller and wolford was right there donnell wolford has made three big plays in this first half and here comes the field goal unit this is a pass that's got to get out quick we saw harbaugh laid on the go now freeze is holding this too long he throws and sort of hangs it in the middle he allows danielle wolford to get inside again he uses that left hand to get around miller and swat the ball away danelle holford's having himself one heck of a knife and this defense for the bears is really hanging in there kearney had the one blocked made it from 28 this would be from 20. basically an extra point out of a hole to john kidd fake john kipp trying to run how's that for guts and making a call well you know that says an awful lot for having a guy who's an absolute figure holder here's a guy who had played quarterback for a long time great hands because he's the punter you can do a lot of things when you have a guy with his athletic ability holding great scouting you've got to give an awful lot of credit to chuck piper and the special teams coach for the san diego chargers now maybe they'll fake the extra point get two kid was recruited out of high school as a quarterback and free safety but had back problems and just got his first career touchdown in the nfl harney with the point after and the chargers couldn't find a way to pound it in so they tricked them what this is is the bears are an emotional high they've just stopped the chargers for the second time they're going to force them now see how they're lined up over here everybody wants to rush so kid's just going to come out they're going to run it off he'll run in the end zone here comes the big rush we got it we got it inside oh no there he goes gary plummer just hit somebody notice how he fakes it puts the ball down that sets up the fake right there plumbers out front number 50. no he's not going to throw it to you gare you don't do that not when it's that open and carl simpson gave it every effort but kid sneak across the goal line and that's got to be a big emotional play joe you mentioned the emotion of having stopped them now they've stopped them every time kept them out of the end zone on three drives now they're down 10-0 the defense knows the offense has done absolutely nothing with it so far the bears defense has played sensationally you can't fault their their special teams they're trying to make a play you got to give a lot of credit to great scouting on the chargers part they've held it back they saw the opportunity they took advantage of it it's done if nothing else even if it didn't succeed after they blocked the previous one it would slow him down to try and block it again remember this comes on the heel of having a field goal with temp block exactly carney set to kick off kicking into a slight breeze nowhere to go conway buried inside the 15-yard line and the kick coverage teams of the chargers have been tremendous lewis bush makes the tackle on special teams of course i know you're with us every sunday at noon eastern when we bring you nfl game day with chris berman tom jackson chris mortensen and joe theismann providing the most comprehensive pre-game show in the nfl then at seven prime time all the highlights of all the games then at eight o'clock joe and i will be in tampa as the vikings take on the tampa bay buccaneers huge win today for the vikings was what a great comeback too they were down 17-3 20-3 albert fontenot the injured player will check on his condition when we come back ten-nothing lightning bolts espn sunday night nfl is brought to you by mcdonald's what you want is what you get at mcdonald's today and by american airlines something special in the air san diego leading at 10 to nothing albert fontenot the rookie defensive lineman for the chicago bears had to be helped off the field and here are the bears with the football again they have done absolutely nothing with it in the first half they blew one chance to score on a bomb nfl commissioner paul tagliabue and that's him left and alex spanos charges thank you there they are picked up from the pittsburgh steelers they really think he can help this ball club complete the tight end keith jennings and jennings run out of bounds by donald frank who was replacing gilbert the brilliant cornerback who's after the year with a knee injury again he ran into a teammate he is on the sidelines craig hayward 300 pounds of them 300 and a cough there you go you got your first first down jim's saying all right now we get going the defense is on the sidelines cheering for him now and there they are ranked 28th in the league and plays over 20 yards but san diego is last in the league at allowing those kind of plays you think the bears would be able to hit one but so far they've had one opportunity and missed it harbaugh under pressure floats it out knocked out of bounds by van horse up at the 38-yard line i'm going to make a prediction here tim worley is going to be a real contributor in the nfl from this point on i think he's found a home in chicago he gives him size speed great athletic ability in the running back position he's going to make himself a mark there i really believe that and neil anderson of course the guy who has carried the leather for so long as a running back who really hasn't been the same back in the last three years that he was before and as you said worley may be the answer to that problem gang tackled across the 40 to about the 42. of course he had the well-documented drug problems in pittsburgh suspended for parts of 91 and 92. he said he is the kind of guy who can overcome that knew he had to get into treatment and only barry sanders was taken higher as a running back in the 89 draft certainly a a world of potential coming out of the university of georgia and he'll get a breather and neil anderson checks back in the eight-year veteran from florida looking to make a play on second and six here comes the blitz harbaugh hangs in there they had it tipped hendrickson was all over neil anderson but since the ball had been tipped it wouldn't be interference and plummer was the man who created the problems up the middle and then tipped the ball jerry plummer you see an awful lot of batted balls in the league and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there's so much pressure coming from the front four or five up front that the quarterback is so close to the line of scrimmage they can't make the completions four yards down the field bears have had very little success on third down this year they face the third and sixth another blitz harbaugh somehow got out of there trying for the first down and he got very close to the marker at the 48-yard line somehow escaped all that pressure darion gordon made the tackle if what you're looking for in a quarterback is guts jim harbaugh is it he has he's taken a pounding marquez pope number 30 is going to come flying see him come flying up there he comes flying up forces harbaugh inside he has to be under more control if he's coming clean he's got to know the down and distance and he's got to wait for help his job is to isolate and contain doesn't have to go running by which he did no slide for harbaugh diving for the sticks i have to bring the chains in from across the way and he's short dave wanstadt who knows offense is his major headache with this club he has upgraded special teams the defense has played well and he'll send gardacki onto the field to presumably punt here on fourth and a foot if you're looking for a positive from the bear offense they got a couple of first downs they moved the ball to a place where gardaki can now put the chargers back deep in their own territory big return it would be the first time they had the ball inside their own 45 tonight gardaki another high soaring kit gordon trying to get over for the fair catch and makes it at the 17-yard line a punt of 36 but again no return in the bears offensive line trying to find a way to get it done back in san diego 11 30 to go first half san diego leading at 10 to nothing this week marked the end of an era in chicago football as the bears waved goodbye to william the refrigerator perry his legend was born on monday night versus green bay when lining up as a fullback the 300 pound plus defensive tackle scored a touchdown later that year he added the exclamation point to the bear's devastating 46-10 win over the patriots in super bowl 19. the fridge released after nine years with the bears tough thing for dave juan stat to do joe it was but he's done a lot he's released some of the older guys and he's starting to replace him now so he respected what they have done but for some it's the end of the line trying to break the tackle got out to about the 19-yard line each coach has his own personality the the guys that he wants to bring in and do the certain things that he wants to do and i think when you look at perry who had become a backup player with this team when you you want younger guys as backups especially considering the salary cap next year absolutely and what dave one stat did is he really gave these guys an opportunity to be a part of the ball club he felt they worked very hard through training camp was proud of the job they've done appreciated but now he has to move on and build his football team carmen and the enemy in the backfield behind freeze plenty of time to throw harmony chased out of bounds at the 24-yard line joe kane another one of the speed linebackers who was under used in seattle and dave one stat wanted his running ability in there and the reason why freeze had time to throw was because of harry swain number 72 blocking on richard dent has a lot of respect for den says he's the old sly fox uses a lot of moves gave freeze an opportunity to make the completion to harmony third down about four yards to go for san diego he just joined us to charge on a fake field goal scored an only touchdown league 10-0 freeze finally hit low and dumped at the 15-yard line steve mcmichael the 14-year veteran from texas will get credit for the sack you saw richard dent flash by and barely missed and then mcmichael burrowed under what incredible concentration by freeze he didn't even see mcmichael coming because mcmichael rolled into his feet and really bowled him over john kidd de punt terry obi had a tough time on some decisions this year makes the fair catch signal barely of 39 yards tomorrow night at 7 30. hope you'll join us for nfl prime monday mike tarico tom jackson craig james will preview the monday night game between the bills and the steelers live reports from three river stadium with mark malone chris mortensen will have all the leaks breaking news and downtown julie brown we'll talk with bill's defensive end bruce smith all that and a lot lot lot more on nfl prime monday 7 30 eastern tomorrow night my partner gets the night off considering we're on the west coast a little tough to get back bears with their best field position anderson and iron head in the backfield play action by harbaugh conway what a tackle by hendrickson on his versatility he said this is what he's been waiting for all his life to