Scifres puts a foot on the throats of Colts

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:58 AM By Tom Torrisi PA SportsTicker Pro Football Editor

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- On a stage that featured some of the game's biggest stars, a punter helped steal the show for the San Diego Chargers.

Mike Scifres did not have a direct hand in any of the scoring, but his booming foot provided the spark to the Chargers' offense in a 23-17 overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC wild card round on Saturday night.

All 17 of San Diego's points in regulation came as a result of a short field set up by Scifres, who pinned the Colts inside their 7-yard line on three occasions, leading to a pair of touchdowns and a tying field goal in the final minute that forced OT.

"The guy is incredible," Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "He truly is the best I've ever been around. He showed it tonight."

And this was not merely a case of well-placed pooch-punting by Scifres. The six-year veteran buried the Colts with a string of booming kicks, averaging 51.7 yards on six punts.

Scifres also set a postseason record by landing 6-of-6 punts inside the 20-yard line.

"I could never even dream it up like that," Scifres said. "It feels good to know that I was able to go on the field and do my job and help my team."

With just over three minutes left in regulation and Indy nursing a 17-14 lead, Scifres' final punt - following a sack of quarterback Philip Rivers - was the most critical.

Scifres launched a 50-yarder that the Chargers downed at the 1-yard line, causing Peyton Manning and the Colts to play conservatively. After a pair of runs, Manning was sacked at the 1, forcing a punt from the end zone.

"Their punter did a good job, give him credit," Manning said. "We were backed up at times. When you're backed up the idea is to get a first down and try to change your field position. We weren't able to do that as much as we would have liked."

Although Indianapolis' Hunter Smith hammered a 63-yard kick, Darren Sproles returned it 26 yards to the 38-yard line.

That led to Nate Kaeding's 26-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play in regulation that tied it at 17-17.

"Too often guys like Mike are overlooked, but he truly is an asset to this football team," Kaeding said. "Without him today I think we have a real hard time winning that football game."

If that was Scifres' only contribution, it would have earned him his weekly paycheck, but he also came up with two huge punts in the second quarter that forced Indianapolis to start inside its 10-yard line.

San Diego held Indianapolis to a pair of three-and-outs on both possessions, setting up touchdown drives of 44 and 45 yards, respectively.

An ailing LaDainian Tomlinson scored from 3 yards to tie the score at 7-7 with 10:15 left in the half before the Colts regained the momentum on a 43-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

Again, Scifres stepped up, blasting a 67-yard punt that buried Indianapolis at its 7-yard line.

"Mike was unbelievable. He's been unbelievable all year," Rivers said. "He's a weapon. A punt is a good thing in a lot of cases."

After another three-and-out, Sproles capped off a six-play drive with a 9-yard run with 42 seconds left in the half to send the Chargers to the locker room with a 14-10 lead.

Scifres' numbers for the first half were eye-popping: an average of 56.5 yards on four punts.

"I'm kind of glad I'm a punter most of the time because I can just get out of here," Scifres said. "But tonight I can't even get dressed. It's kind of funny."