The San Diego Chargers dropped their fourth in a row after falling to the Cleveland Browns, 20-17.
Stat of the Game:
Philip Rivers' opening drive TD pass to Antonio Gates was the quarterback's 30th of the season. It's the fifth time in his career he's had at least 30 in a year, which is sixth most in NFL history. He also eclipsed 4,000 passing yards in a season for the eighth time, tying Tom Brady for the third most in league history.
Play of the Game:
The Bolts started off the game with a bang as Philip Rivers dropped a deep bomb over the middle into the arms of former Brown Travis Benjamin for a gain of 50.
Turning Point:
Josh Lambo trotted out to make what should have been a chip shot 32-yard field goal to tie the game with 3:49 remaining. Instead, the attempt was blocked. While the Bolts eventually got the ball back, it put them behind the eight ball and ultimately, weren't able to send the game into overtime.
It Was Over When:
Lambo came on the field to try a 45-yard field goal to tie as time expired; however, his attempt was wide right and the Browns walked out with their first win of the season.
Bolt Quotebook
"We gave (the Browns) a number of opportunities. Give them and their staff credit for what they did today. Having been around one of those in the past, it's very difficult so they deserve some credit for fighting their tails off like they did today." – Head Coach Mike McCoy
"It's tough losing five of our last six like this. A lot of them really close games like this one where we had our opportunities to win the game or tie the game. All of us at different times have had our hand in every game, but we found another way to lose a close game. This current group has eight days left to go. No team stays the same year to year so we'll regroup and have Christmas and be thankful. There's still a lot to be thankful for." – QB Philip Rivers
"It hurts a lot. We wanted to come in and get a win. Even though they didn't have a win, we feel bad that we gave them a win. That's going to stick on our record. It's kind of bad, kind of hurtful." – WR Travis Benjamin
"We are still playing for one another. We lost to an NFL team. I don't care what their record was, they have good players. A loss is a loss. All year they have hurt equally. We've had some of the worst losses you can have as a team. I don't know if we can find a way to lose any other ways. We sign up for 16 games and we have one left." – LB Kyle Emanuel
Odds and Ends
The Chargers outgained the Browns 356-251 in total yardage. They held an advantage through the air 322-127 but the Browns had the edge on the ground 124-34.
Antonio Gates led the Bolts receiving corps in targets (13), receptions (eight) and yards (94).
Jatavis Brown paced the defense with 10 total tackles. The unit also notched nine sacks on the day including two from Joey Bosa and Damion Square.
Travis Benjamin served as an honorary captain.
Inactives for the Chargers included RB Melvin Gordon, CB Craig Mager, TE Asante Cleveland, C Max Tuerk, LT King Dunlap, WR Jeremy Butler and DT Kaleb Eulls.