be able to start that left linebacker he's replacing gerald williams who they got on plan b and who's out with an injury this is a tough thing for a linebacker flow is away but yet he still manages to recover now watch this he reaches out with one hand and just hangs on that's an awful lot of great strength first down bears whirling spins off the tackle inside the 40 to about the 38 yard line we talked about the san diego chargers getting the ball in the hands of their playmakers miller and harmon i think what the bears have to do is they've got to get number 87 tom watt over football somehow get him into this game somehow or other every time tom waddle gets his hands on the ball something good happens and waddle without that great speed has even found himself double covered this year the ultimate compliment for a possession receiver sean van horse on him right there what a tackle coming up from the safety the sheriff stanley richard made the arrest in a hurry when you don't throw the ball down the field you get the safeties coming up in run support in a hurry stanley richards he's got no reason to go back they haven't thrown the ball down the field so he's just going to hang around the line of scrimmage if he's not there whirly's got himself a big game to tackle on a 225 round pound running back i guess they teach you to bulldog him in texas third and two for the bears behind iron hill first down dave wanstadt said ironhead hayward is the best blocking fullback he had ever seen he just crushes people well he weighs more than most tackles in the league i'm guessing somewhere 3 10 20 somewhere up there once he gets momentum and he takes on 180 pound defensive back it's no contest here he is hey look at he takes on a linebacker hendrickson just drives him back first down bears just outside to 30. they're down 10-0 it was the run blitz and hendrickson the first man there grabbed him around the knees five-year man out of california well if you're steve hendrickson you're going to get a headache if this happens all day watch number 45. he knocks down burt grossman right after jenkins hits him there's one here's the other that's getting bent back second and nine hayward listed at 290 for the fictitious weight charges come with another blitz anderson and he is drilled as soon as he got it the sheriff is back in town i think that's i just think that's great coaching football bill arnsberger knows that he says all right if i come with the blitz if you're an offense you have to go to a blitz break off pass those passes are designed to pick up three and four yards and hopefully break it for the touchdown in this case it puts a lot of pressure on the defensive back to make the tackle that's exactly what we saw in that play you talked to players about arns parker the the affection and the respect is incredible 245 yards total offense for the bears as an average they have 46 tonight another big rush anderson trying to get the first down and he does carrington pushed him out of bounds trying to roll away from the pressure i like what the bears are doing on offense you've seen harbaugh drop and roll to the left that time you saw him sprint out they're not going to give him an opportunity to sit back and just get banged around dave wants that one to move it ron turner the offensive coordinator told us last night i can't afford to let him sit back there and just sit in the pocket been sacked 29 times this year the most of israeli quarterback that's 29 coming into this game anderson slipped as he tried to make a second cut and got near the 16-yard line where gary plummer was on him think along with me here mike waddle's not the fastest guy and he told us last night he perfects things up to 20 yards because that's what he feels like he can be effective now you're on the 16-yard line got to figure out a way to get him involved i think down here he's the guy that can make a play for you once that's looking for playmakers he could be one inside the 20 the bears on offense at least 75 down the list of nfl teams and everything there is waddle pointed out to the right harbaugh back the other way throws for the end zone incomplete that could have been caught by keith jennings the tight end off his hands you talked to dave once that last night about having guys making plays there's a play that could have been made and it wasn't you know the ball's not going to be perfect harbaugh does a nice job of getting around leads him there's the throw you're talking about a guy who's 260 pounds as a tight end his asset is that of a blocker not of a pass receiver evidence that on the last play henriksen on the coverage along with carrington the chargers are thinking along like i am maybe waddle's the guy they want to get the ball to they're not going to let him here's one guy up on his nose now as he goes down the field there's the safety that picks him up chargers figure all right waddle's been your big play guy we're not gonna let you throw the ball we're gonna make you go someplace else with it kevin butler who was the goat of last week's game with two missed field goals in the fourth quarter still having a great season comes on to try from 33. and hooks it through bears get on the scoreboard they're down by a touchdown second quarter mike patrick joe theismann with you we're in san diego 4 52 to go first half of play the scoring drive 39 yards went the bears offense and kevin butler had a 33-yard field goal to get them on the scoreboard the enemy across the 20 to about to 21. from one of the world's most enduring corporate symbols the goodyear blimp eagle these aerial shots over jack murphy stadium in san diego the eagle is out of carson california and goodyear blimps have been flying over major sporting events since 1925. we haven't been doing it that long but we're shooting for it's our record 50 years marion butts the running back behind freeze bucks will get the ball stuffed at the line of scrimmage you know it's interesting the bears both offensively and defensively under dave wants that have gone through a philosophical change for example on defense they used to be what's called a two-gap style defense with their front people that means that you take a guy head on and you have to protect either gap on either side that has changed now the defense of linemen have one gap that they have to try and get their head through to get penetration into the offensive backfield one of the reasons that chris has been able to make an impact on the defensive line freeze under pressure and throws too high for marion butts and then freeze was planted on his keister by den the thing you have to be key of is when you're in an aggressive style of defense watch the heads of these defensive linemen get up the field you'll see richard den here just go go put a lot of pressure on see how they're getting up field they're not sitting there having to worry about the run they're being aggressive just like you see the dallas cowboys third and ten for the chargers richard dent this is the one thing that concerns bobby ross about john friese's ability to not have the term is escapability a guy like a stan humphreys has the opportunity to run is quite a bit more mobile maybe make a play that's the only negative i think that they have about john freeze is he doesn't have the ability to move out and get away from the run dent now with eight and a half sacks that matches his total from all of last year kerry obi weights big rush and kid just got it out of there obie just gains the fair catch and takes it inside the 40-yard line so the battle of field position has changed the bears after a seven yard return have it inside the charger chicago leading sand or san diego leading chicago excuse me 10-3 yards per rush is always a good indicator on the productivity of a running back neil anderson has seen that production drop significantly in the last three years 86 and 87 he averaged 4.2 then 4.5 yards of carry in 88 4.4 then 89 a career high of 4.7 down to 4-1 in 1990 then the decline 3.5 and 91 3-7 and 92 last year a career low or this year a career low 3.2 for neal anderson and more than 50 of his carries this year two yards or less harbaugh floats it for anderson too high you know that's the second pass that he's tried to swing out too high you have to also the statistic belongs to neil anderson as far as his decline goes over the last three years but i think that's a direct result of the transition in the offensive lines mike that's really where it's made you you talk about any great running backs the eric dickerson's the walter payton's these are guys who ran behind offensive lines the john riggins behind the hogs with the redskins whirly they want to work him in not only in two back sets and their their big back package but in place of neil anderson for some plays he was certainly the future neil anderson has also had the problem being nicked the last three years only three seasons ago he was described by many people as the most complete captain in the nfl and look at the drives the chargers offense has disappeared the bears have really picked it up the first time they've gone for tom waddle the ball was under thrown and junior nearly had a pick what they did is they got the coverage they want watch junior he's going to race back here and read the eyes watch him race back he's just watching harbaugh's eyes now he sees him want to go down the middle he makes the play that's the case i think where harvard tried to make too good a throw and junior seau is one of the best people at suckering quarterbacks making him feel that somebody is open but he can get there that ball's under thrown also a 55-yard field goal attempt by kevin butler it would be a career high and he got it with plenty to spare butler drills one long range the lead cut to four i teach officially i believe they're going to call that a 54-yard attempt it would have at 55 it would have matched his career long i think his baby's good from 62. crush he absolutely hits it dead solid great height on it and this thing this thing is in right from the beginning from our goal post cam going right over it that's how perfect it was our goal post cam sits right in the middle yes so the bears getting momentum on their side here's piano and he is dumped as he got to the 13-yard line vincent smith on special team something dave wants that emphasize and the other thing is with eric the enemy back there returning kicks you can't expect any big plays out of that charger kickoff return team i mean it's just he's not comfortable this is not his forte as a kick returner he's a little guy doesn't have that niftiness to get on through a crease and take it up i like this when the chargers come out from the sidelines because the bears don't know what package of offensive people they're in right now they have ronnie harmon in the backfield good point joe freeze with time goes to harmon excuse me that's miller up across the 25 to the 27th and we are at the two-minute warning with the chargers leading the bears 10-6. we'll be back to san diego in a moment two minutes left in the first half the