Before last night, it had been 48 years since an NFL team successfully converted a fair-catch free kick. In the interim, nine consecutive fair-catch free kicks had failed (including the postseason).
Before Chargers kicker Ray Wersching’s 45-yard try went through the goalposts in 1976, six had failed. That makes 15 out of 16 unsuccessful fair-catch free kicks before last night’s 57-yarder from Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker cut the Broncos’ lead from 21-10 to 21-13.
It was a record, beating Hall of Fame Packers kicker Paul Hornung’s 52-yard fair-catch free kick from 1964.
The first attempt after Wersching’s came in 1979, when Washington kicker Mark Moseley (the 1982 NFL MVP, somehow) tried a 74-yard fair-catch free kick. Seventy-four yards. As a straight-on kicker.
The next year, Fred Steinfort of the Broncos tried a 73-yarder.
The most recent attempt before Thursday night happened in 2019, when Panthers kicker Joey Slye tried a 60-yard fair-catch free kick.
The first ever fair-catch free kick was attempted in 1921, by Curly Lambeau of the Packers. It was good from 35 yards.
It’s rarely used. Even more rarely it works. On Thursday night, an unexpected three points gave the Chargers a much-needed spark entering halftime.
It looked like the Broncos would be celebrating their first trip to the playoffs in almost a decade in the first half of Thursday night’s game against the Chargers, but things went off track from there.
The Chargers outscored Denver 21-6 after halftime to rally for a 34-27 win that kept the Broncos’ champagne on ice. Disappointment and frustration were common themes from Broncos players and coaches after the loss, but cornerback Pat Surtain II turned his attention in a different direction.
Surtain said he thought the Broncos took their eyes off the ball once they took an 11-point lead on their divisional rivals.
“We can’t allow ourselves to relax throughout quarters,” Surtain said, via the Associated Press. “I think today was definitely a moment where we realized that we let that one get away towards the end of the second half.”
Other results from around the league can still push the Broncos into the postseason this week, but Thursday night should serve as a reminder that the best way to take care of business is by handling it yourself.
Justin Herbert didn’t take any snaps on defense for the Chargers on Thursday night, but he had an impact on that side of the ball.
After the Chargers fell behind the Broncos by 11 points, Herbert rallied the offense for three touchdown drives in the second half. He did so despite an ankle injury that limited his ability to prepare for the game and that effort made an impression on edge rusher Khalil Mack.
Mack and the Chargers defense only allowed six points in the final 30 minutes, which meant that the offense’s contributions were enough to push the team to a 34-27 victory. Mack said that Herbert playing through the injury “makes you want to fight even harder” to push the team closer to a playoff berth.
“It speaks to the leadership and the person that he is,” Mack said, via the team’s website. “Laying his body on the line for us, that does a hell of a thing to a team when you got a quarterback that’s fighting through what he’s fighting through and laying his body out there for us and doing what he does.”
The Chargers will have extended time off before Week 17 and the hope will be that Herbert’s ankle can improve enough for him to play at an even higher level, but the team can be confident that Herbert is going to give them all he has under any circumstances.
Broncos coach Sean Payton made a shocking decision to punt with 4:35 remaining in the fourth quarter while trailing 27-24 and facing fourth-and-6 on the 49-yard line on Thursday night. It didn’t go well for his team.
The Chargers got the ball after the punt and promptly marched down the field on a six-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that gave the Chargers a 34-24 lead and for all intents and purposes put the game away. After the game, Payton was asked why he punted.
“The timeouts, all the percentages, field position, we just didn’t get them stopped,” Payton said.
Payton didn’t specify what “percentages” he was referring to, but the analytics models very strongly recommended going for it in that situation. When you’re losing with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, punting the ball back to your opponent is rarely a good idea — and even less so at midfield, when a conversion would get you at least into range for a long game-tying field goal.
It was a strange decision for Payton, and one that gave the Chargers exactly what they wanted: The ball in Justin Herbert’s hands.
Last night’s win over the Broncos dramatically increases the Chargers’ chances of making it to the playoffs. It also gives them an important advantage when it comes to sorting out the AFC playoff tree.
By sweeping the Broncos, the Chargers are in position to avoid the No. 7 seed — and a likely trip to Buffalo in the wild-card round.
L.A. still needs to remain at least tied with Denver; they’re both 9-6 with two games to play. And there’s a chance that neither the Broncos nor the Chargers would end up at No. 7, if the second-place team in the AFC North slips behind both of them.
Still, last night’s win, and the critical two-game swing it entailed, might insulate the Chargers from having to play in a Western New York deep freeze or a snowstorm, or both.
