On a weekend when the NFL’s three quarterback legends played like it, a career backup came up with a most unlikely story that will be told in San Diego for years.
Chargers quarterback Billy Volek has never been called the next Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Brett Favre. Volek barely has been called on at all in eight NFL seasons, starting just 10 games.
But Sunday, when coach Norv Turner asked Volek if he was ready to take over for the injured Philip Rivers with the Chargers trailing the defending Super Bowl champions 24-21 in the fourth quarter, the quarterback just nodded and nonchalantly entered the huddle.
“Like nothing had changed,” center Nick Hardwick said.
Only the lead would.
In his second series, Volek directed the Chargers on the eventual game-winning drive to a 28-24 victory over the Colts in the AFC semifinals, earning them the right to play New England next Sunday in Foxboro, Mass.
“I never doubted myself,” Volek said. “I just had to go out there and do my role.”
Showing as much polish as poise with the RCA Dome crowd noisy enough to sway the press box, Volek completed all three of his passes for 48 yards on the drive as San Diego marched 78 yards on eight plays. Fittingly, Volek sneaked in the go-ahead TD from a yard out with 4 minutes 54 seconds left.
One of Volek’s big completions went to backup tight end Legedu Naanee, playing because Pro Bowl starter Antonio Gates was slowed with a dislocated toe.
Reserve running back Michael Turner, a North Chicago native who played at Northern Illinois, carried 17 times for 71 yards subbing for LaDainian Tomlinson, who left the game in the second quarter with a bruised knee and did not return.
In other words, the Chargers got their backs up when forced to turn to the backups.
“There’s a mind-set in our league that our guys kind of play good and are front-runners, but when the going gets tough or they play a good team, they don’t rise to the occasion,” an emotional coach Norv Turner said. “I think we’ve put that thing to rest. I told them in the locker room I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve never been around a more gutsy performance by a team.”
In the other locker room, the Colts were trying to remember the last time they had been so giving.
Manning, who hit his first 14 passes, completed 33 of 48 for 402 yards and three scores but had two costly interceptions in the red zone that went through his receivers’ hands. One of those interceptions would have resulted in a San Diego TD if officials had not thrown a flag for what appeared to be a phantom holding penalty on Antonio Cromartie’s 89-yard return.
The Colts’ other turnover came at the San Diego 23-yard line when wide receiver Marvin Harrison fumbled away his first reception in four months. Harrison hadn’t played since late September because of a left knee injury.
Asked if the inability to finish drives spelled the Colts’ demise, Manning said, “There’s some truth to that.”
If Colts coach Tony Dungy indeed retires in the coming weeks, as has been rumored, his team certainly didn’t save its best for his last game — and the final game at the RCA Dome.
“There are a lot of disappointed guys, including me,” Dungy said.
But Dungy quickly downplayed any connection between Sunday’s outcome and his decision over a future he discussed Friday with team owner Jim Irsay.
“This game won’t really affect it at all,” Dungy said. “You’re always disappointed when you lose the last game. We’ll analyze it as this coming week goes on.”
Rest assured, Colts fans will analyze this game much longer in a city where the wrecking ball cannot arrive soon enough to knock down the 24-year-old stadium and demolish memories of a loss nobody saw coming.
All week the Colts had been debating whether this team was better than the one that beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Pundits on local TV and radio already had begun sizing up the 17-0 Patriots.
“I guess, obviously, we didn’t expect this,” linebacker Gary Brackett said. “They had a good game plan.”
The Chargers had to, as they scored 28 points against the No. 1 scoring defense in the league.
But Rivers found the soft spot in the Cover-2 pass defense, hitting two touchdowns between cornerback Tim Jennings and free safety Antoine Bethea.
The Chargers also found a way to isolate speedster Darren Sproles on the perimeter, and the result was a 56-yard TD on a swing pass.
When their defense needed a stop, such as on fourth-and-goal from the 7 with 2:06 left and the Colts poised to take the lead, the Chargers got it.
That came thanks to Shawne Merriman overpowering rookie left tackle Tony Ugoh to force Manning into a rare bad pass.
Congratulated on beating the Colts, unlike the last postseason game he coached against them in the Super Bowl as the Bears’ defensive coordinator, Chargers linebackers coach Ron Rivera smiled.
“Now I want to get back to the Super Bowl,” Rivera said.
Surprising most everyone but themselves, the Bolts have a chance to do so if they can catch lightning in a bottle again in New England.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