chargers jumped on top ten to nothing but the bears have come back to cut it to four points coming up at halftime fastest three minutes in television with chris berman don shula a tribute to him as the nfl's all-time winningest coach and we'll be back in san diego with joe's first half analysis of this one really been two games in one san diego winning the first quarter the bears defective chargers can do in the final two minutes threes to walker the hvac you'll get about seven across the 30. jones on the stop along with manga i don't i don't understand they just called it timeout you've got that is strange well you really don't need to you've got second down in one what you do is you come up and you run another pass play if you don't make it and you probably will because they're in a prevent defense so you hit walker or harmon and it's going to be a gimme first down and you save the timeouts till you get down closer to the goal line where you have some run pass options that you might want to consider especially when you just had a timer take a look at the video summary of this football game which started totally in the chargers favor because of field possession leading three to nothing carl simpson makes a big play on special teams and blocks a 30-yard field goal attempt that left it at three to nothing then it looked like the chargers would go for another field goal but john kidd the former high school quarterback in safety goes on the trick play and scores his first career nfl touchdown that made it 10 to nothing since then we have had two butler field goals to cut it to 10 to 6. eric jonathan is on in the san diego offensive line they are getting very thin up there because of injuries not much but should be enough for a first down spotted out at the 37-yard line maurice douglas does an excellent job of getting in the middle of the screen number 37 and catching harmon from behind stop the clock to look at the sticks why do you call a timeout and then come back with a stream two minute preparation escape and it really it concerns me a little bit because bobby ross is such a great believer in the little things you know he believes he said practice doesn't make perfect but perfect practice makes perfect and to me to utilize your timeouts in the two-minute drill like they have um doesn't really fit into i think the way he looks at a game with the little things making a difference well you're right about the attention of the detail for bobby ross now when attention to detail gets on a sign you've got something going jefferson might have thought of going for the sideline and freeze will use another timeout at the 45-yard line on a second and about two this is where you sit down in the meeting sean jefferson's only in his third year came with that deal from houston that sent lee williams down and down to houston what you do now is you have to remind people that hey i have two timeouts if i'm gonna throw a ball to you on the sidelines it's more important you get out and stop the clock than try and gain one or two yards that's something jack riley their quarterback coach and and really offensive coordinator passing game coordinator has got to sit down with his receivers and emphasize timeouts are valuable two or three extra yards by a move inside not going to make that much of a difference certainly not on your side of the 50-yard line jefferson was a coveted player by bobby beathard when he was at houston played in central florida gives them the speed they won outside that was only his 10th catch of the season coming in and the numbers on john 3 so far 118 to go firsthand over the middle complete johnny barnes out of hampton a ninth round draft choices they cut and resigned as a free agent now what i think you should do is get up spike the ball and that's what freeze does with 101. oh and a little pushing and shoving as spelman comes in well that's one guy i wouldn't take on not with those arms i don't care how big i am i would not take him on whatever he weighs a hundred pounds of it is his arms 50 each look at that look at those guns they look like they've been like attached unbelievable spelman the youngest player on this team he's only 21 years old out of ohio state second and ten it comes to blitz picking up very well and threes for miller couldn't hold it there was contact and donnell wolford fell down to leave miller wide open and he dropped it and i'll tell you anthony miller's real lucky they don't call offensive pass interference on him on this one middle middle of the field they've got a blitz frieza's got what he wants now there's that matchup we've seen on that watch miller's left hand see his left hand he pushes danielle wolford down and then loses concentration on the ball he got real lucky and then again danelle wolford got real lucky third and ten free throws behind miller and it was nearly picked off by mark carrier so the chargers see another opportunity disappear with 49 seconds to go in the hand i don't know whether to if i'm going to go plus minus on columns i'd like to give the bears a plus as far as two-minute defense goes but i got to draw the biggest minus for the charger two-minute offense you've got to be able to move the ball into field goal range at least when you've got three time outs and two minutes to go i don't care where you start on the kid you have to be able to do it of course if miller holds on to that touchdown that doesn't make any difference hit the punt to aldi sky high and stopped inside the five-yard line again good special teams work hendrickson down field to make the play their most versatile players and the bears will take over with 39 seconds left in the hand darian carrington number excuse me darion gordon number 21 down there as well gordon with a great speed i expect he's going to be an outstanding defensive back with a little more experience he's a guy who trained all in the off-season with jerry rice they had him in mini camp he didn't look that good he came back after spending all that time working with rice they said it was unbelievable what jerry rice did for gordon harbaugh well under 50 and only 50 yards in the first half and the bears nothing fancy they're just going to kill the clock down here dave wants that will happily go to the dressing room down by only four the way his team was dominated most of the first half miller with that missed opportunity will lead his offensive teammates into the dressing room and the bears offense will try to regroup and get something started in the second half that's the end of the first half our score the chargers 10 the bears six now let's join chris berman for the accurate halftime report all right michael thank you very much as we enjoy the chargers and the bears will be going back to the merv shortly a wild week 11 in the national football league and the big question would this be don shula's magic moment looking for win number 325 to put him atop the all-time win list dolphins at the eagles scott mitchell ran and threw the dolphins in an early lead but left with a second degree shoulder separation out at least four weeks will it be peterson or de berg who knows but the doppler's leading 1914 late kindergarten can't get the pass off schuler hoist one dawn you got it miami beats philadelphia 19 to 14. guess who's in quarterback for the cowboys eight minute active five minutes left in the first quarter bernie costa for dallas against phoenix his first pass complete he completed three his first three and he also threw a touchdown to jay novacek cowboys beat the card 20 to 15 kosar through 499 yards 13 of 21. with bernie and dallas todd bill cox was in cleveland well who needs bernie well maybe we do well who needs bernie when he got todd phil cox against seattle because he can obviously live well maybe we do need bernie on second thought the seattle seahawks beat phil cox and the browns 22-5 and old face back in la marcus allen first time he was a pro in la collegian in l.a and he still has the moves this time for the kansas city chiefs look at him shock jive rod 17 carries 85 yards for marcus against his old mates the raiders and dave craig avoided anthony smith biggest win for craig this year for the chiefs chiefs have a two-game lead over the raiders they win 31-20 they also have a two-game lead over the broncos because mile high magic wasn't enough they could tackle the vikings anthony carter here and here john elway and company could run to a 20-3 lead but they couldn't hold it tied at 23 quad revenge good the fight's a big comeback win at mile high 26-23 the packers brett favre had trouble on monday night against the chiefs he had trouble for almost the whole game sunday in new orleans but brett favre phone home he was home in the bayou and he threw at the sterling sharp with under a minute to go set up chris jackie his fourth field goal good the packers win at new orleans 19-17 while new orleans loss could the niners win steve i got you bait bono didn't need your lens that big to focus on the man jerry rice look at the catch he makes on the pass from steve young and if you like that this is better look at the catch he makes here four touchdowns for rice from young shake rattle and roll through the niners over the buccaneers 45-21 jim everett back in the saddle for the rams but it made no difference at home against the atlanta falcons falcons looked like the steel curtain against everett it's a fumble he was sacked six times bobby a bear to andre bad moon rising the falcons sweep the rams winning this afternoon at anaheim 13 to nothing boilers at the bengals and a hard reign was going to fall back the oilers after a horrible start get back on they sweep the bengals will does it everybody and warren moon again hot three touchdown passes to haywood jeffries the bengals remain winless the oilers win 38-3 over the bungles in the jungle redskins at the giants dave megan says bill now how do you throw that pass i did it once against washington think i can again yes he can back at that little make it throw chris cab callaway had a hat ahead of toe the toe was in touchdown giants beat the skins 20 to 6. bruce coslet's jets have never won three in a row but who can run the play action better than boomer no one fakes the camera fakes the colts chris burkett td he had a pair that jets beat the colts 31-17 they're rolling we're rolling at halftime when we return tom jackson joins me lots of new faces and new places this halftime report is presented by acura some things are worth the price welcome back to halftime tom jackson joins me i hope he enjoys me he joins me as the chargers lead the bears 10-6 lots of new faces today tommy around the league but one old face don julia number 325 at the top of the heap it's over with now and the concentration on the team and the success and i want very much for this to think back sometime and remember that this happened in a year where the team was uh successful so you know we got to get it together our quarterbacks are hurt i was very upset when scott mitchell went down you know seeing dan marino on crutches and then scott mitchell going down and