FINALLY! DENVER WINS ONE, DOWNS CHARGERS, 17-14 

They may have to start calling him T-Rex if he keeps this up. Rex Grossman,
that is.  

Grossman, who looked so horrible last week, played great today as he led the
Broncos from behind on the game-winning touchdown drive and scored the
winning touchdown himself on a quarterback sneak with just over two minutes
remaining in the contest. The go-ahead drive started at the Bronco 15 yard
line with 10:22 left in the game and took 13 plays and 8:15 off the clock.
Grossman completed four of four for 34 yards on the possession, but it was
Ricky Williams with six consecutive runs for 40 yards that moved the ball to
the Charger 34. Lendale White's two runs sandwiched around a Dwayne Bowe
reception for 16 yards helped to move the ball to the Charger one, from where
Grossman took it in. Grossman finished with 23 of 36 for 290 yards, with one
big win.  

Grossman wasn't Denver's only offensive hero, however. Ricky Williams rushed
for 67 yards on 12 carries, and added another 37 yards on five receptions.
Lendale White picked up 59 on the ground, scored the Broncos first touchdown,
and caught two passes for 12 yards. The Broncos offense put up their best
game of the season with 410 yards from scrimmage.  

But it was the Bronco defense as much as the offense that contributed to
Denver's initial victory. They had four turnovers to match their total for
the previous seven games - but those four turnovers unfortunately led to zero
Bronco points.  

Still, it was a crucial stop of San Diego on fourth and two deep in Charger
territory that gave the Broncos a short field and led to the Broncos first
touchdown. With the Chargers leading 7-3 late in the first half, the Broncos
stuffed Brian Westbrook at the Charger's 15 to take over with 2:20 remaining
in the first half. Grossman got most of that with a dumpoff to Delanie Walker
that moved the ball to the six. Lendale White did the heavy lifting from
there, carrying three straight times for the final six yards, powering it in
from a yard out for the score that gave the Broncos a 10-7 halftime lead.  

The Chargers got the lead back at 14-10 when Dan Orlovsky hit Reggie Wayne on
a long pass that Wayne took 77 yards for the score on the Chargers first
possession of the second half. After forcing a Bronco punt, the Chargers
moved the ball from their own 18 to the Broncos 14, but failed to put any
points on the board when Josh Scobee's field goal attempt early in the fourth
quarter was wide against the 10-20 mph winds. An exchange of punts gave the
ball to the Broncos at the fifteen, and led to the go-ahead score.  

But the Broncos defense had to deny the Chargers one more time. The Chargers
rookie Harry Douglas took the kickoff eight yards deep and foolishly tried to
return it, making it out only to the six yard line before being swarmed under
by the Bronco coverage team. Three plays moved the ball only to the seven,
but Orlovsky hit Reggie Wayne for 15 on fourth and nine to keep the Chargers
final possession alive. Completions to Douglas for 8 and Westbrook for 5 gave
the Chargers another first down, but Josh Bullocks picked off Orlovsky to end
the competitive phase of the contest. Bullocks also had a pick late in the
first half in a similar situation. Chargers coach Will Blandford wasn't happy
with the Chargers sloppy play at times and the Bullocks final pick. "We
couldn't capitalize as much as them with airing it out. Orlovsky played a
solid game (20 of 33 for 256 yards, 2 TDs, but 3 picks) but caught some
weird, weird breaks; that last pick was sheer lunacy. I never saw a ball
tipped at the line wind up so far downfield."  

Game Notes: Early in the game, the Broncos ruined a fine first possession by
failing to convert a fourth and one from the Charger seven yard line. They
had moved the ball 60 yards from their own 33, with Lendale White picking up
40 yards on three runs, and Grossman completing 3 of 5 for 30 yards, but a
holding penalty against veteran guard Mike Wahle at the Charges 16 nullifed a
fine catch by Dwayne Bowe and moved the Broncos into a first and 20
situation, and although they got 19 of those back, they couldn't get the
final yard. Wahle did not have a good game, as he had four penalties against
him accepted, and a few others declined. Wahle is now the most penalized
Bronco, with 10 penalites for 81 yards. Nick Cole is second with 8 for 76. By
contrast, Ryan Clady has just 2 for 20, and Joe Thomas just one for five
yards.  

After getting steamrolled in the last three games, losing all by an average
of 30 points, Hank Sienzant was happy with the win, but cautioned against
reading too much into it. "We're not where we want to be, and we still have a
long way to go. This game gets us out of the winless column, but it's not
worth celebrating. We are 1-7 and have a lot of work before we can get truly
competitive." The Chargers head man, Will Blandford, who now finds his team
tied with the Broncos for futility, also with a 1-7 record, spoke of the
Broncos game plan with praise. "The Broncos kept us guessing. They didn't run
as much as we expected given their 1-2 punch [of Williams and White] but we
kept playing run anyway as we didn't expect Grossman to hurt us ... well, not
as much as he did. Coach Sienzant called a good game and between him, their
fans and some key plays by his Broncos they earned a much-needed win."