Chargers Season Ends In Cincinatti

A few weeks ago there was plenty of talk about playoff scenarios for the Chargers and many thought the Chargers would have no problem making the playoffs...But the San Diego Chargers are a team that will end the season at .500 if they can somehow beat a lowly Denver team.  The Chargers have shown that they are not an elite team and only able to stay pace with the lower tiered teams...on occasion.  The Chargers, with one of the best quarterbacks in the league, are a team that can be beaten by the worst teams in the NFL and have been beaten by some of the worst teams in the NFL this past season so it seems only rightful that the Chargers are eliminated from the playoffs this season by the lowly Cincinnati Bengals.  A team that had a 10 game losing streak this past season and with backup wide receivers dominated the Chargers from the beginning of the game and the game was never in doubt.  The Charger team didn't appear like they realized they needed to win the game in order to make the playoffs.  If anything, I think the Charger team didn't want anything to do with the playoffs.

To the Chargers credit, the team they had in 2010 was filled with a bunch of backups due to injuries and holdouts.  Malcolm Floyd was suppose to break out and be a big time receiver... hurt almost all year.  Rookie Ryan Mathews was the runningback that was going to replace LaDainian Tomlinson...hurt all year.  Antonio Gates, after setting the pace for tight ends with touchdowns for the league, had feet and toe injuries that sidelined him for the 2nd half of the season.  

But it is always to make excuses and teams that win don't make excuses...

As it has been pointed out, and I've never been a Norv Turner fan, since Norv Turner took over as head coach in 2007 when he inherited a 14-2 team he made the AFC Championship Game, the following season the Chargers won 1 playoff game, last year the Chargers were beaten in the first round and now, in Norv's fourth season, he has the Chargers no longer in the playoffs... I thought Norv would ruin the team at a faster pace, but the past two seasons Norv has displayed why he is not a good head coach and the Chargers are likely not to win much with him as head coach.

I came into this season with tempered excitement and I am glad I did and until Norv Turner is no longer the head coach, I don't think there is any reason to "expect" the San Diego Chargers from doing much and you can look at this past season losses to see just how "good" the Chargers are....losses to Seattle, Cincinnati, Oakland (twice), St. Louis and the Charger "victories" are fairly unimpressive, beating mostly non-playoff teams...Houston, Tennessee, Denver, Arizona...

One last game against the Broncos and with little to play for, it won't surprise me if the Chargers lose because the Broncos have been "playing for pride" for much of the season now...whereas watching the Chargers this past weekend it appeared as if most of the Chargers have already called it quits on the year.

Chargers now look to "re-build" and with so many deficiencies it will be interesting to see where the Chargers start first.

Chargers Dominate Again, Crush 49'ers

The 49ers are probably wondering what it would take to get the Chargers on the schedule a little earlier in the year when the Chargers were more than inept and gladly lose to bad teams.  Now, towards the end of the season, the Chargers have remedied many of their problems and can crush any mediocre team in the NFL.

Vincent Jackson finally made a statement and left me with little doubt that this guy is by far one of the Chargers best wide receivers. Jackson's first touchdown was simply sick.  Matched up 1 on 1 on a deep bomb that was essentially a "jump ball" ... VJ went up and got the ball and scored a 58 yard touchdown.  From that point on, the 49ers should have known to pay some extra attention to VJ but Jackson ended up scoring 3 touchdowns total and was seemingly open most of the game.  With all the off season drama, holdout, suspensions and roster exempt tactics played on both sides, who knows if Jackson will be a Charger after this season.  Even if the Chargers decide to up their offer and sign him to a long term deal will Jackson even consider it after all that has happened?  Whether Jackson stays or not, it is clear that the Chargers would benefit greatly in their passing game if they could get another player that has talent similar to Jackson.

Of course the guy throwing him the ball, Phillip Rivers, continues to have a stellar season.  Antonio Gates wasn't active with his foot problems, but it will be interesting to see how the Chargers can fare when they get all their weapons back on the field.

The defense, for the second straight week, played a stellar game.  The Chargers could have likely shut out the 49ers but by mid-way through the 4th quarter the Chargers was fielding nothing but the backups and it still took the 49ers last possession to finally get on the board.  The Chargers were kneeling with the ball at the two minute warning left in the game...really?  Yes, really...

But in fairness, the 49ers made a ton of mistakes that when you add them all up likely cost them the game.   A dumb personal foul made a long play even longer for the Chargers.  The 49ers, early in the game, went for a touchdown on 4th down and didn't even get close...could have been 7-3 early, instead the Chargers get the ball back drive down the field to get a field goal it is 10-0 early.