then doug peterson stepping in there and being as cool and as calm as he was i was just very very happy about that well it'll be peterson or steve de berg for at least four weeks with mourinho already gone for the year we told you the late word on mitchell gone at least four weeks with the shoulder separation bernie kosar five minutes left in the first quarter time looked pretty good for the cowboys chris threw the medium range pass with a lot of zip on it like the one he throws to michael irvin right here and the amazing thing about this performance only three four days to prepare before he goes into the game conversely todd philcox with the cleveland browns here not feeling the pressure of the rush something that he probably will do with time here makes a pretty good throw it's deflected and finally picked off for the interception by the seahawks so a rough learning experience right now for todd philcott and the big bridge in philadelphia he looked frosted well you just put the fridge in the middle of the field and you say stay here dan reeves hired his old punter mike moran directional punting good direction for the giants yeah great job of jesse armstead here going up getting the ball flipping it back to lewis tillman very athletic move by the g men yeah but let's not forget the guy that he cuts sean landetta because he has been and today as a ram and his first game continues to be one of the best boomers in the game sean personal landetta with a new home for actually he was the the star today i think for the anaheim rams in their loss of the falcons bernie cosar skills didn't look diminished to me tom well he's gonna flourish with the cowboys because of that supporting cast he just is but the thing is is that i think cleveland anybody who saw todd phil cox play today you know they're going to struggle the problems and the differences between bill belichick and bernie kosar must have been very severe well as we said on prime time right now after one game it looks like the browns cut their face off despite the nose tough they've fallen out of first place momentarily pending the steelers game tomorrow night at home against the buffalo bills we are at halftime of the chargers and the bears the lightning bolts lead the monsters of the midway ten to six more from the merc when we continue with espn's sunday night football in a moment this portion of halftime is brought to you by honda who now provides a drivers and a front passengers airbag standard on every 1994 accord reload civic and del sol models we're at halftime in san diego where the chargers are leading the bears 10 to 6. welcome back to jack murphy stadium everybody mike patrick joe theismann the bears of course as we pointed out have not been a big play offensive team this year certainly wasn't for opportunity in the first half though no you don't get a lot of opportunities for big plays but when you do get them you have to capitalize on them and in the first half the bears did have that opportunity they tried a little pump and go because they felt that the charger secondary was vulnerable to it you see conway down the right of your screen harbaugh makes the pump now he starts to go reloads and lets it go by then the corner has closed the difference on conway and you wind up with a big incompletion and you don't really get the play you want it's terrible when you sit down you design a play and the execution is there as far as the wide receiver goes but the quarterback can't deliver and that's sort of been the problem of the bear offense and dave wanstadt said he is still looking for the guy to make that big play on offense we'll be back with the start of the third quarter the chargers and the bears in just a moment the bears prepare to kick off from their 35-yard line chargers will get the ball as we start the third quarter and the enemy the deep man takes it around the eight-yard line and does not get to the 20. simpson downfield on special teams with the big hit first half stats it looked like it was going to be all chargers it still is in the area of total yards 74 rushing 61 passes the bears very little but they have to feel good about their defense well they really do and the way you have to look at it offensively and i think ron turner's done a good job is as long as my defense is playing this well i will play the game of field position try and stay in it for 60 marion butts opens and lands them and gets the first carriage about three yards mcmichael hanging on to his knees we alerted you to the fact joe said they needed to get the ball to miller and harmon early to get them in the ball game and here's what they did in the first half would you be pleased with those numbers i would i think you know considering series you want guys to make plays of course the one thing you don't see under receptions for anthony miller was in the two-minute drill where he did drop the ball in the end zone got away with a little push that would have upped it a little bit harmon is in on second and seven freeze looks his way and it throws and harmon couldn't hold it vincent smith on the coverage gives harman a little hug you get the feeling that both teams are just waiting for something to happen right now you know you've seen it happen so long the chargers really had an opportunity to make something happen in the first seven minutes of this game they squandered those chances blocked field goals winding up with a fake field goal for the touchdown you're going to leave the bears in the game they're going to jump up and bite you and that's what's happening with chargers so far third and seven little screen to jefferson and dante jones made that play dante jones got a piece of him jefferson could have broken it for a big gain as it was they'd still get the first down that's the second flanker or running back screen they've run well what they did is you saw the first one in the first half go to ronnie hartman and this one now goes to sean jefferson great idea with guys with great maneuverability running back across the grain of pursuit if they can make one guy miss they can get to the other side where everybody's left and they have really shut him down since he had a good start his first four carries he had 20 yards his last five carries he's had five yards and john freeze in the first half see how he spreads the ball around offensively you see he's really worked a lot under 15 yards he's dropped the ball out i don't think they've really gone down the field quite enough only four times and had opportunities get away but you see the way he spread the ball out that means that the bears have to defense the entire field miller and jefferson the wide receivers come to the near side on second and seven draw to butts the bears wrap it up and shawn gale the strong safety as they had eight men near the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped you know part of the reason why i think dave wants that is having success defensively in this game remember he coached with the dallas cowboys in the nfc east this charger offense resembles the washington offense to a large degree that's why i think he's having the kind of success that he's having in this game because this is not a new offense that he's seen barnes and harmon check into the lineup on third and six four-man rush and three's under pressure down he goes again the sack to alonso spelman alonzo spellman's just gonna come in hard it's just a bull rush on stan brock he's just gonna get up the field now he just lowers that head a little arm rip and freeze instead of trying to step up inside tried to get outside and wound up being sacked the bears came into the game fourth in the league with 25 sacks they have three more tonight hit the punk to obie beautiful hit by kid obi at the 34. nearly broke a tackle got it back seven yards to the 41. there's a flag down on the play they came in very late near midfield 43-yard punt seven-yard return we'll check the penalty very penalty free game and illegal use of hands undoubtedly that illegal block in the back illegal block in the back number 38 on the return team on the run back 10 yard penalty first down certainly the second penalty flag we've had the entire game it's 10-6 charges back in a moment espn sunday night nfl is brought to you by budweiser fresh pure natural proud to be your bud and by prodigy hundreds of services millions of members it's all live on the prodigy service 10-6 charges 11 42 to go third quarter bears take over at their own 31. there's ever been a game of field position this is it to christian can't hold it tried to get him in the flat but carrington was out there we talked about the the lack of bears productivity with big plays they haven't had a thousand yard receiver forever the chargers have had one after the other after the other look at this 16 000 yard seasons for san diego receivers that's the best the bears zip dick gordon was the last guy in 1971. tries to run gang tackled after a gain of maybe two what's really killed the bears on offense tonight is they have not been able to get any kind of yards on first and ten all night harbaugh's coming up third and eight third and ten third and nine third and seven you're not going to convert your percentages of those they've got to make something happen on first and ten if they can pick up a first down here anderson and christian in the backfield together on third and eight the crowd trying to cheer on junior allen chargers defense short over the middle first down after the 44-yard line neil anderson slipping out of the backfield neil anderson is the bear's version of ronnie harmon you know he plays a little bit more harm than could he's got he has excellent hands comes out there's a nice little notice how he takes his time to make his route he allows the linebackers to drop back a lot of backs rush that and they get into the linebackers too quickly great discipline on his route there worley is back in the lineup hayward in front of him whirly with the carry not much plumber on the bottom of the pile the eight-year free agent out of california playing middle linebacker in a 4-3 i'll pick up two yards right now if you're an offensive coordinator are you thinking don't make a mistake or make a big part i'm thinking i want to pick up i want to pick up four yards somehow here it looks like the corners are off under pressure and tom waddle finally makes a catch dragged down by seau at the 49 and the throw to waddle is virtually a run in that often he picks up four more yards waddle coming across in motion that time with the play action fake you get the linebackers to hold for just a second give him a step and he'll make a play for you 28th catch of the year for tom waddle out of boston college just doesn't seem like he's only played four years no it does he has really been the star of that bear offense for so long third and four the bears trying to keep the drive going they've reached midfield comes the blitz water close to a first down it all depends on the mark frank grilled him at the moment he caught the ball but it will be very close oh he's got it what a