Bolts' defense bounces back in fine fashion

Sunday, Nov 11, 2007
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Several Chargers defenders spoke throughout the week of the opportunity Sunday night would provide for them to show their true identity.  After intercepting Peyton Manning six times and holding the Colts to 75 rushing yards, that’s just what they hoped they did.

“We’re playing on Sunday Night Football against the defending Super Bowl champs and everyone was watching us,” linebacker Stephen Cooper said.  “What we showed tonight is what we want to be known for.  We were physical and we made plays.”

A week after surrendering a league-record 296 rushing yards to Adrian Peterson, the Chargers were physical up front and held Joseph Addai, the NFL’s third-leading rusher entering the contest, to just 56 yards on 22 carries.

“Our guys up front were physical,” safety Clinton Hart said.  “We didn’t miss many tackles because that’s what got us beat last week.  We weren’t going to let them beat us by missing guys this week.” 

With Addai taken care of, the attention turned to Manning.  Going into Sunday’s game, he had never thrown three interceptions in a quarter.  By halftime, he’d matched his career high of four picks in a game.  The two-time NFL MVP added a fifth in the third quarter and a sixth on a desperation throw on the game’s last play. 

“We had a strong grasp on what they were going to do and how they were going to attack us as a defense,” said linebacker Matt Wilhelm, who recorded his first interception of the season.  We had guys step up and really make plays.  Everyone elevated their games.” 

Manning got hot in the second half and finished the night with 328 yards, but those numbers came on 56 attempts and came with the six interceptions. 

“We understand that they’re going to get yards and get first downs,” Wilhelm said.  “We were just focused on making plays when they presented themselves and not giving up the big one.  For the most part we were able to do that.”

In addition to the big plays, there were timely stops throughout the night.  The Bolts’ defense was on the field more than 36 minutes Sunday night but came through in the end when it counted most.

Indianapolis had a chance to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, but Shaun Phillips stuffed Addai on the two-point conversion try that followed Gary Brackett’s fumble recovery in the Chargers’ end zone.  That allowed the Bolts to maintain the two-point lead that was ultimately the difference in the game.   

Clinging to that two point lead, the Chargers’ defense took the field with just over 12 minutes remaining in need of another big spot.  Manning drove the offense to the Bolts’ 42-yard line before two-consecutive incompletions forced Indianapolis to punt.

Even if the Colts had made their potential game-winning field goal attempt in the final minutes, the Chargers would have had a minute and a half to stake a comeback thanks to a crucial third-down stop at the San Diego seven yard line.

“We haven’t been happy with the way we haven’t been able to finish a couple games this year,” linebacker Shawne Merriman said.  “We played 60 minutes of football tonight.  We finished the job.” 

The Colts came into the game ranked third in the NFL in total offense, averaging 389 yards per game.  While they nearly matched that total with 386 Sunday, those numbers couldn’t fully tell the story because of the hunger Ted Cottrell’s group showed Sunday night. 

“When we play our style of game and play together, we know that we can play with any offense in the league,” safety Eric Weddle said.  “That’s what we wanted to show tonight and I think we did.”