Tony Jefferson’s NFL stock has to have risen substantially after he made a game-saving interception in the end zone to preserve the Arizona Cardinals’ 26-18 non-conference victory against the visiting Baltimore Ravens on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” national television broadcast.
The interception by the 2010 Eastlake High School graduate came with eight seconds to play after the Ravens had driven to the Cardinals’ four-yard line in search of the game-tying touchdown. Instead, Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco overshot his intended receiver on a lob pass and Jefferson made an over-the-shoulder grab to kill the Ravens’ scoring drive.
The interception was the second of the season for Jefferson; his first resulted in a 26-yard touchdown return in a 43-28 NFC non-divisional win at Chicago on Sept. 20.
Jefferson was credited with five tackles in Monday’s game.
The Cardinals improved to 5-2 on the season while the Ravens dropped to 1-6.
Jefferson’s official Facebook page received heartfelt messages of congratulations after the game-saving play.
“What a time to be alive,” Jefferson tweeted after the game to his fans. “Blessings to the man above tho.”
Viewers in South County have to feel a great sense of pride in seeing a Chula Vista product star on the national stage.
“Tony Jefferson is an inspiration to any South Bay football player and specifically at Eastlake High,” EHS head football coach Lee Price said. “He shows how hard work and dedication can overcome obstacles such as not being drafted. We’re rooting for him all the time and will always be a fan.”
Jefferson is on pace to have a record-breaking season. Through seven games, he has made 38 tackles, including 31 unassisted tackles, two forced fumbles and three pass deflections to go with the two interceptions.
Arizona next plays at the Cleveland Browns (2-5) on Sunday. The Chargers, coming off a 37-29 home loss last Sunday to the arch rival Oakland Raiders, travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens this Sunday.
San Diego takes a 2-5 record into the game against the Ravens and will be desperate to halt what has become a three-game losing streak and get back in the playoff race.
Cardinals 26, Ravens 18
Arizona led 26-10 with eight minutes left in the game before Baltimore made it interesting with the heart-pounding finish. The Cardinals led 14-10 at halftime.
Flacco completed 26 of 40 passing attempts for 252 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Ravens while Arizona’s Carson Palmer completed 20 of 29 passing attempts for 275 with two touchdowns and no picks. The Cardinals defense sacked Flacco three times.
Chris Johnson led Arizona with 18 carries for 122 yards and one touchdown, including a controversial 62-yard run in which his momentum appeared stopped though he never actually touched the playing surface. After rolling over a Baltimore defender, Johnson finally managed to loosen himself and break free.
The Ravens mustered just 55 rushing yards as a team while the Cardinals piled up 150 rushing yards.
John Brown had four catches for 65 yards and one touchdown while Michael Floyd had three catches for 59 yards and one TD.
Alex Smith (Bonita Vista Middle School)
The Kansas City quarterback completed 21 of 32 passing attempts for 251 yards with one touchdown in the Chiefs’ 23-13 non-divisional AFC win over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for Kansas City.
The Chiefs (2-5) led 9-3 at halftime and the teams exchanged touchdowns to keep it a one score game entering the final quarter. Kansas City scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter while the visitors could only counter with a field goal.
Charcandrick West led the Chiefs on the ground with 22 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown. Travis Kelce (five catches, 73 yards) and Albert Wilson (three catches, 71 yards) led the hosts in receiving yardage though Chris Conley (six catches, 63 yards) caught Smith’s only touchdown pass.
Cairo Santos hit on three of four field goal attempts while converting on both PAT conversion attempts to finish the game with 11 kicking points.
Derrick Johnson and Eric Berry each had interceptions to lead the Kansas City defense.
Pittsburgh quarterback Landry Jones completed 16 of 29 passing attempts for 209 yards with one touchdown and two picks. Le’Veon Bell rushed 17 times for 121 yards but was held without a touchdown. Antonio Brown had six catches for 124 yards and also did not reach the end zone.
Smith has thrown for 1,824 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions this season for a 90.3 quarterback rating.
The Chiefs play the Detroit Lions (1-6) in London on Sunday while the Steelers (4-3) prepare for Sunday’s AFC North divisional showdown against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals (6-0).