generous spot this was nice job by harbaugh just getting this off here comes seyhau right up the heart right up the middle they pick him up with two people borts and anderson harbaugh plants gets this off real quick rydel makes the reception he gets a nice generous spot in his first impression by the nose of the football harbaugh with the chance to talk to dave wanstadt the bears down by four now in charge of territory i was talking earlier about how the bears have done there they are four yards or more on first and ten they've only gotten five out of fifteen you've gotta be up to fifteen percent effective often swirly and blaze winter you always know when he's in on a stop he comes up arms waving and the other thing is too is if junior seau doesn't actually make a tackle he's such a disruptive force that he allows his teammates like winner to make a play he's not going to make this tackle number 55 is just filming what he does is he just makes hayward turn back on him therefore you lose the lead blocker now you allow one of the linemen to come in and make a play and there is peter tom willis warming up on the sideline second and 11 after the loss of the yard to the 11 yard line van horse made the tackle there but it's a gain of 36. bob christian out of northwestern caught the pass in stride and galloped 36. we talked about discipline in the running of the routes watch him come out he's going to make a little fake that little fake allows the play to be set up 55 junior sea house chasing him junior's so quick to try and get in coverage christian does such a nice job discipline breaking in runs very well after he catches the ball obviously back in the tailback gets the football stops shy of the 10-yard line maybe a yard and a half gary plummer the first man to hit him sean lee was also there as was grossman this is where you have to have a wide receiver who can make a play one on one for you this is where the bears have to have somebody jump up and they're hoping it's going to be curtis conway number 80. inside the 20 in the bottom fourth of the nfl as far as touchdowns given that many opportunities and christian is slow to get up for the bears and they'll get some medical attention really shuttled players in and out in the backfield hayward and christian have played at fullback anderson at worley the running backs they are not as deep a wide receiver you talked about guys to make plays fred banks was picked up by this ball club last week when he played tom waddle was telling him the plays and the huddle as they broke so you can't really ask a lot out of fred banks now you've got a very young group of guys out there you know the other thing is too is tommy waddle is your most senior member with four years in this organization of course they're all first-year guys as far as the system goes we've got a time-out with 6 30 to go third quarter chargers on top by four 59th street tinley park 10-6 san diego bears have the ball at the charger 11-yard line second and ten i'm anticipating the chargers have been blitzing a lot i think here they come with the blitz again to try and get to harbaugh fred banks is in for curtis conway that's 81 in for 80. he'd be the man i try and get one-on-one coverage with used to handling the ball from dan moreno on the quick coast down there in miami he'd be a guy to make a play anderson and hayward the backs play action hardball throws back right in to the five to the two goes keith jennings i think san diego was thinking the same way as they sent waddling banks to the same side rolled back and hit jennings the big tight end nice job by jennings not going out of bounds but picking up enough yards to get the first down yards or terribly close and jennings looked like he came up limping a little bit chargers digging in they have given up only two field goals i still think you got to put the ball in the air down here third and two anderson line of scrimmage and no more it looked like seau got the first piece blaze winner was the second man to hit him and then got plenty of help decision time well it is i think i personally think you kicked the field goal here i think dave wants that you make it a 10-9 ball game you're within a field goal your defense is playing great this is a terrific decision junior seau makes penetration and here come the rest of the san diego chargers they have not run the ball between the tackles tonight they will not run the ball between the tackles and to me that's like a give up down here butler from 20 yards he's already hit from 33 and 54. nails the chip shot and on the strength of the leg of kevin butler the bears have pulled within a point 4 55 to go third quarter the flyers the penguins the red hot flyers face off against the penguins tuesday live on espn national hockey night chargers by one the bears have had three field goals the chargers with a field goal their touchdown came on a fake field goal it's been a kicker's dream night 455 to go in the third period the scoring drive 647 the best drive of the night for the bears 66 yards they couldn't punch it in chose to cut the lead to one blaze winner all pumped there's a defensive pack the enemy from the 12. as the scene the hole closed quickly as he crossed the 25 to about the 27-yard line by harry potter's winner nine years free agent went around selling himself literally had a video tape had a video tape made his wife drove all over the place finally ground up in san diego just give me a chance it's all i want and had a wonderful season last year on that defensive line comes back as a starter got a place and a purpose certainly got a spirit the chargers who have done virtually nothing on offense since the first quarter bring in natron memes and running back behind three we used to throw on first down if we can get away from richard king and does the smart thing and sends it behind the bench that's the new intentional grounding rule where you don't call it once you've broken containment that's worked out very well this year it has it's protected quarterbacks i think it's been good for the game but here's how dent puts the pressure on harry swain just tries to cut him he gets him almost to the ground but unless you've got richard down completely and laying on top of him he can run down any quarterback in the league that time he flushed freeze to the right made him throw it away a lot of contact no flag dwayne young wanted the interference vincent smith diving with him for the ball you get a linebacker and a tight end locked up sometimes they'll throw flags sometimes they won't there's the play you just got to give him that one don't you well he just reached through i don't know if he had the hand on the back of him or not he went out to try and make a play on the ball looked like pretty good defense incidental contact good play vincent smith the speed to here comes the blitz on third and 10. freeze on loads for miller a little pushing match and wilford is right there anthony miller could have been called for interference that time these two have been locked up in a great matchup all night two great at young athletes they've got a blitz on miller region see how he looked inside he saw the safety go he knows he has a go on but wolford also realizes he's not going to let anthony miller behind him that's one thing he told me last night he said i'm going to keep anthony miller in front of me all night so far he has the chargers have had to pump their last five series after moving the ball well the first three times they had hit a low line drive kick chance to return for obie had to slow up for the kicker and caught from behind by hendrickson inside the 40. a return of 24 off of a punt of 34. now this is where the special teams and the defense goes by the offense and says you got to get something done the bears winning the battle of field position 10-9 san diego over chicago you know you have to have a nasty streak to play linebacker we asked junior seau what he enjoys about that position i i love to approach uh the line and i see a uh alignment looking at me dead in the eye and i can tell that he's just gonna come full board and i'm acting like i'm gonna come with him and hit him in the head under his chin and show that eagle and then i just moved to his side and he just flops and uh you know that that's funny i have a great time doing that but you know when they're not ready i'll put it under their chin he's a player hardball play action airs it out conway touchdown sean van horse is beating hardball on the money to conway that is only the third touchdown pass this year of more than 20 yards this is just an excellent job of execution that time you saw jim harbaugh throw the ball with the proper timing didn't double clutch it just hung it up and let curtis conway make a play dave wants that finally got somebody to make a big play on offense and bobby ross has seen enough of his secondary beating deep this year to last in a lifetime curtis conway you're going to see him go down make the move and go again they had it one time before he'll get it again see him go down little hesitation same play they had ron turner the offensive coordinator coming back with something that worked before that time you saw hardware release it with the correct timing perfect that's what would happen the first time but here he does an excellent job of concentrating even with body contact and harbaugh with a chance to celebrate that's his sixth touchdown pass this season got six in nine games that's not a lot of celebration that was just a well-executed play and conway a young man who has not played a wide receiver very much in his lifetime only one full year in college ron turner the gentleman on the left he's looking at his videotapes he's looking at his films short kickoff return to about the 26-yard line harmon gets it up to that point we talked about the chargers giving a big pass plays 27 coming in of more than 20 yards the one tonight burned them for a touchdown could have been two if the timing had been correct in the first half van horse playing as one of the new corners of course gilbert the pro bowler perennial pro bowler injured now for the year i think john freeze is on the hot seat in this series he's got to make something happen on offense or he could get the hook before this game is over natron means this is running back and he'll get the carry on first down absolutely nothing trace armstrong and ron cox number 54 along with carl simpson and the bears have been tough since the opening quarter we talked about junior seau creating havoc watch chris zorich here for the bears do it he gets his head in the gap they have to they have to block him he takes up two people and allows his teammates to come in and make a play and it looked like left tackle harry swain jumped early could cost the chargers 5. number 72 on the offense prior to the stack five-yard penalty still second down and that's harry swain there's another guy who hasn't played the position all that much a converted defensive lineman this is a place where if you're a quarterback you've got to take some charge you've got to