The Bills aren’t locked at No. 2. It could still be the Chiefs (who hosted a North Pole simulation game last January) or the Steelers or even the Ravens, who are three games behind the Bills and who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, thanks to a 35-10 win over the Bills in Week 4.
Regardless of how it plays out, none of the seven seeds in the AFC are determined — even if at least six of the playoff teams are essentially locked in: Chiefs, Bills, Steelers, Ravens, Texans, Chargers. The Broncos hold the inside track to the seventh seat at the table.
And all teams that will make it to the AFC postseason surely hope (even if they’d never say it) that the Broncos hold on and hold the Bengals out. Quarterback Joe Burrow is playing at an MVP level that has gone largely unnoticed because the team has struggled. In the postseason, he transforms into a higher level of badass. (He’d also relish the chance to go back to Buffalo as the seventh seed. Two years ago, Cincinnati won in the snow against the Bills, ending Buffalo’s season and likely creating the wedge that resulted in the eventual exit of Stefon Diggs.)
How and where the seven qualifying teams will do battle in three rounds of the playoffs is still to be determined. Which, given that there’s not much AFC drama as it relates to getting in, gives the last three weekends of the season a little extra kick.
The Broncos had a chance to clinch a postseason berth with a victory over the Chargers on Thursday night.
They can still get to the postseason if they get some help over the weekend. But head coach Sean Payton called the 34-27 loss to the Chargers disappointing because his club had so much at stake.
“We had a fast start, was encouraged by that,” Payton said postgame. “And then, uncharacteristically this season, we didn’t finish or play nearly well enough in the second half — both offensively and defensively. Time of possession, the third-down numbers, our rushing numbers fell off in the second half. Credit Los Angeles for fighting their way back in. We didn’t make enough plays in the end. So, we go from there.”
The Broncos had a 21-13 lead at halftime and went up 24-13 on Wil Lutz’s 41-yard field goal to cap the opening possession of the third quarter.
But from there, the Chargers scored 21 straight points to take a 34-24 lead. Lutz made it closer with a 55-yard field goal with 57 seconds on the clock before Denver didn’t recover an onside kick.
The Broncos still are in a strong position to make it to the postseason. But Payton acknowledged Denver has plenty to work on over its mini-bye before facing the Bengals next weekend.
“I’ll give you the message when we have a message,” Payton said. “But right now, look, we’ve got to make the corrections in this game. And then we get back to getting ready to play Cincinnati. So, we’ve got to find a way to get the 10th win. We know that. But I wasn’t worried about messages after that game in the locker room.”
Payton did note that he liked the fight the Broncos displayed on Thursday night, even as the club came up short.
“I think we’re playing hard,” Payton said. “But we’ve got to be smarter. And we’ve got to be smarter as coaches as well.”
Before Cameron Dicker’s successful 57-yarder, the last time a team attempted a fair-catch kick was the Panthers in 2019. Joey Slye had a 60-yard attempt during a London game.
But before that, 49ers kicker Phil Dawson attempted one from 71 yards in a game against the then-St. Louis Rams back in 2013.
San Francisco’s head coach that season?
Jim Harbaugh, of course — a man who talked about his love for the play after Thursday night’s 34-27 win over Denver.
“It’s my favorite rule in football,” Harbaugh said. “I’ve tried to get one of those like every game.”
Harbaugh was perhaps being a bit hyperbolic there. But it is a situation he’s thought plenty about and had his team prepared for.
“It’s the first one we’ve made,” Harbaugh said. “We tried one with the 49ers, I think it was like a 70-yarder. Mr. Dawson. I wanted it so bad, I tried a 71-yarder. But it is my favorite rule. And Cam Dicker stepped up and nailed it. And I thought that was a huge [for] momentum — got the momentum back going into halftime.”
Given all that, Harbaugh was asked if when he saw the penalty following the fair catch, he thought, “This is my moment.”
“Pretty much,” Harbaugh said with a chuckle. “Pretty much how it went down. And I was really happy, too, because coach [Ryan] Ficken had gone over it this week. He doesn’t go over it every week, but this week, they’d gone over that. So, [we did] take a timeout and get things just completely dialed in.
“But, yeah, I was trying to do the math in my head — where’s that flag? And it was going to be on their side of the 50. So this is our chance, this is our moment. And the other option’s a Hail Mary [on the] untimed down. But just, we’ve got Cameron Dicker. So, that’s our guy.”
A reporter started to ask about another subject, but Harbaugh wasn’t quite done.
“The good thing about the free kick is you don’t have to go back 8 yards from the snap, either,” he said. “You get it right at the spot. So, it’s great work.”
Of course, it was also the first converted attempt since 1976. Especially because it came in a win, it was a moment Harbaugh won’t soon forget.
“It was cool,” Harbaugh said. “That was really cool.”