Charger power unplugged in loss to arch rival Raiders
Looking at the pre-game day injury report had a telling story to tell for the San Diego Chargers. Among the inactives listed were free safety Eric Weddle, inside linebacker Manti Te’o, center/guard Chris Watt and tight end Antonio Gates.
Rookie Melvin Gordon was also benched for the first half after fumbling twice in the Chargers’ disastrous loss the previous week to undefeated Green Bay.
All were key personnel on either offense or defense – and their absence had a definite impact on the game.
The visiting Raiders scored on their first seven possessions in opening up a gaping 37-6 lead. The Raiders 30-3 with 1:01 left in the first half.
Oakland’s Malcolm Smith picked off Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers on the home team’s third play of the game and returned the ball 27 yards to the two-yard line. Latavius Murray (15 carries, 85 yards0 scored on second-and-goal to give the Raiders a quick 7-0 lead. The two plays ran just 41 seconds off the game clock.
On Oakland’s next possession, Murray ripped off a 26-yard run and quarterback Derek Carr hit Michael Crabtree (six catches, 63 yards) on a pair of back-to-back passes to place the ball at the San Diego 17-yard line. The drive eventually stalled at the 11-yard line and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the visitors a 10-0 lead with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
The Chargers showed some life as Rivers led them to the Raider 23-yard line but the drive fizzled and rookie Josh Lambo kicked a 40-yard field goal on fourth-and-one to get the hosts on the scoreboard with 1:18 remaining in the opening quarter.
Oakland 10, San Diego 3.
But things got worse from there for the hosts, much worse.
Carr hit Clive Walford (two catches, 42 yards) on a 23-yard touchdown pass just 1:56 into the second quarter, and the din raised by Raiders fans in Qualcomm Stadium was downright deafening.
About half the 67,542 fans in the stadium appeared to be Raider fans; the rest were Charger fans.
This brings up an interesting issue: If the Chargers do move to Los Angeles and a new stadium is later built in San Diego, would San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has actively sought to keep the Bolts in town, actively woo the Raiders – the Chargers most hated enemy — to town as a replacement NFL team, especially in an election year?
Honestly, the San Diego Raiders?
It would seem there would be no shortage of Raider fans in the region, and NFL fans, in general, to support an NFL franchise here.
Back to the game.
Janikowski added to his team’s 17-3 lead by kicking a 32-yard field goal to increase the Raiders’ lead to 20-3 with 9:28 left in the second quarter.
The Chargers punted from their own goal line on their ensuing possession, with the visitors taking up shop at the San Diego 47-yard line. Facing third-and-14, Carr hit Amari Cooper on a big pass play to the Chargers seven-yard line. Carr would then connect with Marcel Reece to advance the ball to the one-yard line, but a 15-yard penalty on the Raiders moved the ball back to the 16 and Janikowski eventually ended the drive with a 31-yard field goal to push Oakland’s lead to 23-3 with 4:41 to play in the half.
Carr burned the San Diego secondary on the Raiders’ next possession as Cooper caught a 52-yard touchdown pass to make the score 30-3.
Give the Chargers credit in not giving up. Rivers led the team back in the dying seconds of the half, with Lambo kicking a 44-yard field goal as time expired to trim the Oakland lead to 30-6.
After Crabtree made a 25-yard touchdown catch with 11:30 left in the third quarter, chants of “Let’s Go Raiders!” erupted from silver-and-black clad fans. It was an amazing spectacle to witness in the Chargers’ own house.
Essentially, at this point, trailing 37-6, the Chargers failure on the day was complete.
Rivers had set franchise records for most attempts (65), most completions (43) and passing yards (503) the previous week in a 27-20 non-conference loss at Green Bay. But Rivers’ numbers against the Raiders were downright scary in another way.
Through the opening half, Rivers had completed 15 of 23 attempts for just 105 yards with two interceptions.
His numbers after three quarters weren’t much better.
But as Chargers fans began to leave the Q early in the fourth quarter, Rivers somehow found his old magic and proceeded to lead the hosts to an inspired comeback.
The Chargers reeled off three consecutive touchdowns, tacking on a pair of two-point conversions for good measure to run off 23 unanswered points.
Rivers hit Ladarius Green for a 31-yard touchdown and then passed eight and six yards to Danny Woodhead for scores to make the score 37-29 – a one touchdown game — with six seconds left but the Raiders simply had built up too much of a lead for even the most heroic quarterback to overcome.