make a first down happen somehow some way to get your offense ignited here look at the eyes unstunned mike singletary's eyes have been implanted in someone else second 15. turning for freeze to throw and it's miller across the 41st down that's the best throw john freeze has had in the second half that's a nice job he set back real good anthony sat down in the hole gave him a place to go with it that's an excellent execution by the quarterback good job by john freeze anthony miller looking for the soft spot in the defense comes around the linebacker makes the play gets up field means back in as they set up in the eye means to get the carriage and chicago has really made some adjustments playing much better against the run san diego is not going to make a living just like we talked about chicago not making a living gaining nothing on first and ten san diego is not going to want to be stuck in second down and nines third down and nines all night percentages are not in your favor that you're going to be able to convert them and they've got to come up with a score in this drive means four yards on his last four carries as we wind down toward the end of the third quarter comes the blitz frees and through the hands of sean jefferson well you know what's going through his mind you gotta catch that ball he catches that he's gone and he is he is out of sight gone jeremy lincoln tries to make a play watch top of your screen here's the break off there's the catch lincoln's not going to get he doesn't even get a hand on him that's got six all over it he beats the defender in blitz coverage at six and don both teams have squandered big play opportunity freeze comes back the other way and jefferson will make this catch at the bear 43 a first down now that's showing some confidence in a young receiver actually what it is also mike is it's reading the defense properly going to the person that has the one-on-one coverage obviously if you got anthony miller on one side he's just made some big plays double cover him go to the other guy yeah but you know there are some quarterbacks if a guy drops a ball like that he's not going to get it again for a while oh yeah you're absolutely right we do hold grudges first down charges a minute five to go third quarter kane comes on the blitz so does gayle three zones low right down the middle and nobody there miller was about five yards away two of the bears collided that is the second time tonight that shawn gale's presence has created a problem when natron means tried to run use that run pass option right it was shawn gale that broke it up and caused him to throw it late on this play he comes on a delayed blitz and he's going to get in frieza's face and cause freeze to throw this thing too far here's gail he's coming in he's just going to create enough of a problem for freeze that he can't step up comfortably watch see he just gets there now miller's wide open crossing but can't make the play draw to mean room to run natron means inside the 34-yard line looks like he's about a half yard shy of a first down joe kane made the tackle number 53 courtney hall the senior member of this offensive line there they are right in the middle dante jones he's going to get driven back and natron is going to make a big play all he does is give him a side to take whichever way my rear end goes you go the opposite that's the rule has the first down joe keane went for the ball and nearly swiped it that's the end of the third quarter san diego penetrating into bears territory but they are down by six to chicago the chargers had not moved the ball at all since the first quarter they're moving in now on this drive what are they doing differently i think what they're doing mike is first of all we said john freeze would have to get something going i think he realized it but they're throwing the ball more in earlier downs you can't throw when you have to you have to throw when you want to if it's third and ten obviously you have to throw if it's a first and ten you have the run pass option time certainly to get something going down by six as we start the fourth quarter first and ten charges means the single setback freeze had it batted up in the air and nearly picked off by trace armstrong that's the problem with a short set if you have a guy who's not cut he can get the arms up you brought up a very good point there if he's not cut watch the tackle the tackle does not make the cut brock doesn't get his hands down you've got to get his hands down you've got to make him leery of his of his knees or or his ankles or something so that he gets his hands down to protect it also if the cut's got to be timed with the delivery of the throw if you're cut too soon like we saw on that one he jumps up and backs it in the face harmon and vienna man on second and ten carmen makes the catch outside the 20 very close to a first down depends on the spot and it looks like a generous one inside the 21-yard line tackle by number 53 dante carmen is just so good coming out of the backfield 38 receptions coming in you know it's interesting his average per catch is only 9.5 yards and that's about what he got right there 9.5 and a little less and it is slightly short of a first down really not big enough to go every down probably could go every down but i think you'd use them up too much i feel like the chargers really pick and choose and use him very well the offense and defensive picture certainly turned around in the second half harmon the most valuable player for the san diego charges the last two years third and a foot freeze quarterback keeper across the 21st down joe feinstein's least favorite play in the entire play you've got you've got neutron means at 240. marion bruce at 250 and if i was a quarterback you'd have 190 pounds when i used to play 190 pounds trying to sneak the ball i always thought that guys were carrying 60 more pounds would be more effective fair shuffling personnel on defense it's first and ten freeze has harmon wide open and overthrown harmon was sort of backing up on that one record crowd here at jack murphy stadium 63 000 plus the budweiser story line butler has been marvelous for the bears 33 54 and 20. freeze is hit just under 50 percent san diego's only touchdown came on a fake field goal the total yards now much closer san diego approaching 200 second and ten charges comes the blitz three throws complete carmen got to the 11-yard line before he was pushed back by jeremy lincoln even when he's covered by a defensive back he still makes plays and it's interesting they don't they did not cover him with the safety normally when you split a running back out you're going to wind up in one-on-one coverage with the safety harmon has so they have so much respect for him they cover him with a corner jeremy lincoln number 39. lincoln does an excellent job though locking up and making the tackle again third and short last time they went with a quarterback means gets the call this time and dives forward he's very close i don't think he doesn't he comes up short great job of submarining taking his legs out from underneath him and makes a play dante jones the middle linebacker really doing such a terrific job that's got he's going to come in low cut him down and not allow him to get that yard watch this takes on the blocker gets down low that's a two-for-one job superb individual play no thought of a field goal fourth and inches ron cox made the saving tackle and where do you go you go behind the 14-year veteran stan brock on the right side go right over the right tackle this is what offensive lineman live for give me the responsibility of making a block there's the right side hendrickson does a good job on smith big hole good job by brock clearing out first and goal san diego means had room outside but couldn't get there sean gale and dante jones combined to make the tackle dante jones for so long lived in the shadow of mike singletary and i'll tell you something he's playing this position like the legendary mike and the butkus is meant to be if you're a chicago bear having a sensational night making plays all over he had 99 tackles in eight games averaging over 12 stops a game coming in 17th play of this drive for the charges freeze looking for miller can't find anybody throws underneath nearly picked off by mcmichael she's not a good decision not a good decision michael liked it when they get to that play in the films the coach is going to tell him not a good decision way too much traffic they tried to run a screen down close now frieza's looking off now he's looking for harmon on the checkdown and he almost hits mcmichael in the hands i don't know if steve mcmichael could sprint 95 yards after 14 years would have been fun to see him try third and goal from the eight comes the blitz miller had it knocked away by wolford and what a battle they've had all night long that was like a basketball pass miller set up and had the man on his back and the problem with this is is the pressure caused john freeze not to get everything watch this here comes the blitz he has to throw off his front foot not his back so the ball doesn't have a lot of zip on it danelle wolford again doing a great job this is a terrific one-on-one match-up an all-pro night for wolford and kearney will come on as they have to go for the field goal two out of three now three out of four they've cut the lead in half to 16-13 donnell wolford has been brilliant the way donnell wolford is playing this year you have to put him in the same category with a woodson a green he has reached that level at this point in his career he's become a very mature very technically studying type of a corner and anthony miller has had a couple get away from him in the end zone conway the center deep man drifts to his left takes it to two and wrapped up before the 15. brought down by james fuller an excellent special teams play the chargers with that drive 67 yards and they have to settle for a field goal after holding the ball for eight minutes that's the 14th scoring drive they've had this year and nine have ended in field goals of that have been very very long and it's a little bit disheartening when you go for it on fourth and one and you still only come up with a field goal now the crowd wants the defense into it whirly at running back down out across the 25-yard donald line shoved him out of bounds a lot of times young backs try and run too quick watch to not watch worley here he's going to set up his blocks he he's patient patient see how he slows down now he accelerates lowers his head and knocks the defensive backs back and that was tom waddle out there blocking for 185 pound wide receiver and then hammered inside the 35-yard line tom waddle's strength work under 20 yards i don't really think anybody can come with him one-on-one i think he he's so disciplined continues to work and work and work jim harbaugh i think paid him the ultimate compliment he said on every play he's trying to figure out a way where he can make more happen here he knows he's in traffic so what's he going to do he's going to cover up the ball and make