Lorenzo Neal burst into the open field and one thought crossed his mind:
“What the heck am I doing out here?”
K.C. ALFRED / Union-Tribune
The Chargers' Igor Olshansky tackles Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner on a day when, because of injuries, the defensive end saw more than his share of action.
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The Chargers fullback was breaking off his longest run since he was a rookie back in the days of leather helmets and . . . no, actually, it was 1993, when Neal busted a 74-yard touchdown run for the New Orleans Saints in his second pro game.
Neal's longest run since that game was 12 yards . . . until yesterday, when he rumbled for 43 before he was forced out of bounds by Cardinals safety Robert Griffith.
“He and Griff are two old veterans,” Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said of the two 36-year-olds. “That was like watching two turtles racing.”
Laughing, Tomlinson continued, “I'm just joking. It was fun to see that. I thought Lo was going to outrun him for a minute.”
Said Neal: “He had the angle; I ran out of sideline. It wasn't like someone ran me down. I've still got some speed.”
At least one Charger wasn't surprised Neal fell short of the end zone.
“I would expect him not to score and (instead) go get contact,” center Nick Hardwick said. “You've got to ask yourself, 'What would Chuck Liddell (of Ultimate Fighting Championship fame) do?' and that's what Lorenzo's thinking in his head.”
The run gave Neal 140 yards this season, his highest total since gaining 175 as a rookie.
“I've been waiting for that for a long time,” Tomlinson said. “He's always talking about how much speed he has. When he got in the open, I saw the speed he had about 13 years ago. (But) it was only for a 10-yard period.”
Jammer on it
It was an early play that ultimately might have saved a victory.
Despite driving from their 27 to deep into the red zone, the Cardinals were unable to score and make it closer than 17-7 at the end of the first half.
Anquan Boldin caught a pass at the 3-yard line with slightly less than 10 seconds remaining and appeared headed to the end zone, but he was stood up by Quentin Jammer inside the 2. Jammer and Drayton Florence then drove Boldin back and kept him from going out of bounds as the clock ran out.
“I was just trying to keep him away from the sideline,” said Jammer, who finished second on the team with 88 tackles.
A good thing
When Marty Schottenheimer says, as he often does, that a punt is not necessarily a bad thing, he is referring to the field-position battle within a game.
But neither is it a bad thing when your opponent muffs a punt near the end zone and you recover the ball for a touchdown.
That's what happened early in the third quarter yesterday when Bryant Johnson bumbled a fair-catch attempt, and Chargers rookie Tim Dobbins fell on it in the back of the end zone to give the Chargers a 24-7 lead.
“Anybody could have picked up the ball,” said Dobbins, who is third on the team with 18 special teams tackles. “I was just glad we got the ball.”
League leader
Shawne Merriman said he did not plan to watch the Green Bay Packers game last night. Had he watched, he would have seen that Green Bay defensive end Aaron Kampman was held without a sack. That means Merriman, despite playing just 12 games, led the NFL with 17 sacks, including the one he got yesterday.
Merriman fell just short of Gary Johnson's team record of 17.5.
Happy reunion
Philip Rivers joyfully welcomed back one of the team's smoothest route runners, as Eric Parker returned from a game hiatus necessitated by a neck injury.
Parker led the Chargers with five catches for 62 yards, including four first downs. “He's one of those guys you know where he's going to be every time,” Rivers said. “He's so dependable. For me, as a quarterback, the No. 1 quality you want in a receiver is dependability. You know he's going to be in the right spot every single time. He is that guy.”
Almost 10 again
Antonio Gates caught his ninth touchdown this season and was close to getting to 10 for the third straight season.
Last season, he became the first tight end ever to catch at least that many in two straight years.
“Hopefully I can get the 10th one in the postseason,” Gates said.
Only Marvin Harrison (38) and Terrell Owens (33) have more touchdowns over the past three seasons than Gates' 32.
Busy D-line
Jacques Cesaire left the game with a knee injury in the first quarter and did not return.
That made for a long day for the rest of the defensive linemen. With Luis Castillo and Derreck Robinson already inactive with injuries, the Chargers were left with four active defensive linemen.
“I've never played that much,” said end Igor Olshansky, who was in on all but one snap. “Our offense helped us out, especially in the first half. The first half flew by real nicely. The second half wasn't as smooth. But you've just got to battle, and those TV timeouts helped.”
Kaeding sets two marks
Nate Kaeding made two more field goals and three more extra points, giving him two single-season club records – most PATs (58) and most points by a kicker (136).
“For me it's just a byproduct of circumstance, of an awesome offense,” Kaeding said. “Whenever they call my number I go out to do my best to put it through.”
Kaeding missed just three field goals for the second straight season, two in very windy conditions and one that clanked off an upright. All six of his misses since his rookie season have come on the road.
“I feel I've been kicking the ball as great for an extended period of time as I have my whole life,” he said.
“I'm excited about the opportunity in the playoffs, and I've had a lot of success kicking at home. I can't remember the last time I missed at home.”
Not to raise bad memories, but his last miss at home came in the playoff loss to the Jets two years ago.
That's one of just two kicks he's missed in his career at Qualcomm Stadium – 89-of-89 on PATs and 34-of-36 on field goals.
Jay Posner: (619) 293-1834; jay.posner@uniontrib.com
Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com