Rivers finished the game completing 38 of 58 passing attempts for 336 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for an 83.7 quarterback rating. He has thrown for 2,452 yards on the season with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Carr, a second-year pro out of Fresno State and recipient of the 2013 Sammy Baugh trophy emblematic of the nation’s top collegiate passer, led the Raiders with 289 yards and three touchdowns. He was not picked off in the game. Carr’s QB rating was 137.7.
Keenan Allen led San Diego receivers with nine catches for 89 yards while Woodhead had 11 catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Stevie Johnson had four catches for 50 yards while Green had four catches for 45 yards and one touchdown.
Branden Oliver led the Chargers on the ground with nine carries for just 35 yards.
Smith had a monster day for the Raiders with a team-leading 11 tackles to go with one sack, two pass deflections, two quarterback hits and one interception.
The Raiders turned their two picks into 10 points. Oakland didn’t have to punt until midway through the third quarter.
The loss was the third straight for the Chargers and dropped their record to 2-5. The Raiders, coming off a bye week, improved to 3-3.
Raiders players, along with new head coach Jack Del Rio, pointed to the bye as a key point in rejuvenating their game.
“It was great to come in here and get a road win in the division,” Del Rio noted in the post-game press conference. “We played really good football in all three phases. We’re doing so many good things that good things are ahead. We had some explosive plays overall … It was a good performance.”
The Raiders host the New York Jets (4-2) on Sunday, Nov. 1.
“Coming out of the bye was big for us to come out hot, come out rolling,” Carr said.
Chargers head coach Mike McCoy called his team’s performance – or lack thereof — “poor all around.”
“That first half was pathetic,” McCoy said in the post-game press conference. “Nothing good happened from the first play on. Terrible, it was bad, No excuses it starts with me as the head coach. Put it on me … That first half is not us in all three phases. It comes down to execution. We have the players to win. We have a talented football team; we just need to play better. We struggled early on.”
Rivers said it was “sickening” how fast the debacle against the Raiders unfolded.
“It was sickening in how fast it happened,” said Rivers. “Shoot, it was 30-6 at halftime.”
“(It was) lack of execution on our part and execution on their part,” the Chargers signal-caller said matter-of-factly.
The Raiders outgained the Chargers 130-90 on the ground; San Diego actually out-gained Oakland 417-412 in total yards.
NFL Top Teams
(Through Oct. 26)
AFC Leaderboard
New England Patriots 6-0
Cincinnati Bengals 6-0
Denver Broncos 6-0
New York Jets 4-2
Pittsburgh Steelers 4-3
Buffalo Bills 3-4
Miami Dolphins 3-3
Oakland Raiders 3-3
Indianapolis Colts 3-4
San Diego Chargers 2-5
Kansas City Chiefs 2-5
Cleveland Browns 2-5
Houston Texans 2-5
Jacksonville Jaguars 2-5
Tennessee Titans 1-5
Baltimore Ravens 1-6
NFC Leaderboard
Green Bay Packers 6-0
Carolina Panthers 6-0
Atlanta Falcons 6-1
Arizona Cardinals 5-2
Minnesota Vikings 4-2
New York Giants 4-3
St. Louis Rams 3-3
Seattle Seahawks 3-4
Philadelphia Eagles 3-4
New Orleans Saints 3-4
Washington Redskins 3-4
Dallas Cowboys 2-4
Chicago Bears 2-4
Tampa Bay Bucs 2-4
San Francisco 49ers 1-6
Detroit Lions 1-6
NFL Scoreboard
Thursday, Oct. 29
New England 36, Miami 7
Sunday, Nov. 1
Kansas City 45, Detorit 10
Arizona 34, Cleveland 20
Cincinnati 16, Pittsburgh 10
New Orleans 52, New York Giants 49
Tampa Bay 23, Atlanta 20 (OT)
Baltimore 29, San Diego 26
Minnesota 23, Chicago 20
Houston 20, Tennessee 6
St. Louis 27, San Franciscio 6
Oakland 34, New York Jets 20
Seattle 13, Dallas 12
Denver 29, Green Bay 10
Monday, Nov. 2
Carolina 29, Indianapolis 26 (OT)
