The Chargers Kick The Cardinals To The Curb

Undrafted rookie kicker and a strong defense beat Arizona

The Chargers did not let Philip Rivers play in their second preseason game against the Cardinals on Saturday night. They didn't want him to take the kind of pounding the San Diego pass rush put on Arizona's quarterbacks.

The Bolts dropped Cardinals QBs six times in their 22-19 win in the desert. Melvin Ingram had two of the sacks as most of the first-team defense played in to the second quarter. Kavell Conner added to the defense's nice night with an interception of Drew Stanton that set up a 3-yard Branden Oliver touchdown run.

But the night's surprise star was backup kicker Josh Lambo. The undrafted rookie from Texas A&M was brought in to see if he can earn a roster spot with his monster kickoffs. But he is the most accurate kicker in Aggies history and drilled all three of his field goal tries at University of Phoenix Stadium (which, for a night, was actually Lambo's Field).

Lambo nailed a 53-yarder on the last play of the first half to tie the game 9-9. Then with two seconds to play in regulation he put a 47-yard attempt right down the middle for the walk-off field goal. Nick Novak is still the starting kicker but Lambo has certainly made the Chargers think seriously about giving him a roster spot.

The Chargers are halfway through their exhibition schedule. They host the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, August 29 (expect Rivers to be back for that one) then finish up in Santa Clara against the 49ers on Thursday, September 3 (expect Rivers and the rest of the starters to hold clip boards for that one).

Contact Us