Kaeding's field goal beat Cardinals

By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

This time of year, the preseason, NFL coaches don’t fret a final score or a team’s record as much as they study other numbers. They want to see stats that represent fine tuning phases of the game and improvement from week-to-week in preparation for the regular-season opener.

One statistic that Chargers head coach Norv Turner liked in a 33-31 comeback win Saturday night over the Arizona Cardinals was Nate Kaeding hitting four-of-four field goals, including the game-winner with two seconds to play at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

“I could have closed my eyes and known Nate would make that field goal,” said Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who completed 20-of-30 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions before leaving the game after the first series of the third quarter.

But a more pressing number that pleased Turner from a game that improved the Chargers’ preseason record to 2-1 was the number of penalties. More specifically, the Chargers’ lack of penalties.

The Bolts weren’t flagged in the first half and had only one penalty, an offensive pass interference call, by the time Turner pulled his starters from the game early in the third quarter with the Chargers leading 24-17.

Too many penalties plagued the Chargers in their first two preseason games, a loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Qualcomm Stadium and their win in the second game at the St. Louis Rams.

But against the Cardinals, not until the fourth play of the third quarter were Chargers penalized when Gates was called for pass interference on a pass inside the 10-yard line.

The flag didn’t prevent the Chargers from breaking a 17-17 halftime tie as they overcame a first-and-20 from the 34-yard line to score six plays later on a third-and-3 pass from Rivers to third-year wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

The Chargers finished the game with 635 yards of total offense and 400 yards of passing.

“Our intent was to come in here and be as balanced as we can be,” Turner said. “But in the first 15 plays we got about 12 blitzes. The free safety and strong safety were changing up. We ran into it a little bit and I tried to have patience and pound it. But we started cranking the ball up the field. If people are going to play us like that, we’ve got to make plays in the passing game, and we did.”

The Chargers’ starters saw their most extensive playing time of the preseason as Rivers left the game with a 24-17 lead with 8:08 left in the third quarter. He played the first and second quarters and the first possession of the third quarter.

Rivers completed 20-of-30 passes for 282 yards with two touchdown tosses -- both to Jackson -- with no interceptions. He spread the ball the around with eight receivers catching balls as the offense showed an ability to drive the ball with time-consuming possessions and score quickly with big plays.

The eight receivers catching passes from Rivers represented all phases of the passing game with completions to wide receivers Jackson, Malcom Floyd and Kassim Osgood, tight ends Gates and Brandon Manumaleuna, fullback Lorenzo Neal and running backs Michael Turner and Darren Sproles.

“We did a lot of good things and anytime you win a game like this, it becomes contagious,” Rivers said “It becomes a habit and you expect to do it.”

On the Chargers’ first possession, they drove the ball 65 yards in 14 plays and consumed 6:54 before settling for a 32-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding to tie the game at 3-3.

The Bolts kept alive the drive by converting their first three third-down plays. Neal bulled ahead for 2 yards on third-and-1, Rivers connected with Jackson for a 25-yard gain on a third-and-8 and Malcom Floyd caught a 5-yard pass on third-and-3. An incomplete pass on third-and-6 from the 15 brought out the field goal unit.

The first touchdown came on their second possession when Darren Sproles capped a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive with a 19-yard scoring run up the middle on a draw. After Sproles was through the line of scrimmage, he sidestepped the safety Adrian Wilson with a hip move that looked like something out of his Kansas State highlight tape when he was drafted in 2005.

The Chargers’ second touchdown of the first half to tie the game was a 33-yard touchdown pass from Rivers to Jackson on pass down the right hash marks. It was reminiscent of the game-winning touchdown pass in last year’s win at Seattle.

Aother number that pleased Turner was the lack of sacks. The Chargers gave up eight sacks in the first two games, but Rivers wasn’t sacked during his playing time and backup quarterback Billy Volek was sacked only once.

The Chargers’ backups added two field goals as Nate Kaeding hit field goals of 25 yards in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth.

The third-quarter field goal for a 27-17 lead was set up by a forced fumble and recovery by defensive end Luis Castillo. The fourth-quarter field goal finished a 12-play, 42-yard drive for a 30-24 lead.

Kaeding’s game-winner came following a 23-yard completion from backup Billy Volek to Osgood to the 19-yard line with six seconds left in the game.