sure that nobody can strip it away always thinking a little bit ahead gain of eight second and two 9 32 to go in the game anderson on the draw first down carrington and van horse had to make the tackle up at the 44. we talked about the troubles that the offensive line that the bears have had they have really come on and they did it in the uh raider game a week ago in the second half the offensive line took control of the line of scrimmage and almost had him have an opportunity to pull out a big victory against the raiders last week a lot of new faces along that line they're doing the job right now and around conway going to the back pages of the playbook to make something happen i know this is not in bill ornsberger's nature but what i would do right now is knowing that probably the weakness of the chicago bear offense is the wide receiver position i would load up between the ends and bring a lot of people i would blitz people and i would put pressure on harbaugh it'll disrupt the run and will also maybe make him make a bad throw that's what i would do defensively if i was the charger iron head gets his first carry and pulls his way to the 36-yard line hendrickson the first man to hit him iron head is one of those rare players who would rather block than carry the football he's a rare player there aren't too many guys five feet nine 320 pounds around your right leg it was really a trade of three eights yeah trey to three ages with new orleans brad muster the fullback here a year ago hayward was in with the saints chicago gained about 100 pounds in the deal about 800 pounds of running back in this game second and nine bears may have jumped or the chargers may have jumped off side hayward a little fancy side step and then dragged down at the 29-yard line to check the penalty flag it's gonna be the chargers offside and dave wants that's got a real interesting decision does he want to go third and one or does he want to have second down in a possible whatever it is he's nodding yes to yard penalty repeat second down sean lee who jumped early 300 pounder out of northern alabama i think it's a good decision i think you always take that extra down second down call it a long three a short four just outside the third two fullbacks for the game hayward the deep man car bought a throw blitz intercepted gary plummer cut in front of christian and made the pitch three plays ago i believe joe theismann said i'd blitz him and make something happen it took him three plays but they did it charges ball when we come back espn sunday night nfl is brought to you by burger king and it's everyday value meal where you can have it your way i've loved this place and by the lee apparel company with regular relaxed and loose-fit jeans and casual pants lee is the brand that fits jim harbaugh with the interception and a very costly play for the bears chargers take over outside their own 30 and freeze goes to work to jefferson up at the 45-yard line driven back by jeremy lincoln let's take a look at the interception joe well what happens there they are steve hendrickson and gary plummer 50 and 34. there's there's plummer right there now henderson's going to come in put pressure plumber's just going to mirror the back and step right in front he's got christians in all the way just jumps right in front hardware actually threw him the ball jim knows he should have thrown this one away with the pressure trying to make something happen it winds up getting away from it they were in field goal range at the point even an incompletion would have made it third and four means no place to go strung out by dent and then dante jones filled dave once that said something about dante jones after the first game against the giants dante had 15 tackles in that game he said i don't want to take away from the great job that he's done he said but our middle linebacker cannot be making that many tackles in a game well he certainly made a ton of them tonight they need to get more penetration by somebody up in the front four to take some of the pressure off of dante jones especially with that one gap system they're supposed to make plays up front second and 11. walker down to the 45 about a yard shy of a first down derrick walker out of michigan i think this right here is a great place to run a play-action pass at a short yardage the reason why is that the bear defense is going to be geared up to try and stop it what you do is you fake a tailback run to nate matron and try and hit one of your h-backs or tight ends out in the flat send somebody deep maybe you get the big one but check them out in the flat steve hendrickson hendrickson was having trouble with his helmet and freeze had to burn a timeout because of it 4 46 to go in the ball game we'll be back to san diego in a minute 16-13 chicago 4 46 to go in the game that picture from the goodyear blimp eagle and goodyear blimps log over 100 000 miles every year covering major sporting events and they do it at about six miles an hour yeah they don't go very fast and they're quiet too not like junior sail the chargers in 1993 the second best third and short conversion rate in the nfl means drags tacklers with him for a first down and natron means did that one on his own so it makes him special he's a big back with nifty little feet that time he picked his way a hole and then used his weight to pick up the first down gave spelman a ride of about three yards time now certainly a factor 4 15 to go freeze guns this one incomplete and wolford is all over miller you see now this is where i don't think the bears defensively have the same type of advantage that the chargers would have one because i don't think i think that the wide receivers of the san diego chargers you don't want to get them locked up one-on-one with your defensive backs i think the bears are going to stay basic and you see wilford he's just not going to let miller behind him now he closes on a throw that's high and right and tonight wolford has done everything but wear miller's uniform for four-man rush draw to means slips a tackle and then trips over brock chris number 97 makes the play what he does is he gets in and gets the penetration to disrupt everything there he is number 97. he's going to fire into the backfield and then natron's not going to have anywhere to go look nice spinner move good little spinner now means gets away but watch brock's feet rock trying second effort wound up tripping him third and nine clock ticking down to 3 28. harmon back in the ball game free throws complete that'll be a first down of barnes the second year man out of hampton and the bears really beefing about the spot of the ball you see the ball it's spotted just past the 31 now remember it's forward momentum where does he stop his momentum he's there now he's driven back your guess is as good as mine you can't tell from that angle but it's a first down nonetheless outside the 30. freeze into the flat walker the 25-yard line certainly within kearney's range now 0-34 to go i talked before the series before you couldn't commit the defense to bring linebackers and safety people i think you have to now i think you have to stop them here and get yourself down close to the two minutes because they're going to let the clock run down close to two minutes now if i was the san diego chargers i would not run a play they don't have to but they will and give us some means means to the 23 just inside that joe kane makes the tackle and we have reached the two-minute warning here in san diego with the bears hanging on to a three-point lead two minutes left dave wants out of the bears needing a win to go to four and five and keep their slim playoff chances alive bobby ross on the right needing a win to stay within two games of the lead in the afc west the fans dig in on third and two slipped one tackle he has to get inside the 21 and he did not make it it will bring up fourth down number 23 sean gale in on the stop i think the bears got to burn a timeout here here comes carney the bears have got to use it they're letting the clock get away from him well i just don't agree with this decision at all you could have stopped the clock with a minute and 55 seconds to go and as it turns out you're probably going to wind up with it back at just around a minute kearney is hit from 26-28 had one from 30 block this is from 40 to tie the game and he missed it the bears know exactly how it feels that's the way they lost a week ago and bobby ross looks stunned john carney a supremely reliable kicker for this ball club since his rookie year when he struggled fourth quarter field goals this year seven out of nine that's one of the biggest of his career you're always concerned about the hold when a kicker misses if the john kidd does a great job of getting the ball down carney just pulls this one to the left and san diego now because they had to burn the one timeout remember earlier when henderson had the loose chin strap and freeze burned at timeout they only have two left anderson yeah out to about to 24 and they'll stop the clock with a minute seven left you know mike right here the bears philosophy looks like they're gonna be content to run the ball down remember only 25 seconds comes off the clock so if you figure the bears run another play on second down they're going to call timeout right away all right so what's going to happen is it's going to be a minute and a minute to go then they're going to go on third down have 25 seconds and then punt the ball conceivably you're going to leave the chargers with the possibility of two maybe three plays and another shot at tie in this game if you don't get a first down i'd still try and pound the ball and make a first down i wouldn't be content to sit where i am but after third down and sportscenter of course coming up right after our broadcast after third down the chargers can't stop the clock the clock would go back to the 40 seconds but don't forget your punter's going to be kicking from somewhere around the five-yard line and kearney's got a good foot all he's going to need is one completion and somebody to get out of bounds and they're going to have a shot at tying this game the wheel's turning on both sidelines anderson again the charges sell out anderson gets outside went out of bounds but he did it to 34. it's a first down and that ought to do it oh great individual effort great individual effort neil anderson that whole play was designed to go inside the chargers give up contain leslie o'neil gets blocked inside you see a terrific block on the corner by number 84 chris gedney allowing anderson to make the turn and get outside now you can sit down on it now it's over harbaugh will take kanee the chargers can stop it one more time but the bears barring a fumble have won it and raised their record to four and five the chargers would drop the four and five mike you have to look back to the first five minutes of this football game when the chargers were in total control and dominance could not come away with points they spent the whole first quarter on the bears side of the 50-yard line the bears defense hung