Fairly caught free kick sparks Chargers comeback against Broncos

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jim Harbaugh received an early Christmas present in the Los Angeles Chargers’ 34-27 victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.

Harbaugh got the opportunity to use his favorite rule in football: the fair catch kick.

According to NFL rules, if a player makes a fair catch, his team is allowed to attempt an uncontested kick from the point instead of starting the next possession. If the shot goes through the goalposts, there are three points, just like a field goal.

Harbaugh’s Chargers got a chance to take advantage of the rule when the Broncos were penalized for a fair catch interference with less than 10 seconds left in the first half. The 15-yard penalty gave Los Angeles the football at Denver’s 47-yard line. After the two teams had a timeout, the Chargers passed Cameron Dicker for the 57-yard fair catch kick.

Dicker threw the football through the uprights for the first successful fair catch kick since 1976 and the longest converted fair catch kick in NFL history.

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“It was great. It was fun to go out there,” Dicker said. “It was funny to be in that scenario and just be like, ‘Hmm, there’s no line out there, that looks a little weird.’ But it was really cool to be out there and be able to make a difference.”

It was the first fair catch kick attempt in the NFL since 2019.

“That’s my favorite rule in football and I just tried to get one of them like every game,” Harbaugh said with a smile after the game.

Harbaugh admitted he was very aware of the rarely used NFL rule. He actually tried it when he was head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2013. But kicker Phil Dawson missed the 71-yard kick against the St. Louis Rams.

“There was Cam Dicker. (He) went for it and did it,” Harbaugh said. “I thought it was a huge, good dynamic.”

It was momentum.

The kick cut the Chargers’ halftime deficit to 21-13. Los Angeles continued to rally in the second half, outscoring the Broncos 21-6, highlighted by three touchdown drives orchestrated by quarterback Justin Herbert and a defense that held Denver’s offense to 2-for-8 on third downs .

“I expected to go out there and throw a Hail Mary. That’s why we have coaches and people in the box who make that decision,” Herbert said. “For Cam (Dicker) to go out there and make the kick was a huge boost for us.”

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Fairly caught free kick sparks Chargers comeback against Broncos

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