Goal line stand highlights Bolts defensive effort

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Monday, Oct 13, 2008
By Jay Jay Maniquis, Chargers.com

On the opening drive of the second half, the New England Patriots marched 77 yards down to the Chargers one-yard line only to be denied.

The 12-play drive ended with Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel attempting to sneak the ball into the end zone until he was mauled by a hungry Chargers defense and sacked by defensive end Ryon Bingham on the two-yard line.

“That was great,” linebacker Stephen Cooper said. “Being on the defensive side of the ball, whenever you stop an offense all four downs, it’s big. It takes a lot air out of them on offense and gives us a lot of air on defense.”

The Chargers offense then capitalized on the goal line stand and drove the ball down 98 yards on only four plays and scored when quarterback Philip Rivers connected on a play action pass to tight end Antonio Gates for a 1-yard touchdown pass.

“I think it took a lot out of the Patriots, offensively and defensively,” cornerback Quentin Jammer said about the goal line stand. “Anytime you stop a team on the two-yard line and then drive it 98 yards it’s deflating to anybody.”

Overall, the Chargers defense recorded four sacks, one interception and forced the Patriots to punt five times.

“We came out there with the mindset that we have to go out there and take care of business,” linebacker Shaun Phillips said. “We tip our hats off to them, they’re a good football team but we wanted it more today.”

By limiting the Patriots to only 10 points and not giving up a touchdown until the latter end of the game, the Chargers defense showed that they meant business Sunday night.

“There are times in games that change games,” Chargers head coach Norv Turner said. “Obviously the goal line stand down in there was big. They threw it, ran it, they gave us two or three different looks and our guys were prepared for it and executed it extremely well.”

Jammer made sure his end of the bargain held up with great play against Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss. Jammer broke up a couple of passes, had one interception and would have had a second if he was able to hold on to a ball after his body hit the ground which shook the ball loose.

“Going into tonight, we looked at this game as a must win,” Jammer said. “You really don’t want to start the season 2-4 and have to dog your way out of it. We had a hard time last year so being 3-3 is huge.”

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