in there hung in there hung in there and then after the first quarter they've only given up three points and the bear offense finally came up with one big play the harbaugh the conway touchdown pass turns out to be the difference in the ball game that defense should celebrate they played terrific and the life of the kicker last week it was kevin butler missing a chance to beat the raiders this time john carney with a chance to send the game into overtime and donnell wolford had a whale of a game at corner he was just brilliant that's the final score from san diego 16-13 bears over the chargers for joe theismann and our entire espn crew this is mike patrick good night from san diego sports after this the chargers began the first sunday of the 93 season poised to defend their afc western division championship crown before the largest opening day home crowd in franchise history the defense completely grounded the seahawks seattle's attack failed to score a touchdown while john carney began his quest to become san diego's all-time single season scorer by blasting a team record six field goals as it turned out kearney's kicks were all the points the chargers needed third in two from the 11. rick meyer play action wants to throw steps up throws it's caught over the middle receiver gets knocked down blaze's tackle takes over with their victory over the division rival seahawks the chargers were off and running posting their first opening day win since 1986. this is espn classic in 1993 more fans filed into jack murphy stadium to see the charges than in any previous season a key figure behind this groundswell of support and the team's on-field effort was head coach bobby ross he's probably one of the most disciplined people i've ever met he's very organized he's a workaholic he works incessantly he's always there and uh he really looks into the personalities of the players they're just not players that you know he looks at and they're there from eight to five or whatever i mean he cares about them as individuals and he knows his players very closely he keeps a close relationship with him from all pro superstars right on down to suicide squad wedgebusters ross understood and defined each athlete's role on the charges starting with the kicking units deep in the end zone he wants to bring it out bubbles fumble the ball exclusive the 20-yard line i think san diego's got it yet doug miller eric castle terry crews james fuller and special teams mvp lewis bush were told to drive opponents back to their goal line and they did it better than anyone else in the nfl meanwhile rookie darian gordon added his own brand of excitement to the punt return team on the run gordon breaks a tackle coming left through another tackle to the 45 to the 40 speeds to the 30. breaking down the sidelines to the 20. terry is gordon across the field the chargers top draft pick of 1993 finished third in the league and punt return average and started the last six games at right corner accomplishments that earned him a spot on the nfl's all-rookie squad gordon teamed in the secondary with sean van horse and another former first rounder free safety stanley richard the man known as the sheriff has one particularly arresting quality he hits opponents like a ton of bricks san diego's big play defensive back is darren carrington who like richard is only too happy to deliver a resounding blow but darren's longsuit is a knack for pass pattern larceny and with his seven steals carrington led the chargers in interceptions for the second straight year carrington's takeaways lift the fuse for san diego's offense while another charger ignited the explosion in week two at mile high stadium the denver broncos discovered firsthand just how difficult it is to contain the multiple skills of running back ronnie harmon we gotta get harmon somehow i don't know how we got to place pyle i guess third long god he's killing us harmon disrupted denver all afternoon with soaring catches and serpentine runs that had the broncos scratching their heads in disbelief what are we doing god lee has made every play for harman it was another typical game in another typical season as a san diego charger he finished second on the team in yards from scrimmage and his 73 catches placed him third among all nfl running backs it's a good bet that ronnie harmon will someday be a candidate for the chargers hall of fame an honor bestowed on team legends dan fouts and charlie joyner during week three induction ceremonies at the oilers game their achievements on offense were saluted but on the field it was the defense that saved the day five charger takeaways came at critical moments including a pair of interceptions from linebacker junior seoul boom back to throw big pressure throws intercepted again san diego sale at the 40 to the 45 dancing to the 50. into the houston 40 streaking down the sidelines junior sail show me your lightning for the second time in three weeks john carney provided the offense first by setting an nfl record for consecutive field goals then booting the game winner in the final seconds hold on to your seats john carney to attempt a 27-yard field goal attempting to hit his sixth straight field goal of the game in his 29th in a row snapped down after three games the chargers were still in first place in the afc west but the winds of fortune were about to change in los angeles when you pitched your seven to nothing shutout you were quoted as saying after the game i feel a hundred years old so today how do you feel 101 101. this is espn classic as the 1993 schedule danced through the summer and headed into october the chargers hopes for another division title began to slip away as san diego dropped five of its next seven games i think that perhaps as a team we lost a little focus i think that we had to go through you know it's been 10 years since we had one and i think we had to go through learning how to win then we had some critical injury we ended up losing six starters and of course for a part of the time we lost a starting left tackle harry swain and then also our quarterback stan humphreys so we never got into a consistent flow as a football team the ailing offensive front missed standouts like eric moton but remained anchored by lineman of the year courtney hall along with guard joe maleniche 14-year veteran tackle stan brock and youngsters eric jonathan curtis whitley and rookie guard joe cacuzzo but one charger in particular didn't seem to be affected by the line's injury problems the charges number one pick in the 1994 draft paid off a year in advance with a selection of running back natron memes it was a welcome choice in san diego and an extremely unpopular one with opposing nfl defenses at 245 pounds means is a lethal combination of strength and speed talents which accounted for a healthy four yards per carry rushing average and the most touchdown scored by any charger runner or receiver natron's muscular high steps and relentless drive to the end zone rejuvenated the running game a key element in san diego's mid-season offensive search that saw the chargers explode for 30-point performances in wins over the playoff bound vikings and raiders at los angeles the coliseum fans were traumatized by the chargers prolific and deceptive ground assault raiders got a six-man front on play action and around here comes jefferson 40 to the 50. jj in the raider territory and pushed out of bounds san diego's offensive line effectively cleared the way for nearly 200 rushing yards and then the defense chalked up some yardage of its own from the three-yard line hospital to the throat plane is intercepted it's picked off by san diego after the 20th county frank to the 30 to the 40. he is going to go all the way touchdown san diego he takes the coast ago a week later at the metrodome the revived charger attack continued its onslaught against the vikings they run means they go straight ahead to the five to the goal line touchdown san diego team drop they blitz they pick it up goes to the back of the endzone touchdown san diego sean jefferson the offense grabbed a fourth quarter lead then the defense made it stick salisbury bootleg right to throw looking long throw in the corner off the speakers have intercepted and fixed off by being horse off the deflection salisbury to throw pump fakes under pressure it's picked up by san diego's kick leslie o'neill picks it up on the run he's got it as a flutie he lateral to seoul and the defense was made on silver big when quarterback stan humphreys returned to the starting lineup in late november the fortunes of the san diego chargers improved dramatically dan humphries separated his shoulder in the last preseason game against the 49ers and he was the guy that they looked to offensively and defensively and when stan got hurt he tried to play and he just wasn't the same guy and it wasn't until later in the season that he was 100 healthy and when that happened then the team played well against the colts on monday night football humphreys led the chargers to their most decisive victory of the season he dropped humphries to throw looking long throw it deep to shaytan he caught it touchdown san diego stan humphreys i thought at the end of the season when he came back from his injury the last six football games was actually playing better than he had even in the previous year when he took us to the playoffs i think a real big reason for that was the fact that we started to minimize our turnovers we cut back on those quite a bit and i thought he was playing better than he had played at any time since we've been together humphrey's canon arm was potent as usual but what san diego realized more than ever was how greatly stan's absence affected the team and how vital his skills and influence are to the charge's success my leadership i think comes basically by what i do on the field i try to kind of lead by example on the field what if i'm out there busting at every play doing whatever i can to win this football game the other guys around you are going to see that and you're going to follow that the winning is what you it's why you play the game for sunday or monday night whenever you play to walk off the field of winter is there's no greater feeling and to get to the ultimate the super bowl in the winter there's nothing greater that's why you play the football game without a healthy stan humphreys san diego struggled but with his return the chargers rolled up four victories in their final six games easily the most suspenseful win came at home against denver o'neill seau carrington and company made life miserable for broncos quarterback john elway and did not allow a single touchdown against the afc's top scoring offense team drop fires up the sidelines tipped into the air intercepted by san diego's carrington off the deflection in it down to the 37. the chargers rallied to tie the score in the second half and then humphreys ran

Channel: The Sports Archive

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Id: CiMKtoEJR4U

Length: 150min 23sec (9023 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 07 2020