When the moment came, Cameron Dicker was prepared for it.
The NFL hadn’t even seen a free-kick field goal attempted since the 2019 season. But once the Broncos committed a fair catch interference foul at the end of the second quarter, Dicker realized he’d get his opportunity.
The Chargers’ kicker nailed the attempt for the NFL’s first successful free-kick field goal since 1976.
“Looking over at their sideline was funny — they were confused what was going on,” Dicker said postgame. “We talk about it every week, so it was a normal thing for us. But it’s funny to watch.”
Dicker noted that he asked the official how much time they had before taking a practice kick in the net and going out make the rare attempt. Dicker sent the 57-yard kick through the uprights, giving the Chargers an important three points before halftime.
Los Angeles’ special teams unit usually goes over the fair-catch kick in its Friday meeting. Dicker correctly recalled that the last attempt was from then-Carolina kicker Joey Slye during a 2019 game in London.
“We always watch that one and it’s fun to do,” Dicker said.
Dicker noted that aside from the opposing team being 10 yards away, the operation is the same as a normal field goal.
But to be prepared for it makes a difference, and that comes from special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken and head coach Jim Harbaugh.
“Offense and stuff isn’t usually in there so they were all confused,” Dicker said. “They were like, ‘What’s going on here?’ So that was funny to hear. And so now, we just taught a bunch of people what’s going on.”
And now Dicker has accomplished something that hadn’t been done in nearly 50 years.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Dicker said. “I didn’t know that was the case. That’s a pretty cool thing to hear that. It’s pretty awesome.”
The Broncos can still clinch a playoff berth this weekend, but the Chargers prevented them from doing so on Thursday night.
Los Angeles defeated Denver 34-27, putting the Chargers a step closer to punching a ticket to the postseason in their first year under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
While the Broncos had a 21-13 lead at halftime, the Chargers were able to take control of the game in the third quarter. Running back Gus Edwards capped a 10-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown, to make the score 24-19 with a failed two-point conversion.
Then after another defensive stop, Los Angeles got in the end zone with a 19-yard touchdown from Justin Herbert to Derius Davis. Joshua Palmer caught the two-point conversion to give the Chargers their first lead of the night with 12:23 left in the fourth quarter.
While Denver had two opportunities to tie it, the club couldn’t get into scoring position.
On a four-minute drive, a 16-yard, third-down scramble by Justin Herbert followed by a 43-yard run by Gus Edwards helped put Los Angeles in Denver territory. Then Herbert found Hassan Haskins over the middle, with the running back taking it for a 34-yard touchdown to give Los Angeles a late 10-point advantage.
The Broncos had taken a commanding 21-10 lead with 6:22 left in the first half, as Devaughn Vele’s 6-yard touchdown catch gave the club three TDs on its first three possessions.
But Denver wasn’t able to put the ball back in the box for the rest of the night.
The Broncos also gave away some points. A fair catch interference penalty allowed Cameron Dicker to hit an ultra-rare, 57-yard fair-catch kick on an untimed down to end the first half. In the second half, a defensive unnecessary roughness penalty in the red zone on a third-down Herbert scramble opened the door for Edwards to score his 5-yard touchdown on the next play.
Herbert ended the game 23-of-31 for 284 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Ladd McConkey led the team with 87 yards on six catches.
On the other side, Nix was 29-of-40 for 263 yards with two TDs.
With the win, the Chargers are now 9-6 and are in the driver’s seat for the AFC’s No. 6 seed, as the club holds the tiebreaker over the Broncos with two wins over the division rival. Los Angeles will clinch a playoff berth with a Dolphins loss or tie and Colts loss or tie this weekend.
Next week, Los Angeles will be on the road to face New England before ending the regular season against Las Vegas.
The 9-6 Broncos can still clinch a playoff berth this weekend with a Miami loss or tie, plus a Cincinnati loss or tie, plus an Indianapolis loss or tie. They will be on the road in Week 17 to play the Bengals before ending the year at home against the Chiefs.
The Chargers have taken a fourth-quarter lead over the Broncos.
Aided by a few defensive penalties, Los Angeles got down the field and scored on a nice 19-yard pass from Justin Herbert to receiver Derius Davis. Then Joshua Palmer tipped a pass to himself in the back of the end zone and got both feet in for a two-point conversion, making the score 27-24, Chargers.
After forcing a three-and-out, Los Angeles got its drive going with a 12-yard pass from Herbert to Palmer. Then a horse collar tackle on Herbert moved the offense into Denver territory.
Ladd McConkey’s 17-yard reception put the Chargers on the 19-yard line.
On the next play, Herbert evaded the rush by moving to his left and floated a perfect touch pass to Davis down the left sideline for the score.