I don't think I have ever given Norv credit for much coaching...mostly because I don't think he deserves any, but last night Norv made and won two challenges...one was when Alex Smith was given a touchdown but was stopped just short of the goal line, which brought up the fourth down play I mentioned above...again, this was all at a key time early in the game.

Chargers get an extended break before they play the Bengals the day after Christmas...it's in Cincy and I'm sure it won't be warm.  Bengals have lost 10 games in a row and I am sure not many people are giving them a chance...but the Chargers have lost to bad teams all this season and if they take the Bengals lightly, I am sure the Chargers are going to get smacked around.  If the Chiefs lose this weekend the Chargers will move into first place in the AFC West for the first time this year.  With the Jets fading as well, the Chargers may actually move into a wild card spot if the Chiefs win out...but of course the Chargers have to win out as well...for any wild card hopes to be there...

Chargers Destroy Chiefs, Playoff Hope Still Exists

The San Diego Chargers are the Jekyll and Hyde of the NFL...after getting thoroughly pounded and beaten by the Raiders last week, they thoroughly pounded the Chiefs, blanking Kansas City and dominating the entire game from the outset.  Antonio Gates did not play but Vincent Jackson had his best game since returning to the Chargers.  The Chargers run game was effective which complimented the pass.  The defense held the Chiefs to less than 80 yards of total offense..

The Chiefs were completely embarrassed, as they were completely embarrassed by the Broncos just a few weeks ago.  The Raiders, who can crush the Chargers can't beat the Dolphins and lost to Jacksonville...it is probably quite clear that there is no dominate team in the AFC West and it may come down to the final game.

To focus on the Chargers, they still remain to unpredictable and I don't have much faith for the Chargers in the playoffs.  Looking at the potential playoff teams, Pittsburgh, Jets and Ravens are all ball control offenses that will likely be able to beat the Chargers as long as they don't turn the ball over or have bad penalties.  Its a short week for the Bolts, playing on Thursday night against the 49'ers.  The Chargers are capable of losing any game to any team on any day, but the playoffs for the Chargers started last weekend so hopefully the team is playing with a little more purpose, knowing that any loss now could likely be the end of the season for the Chargers.

Chargers: Lose And Out, Win And Hope

Since Norv Turner took over the San Diego Chargers in 2007 the Chargers have almost seemed to defy the odds...start out horribly each season and right when you think the door was going to slam shut on the Chargers playoff hopes, the Chargers somehow seem to right their wrongs and storm into the playoffs..often times as "the team to beat" or "the hottest" team in the NFL... of course they then promptly get beaten in the playoffs, but the regular season trend has been set.  The question is now, can the Chargers pull the rabbit out of the hat one more time?

To do so, it starts this weekend with Kansas City.  It's a pretty simple scenario for the Chargers, if they beat the Chiefs the Chargers still have a chance at the playoffs.  If they lose, they will be eliminated.  Even if the Chargers beat the Chiefs, they still need the Raiders to lose at least one game and the Chiefs to lose another game before the season concludes as well as the Chargers run the table and win the remaining games...those looking at the schedule would think that would be a cakewalk (49'ers, Bengals and Broncos) but you need to remember the Chargers have already proven they can lose to bad teams so no game is any guarantee for the Chargers.

And will it really matter if the Chargers make the playoffs again?  The Chargers have shown all season long that they are a team that is error-proned and inconsistent.  For the first 10 weeks of the season Phillip Rivers was the talk of the league...now, after throwing just 1 touchdown in 2 games, it's Tom Brady that everyone is swooning about.

The Chargers haven't beaten a quality opponent this season.  After the Raiders game the Chargers were totally exposed and any team with decent offensive and defensive lines will easily man-handle the Chargers.  The special teams of the Chargers hasn't improved much and the run game of the Chargers is barely even mentionable when the Chargers aren't winning.

The playoffs often breathe new life into teams you once thought were dead, but that is usually reserved for teams that have secured their playoff spot and "ease-up" at the wire, looking sluggish because they are resting key players and preparing for the real test. For the Chargers their playoffs begin this weekend and because of that, I think it may be too long of a grind for this team to carry into February...but probably more likely will be a team that can simply play the Chargers man-to-man and beat them outright....which was just what happened this past weekend...

Raiders Run Over Chargers

The San Diego Chargers, after last week's impressive win against the Colts, had many football pundits penciling the Chargers in as the 2010 AFC Champions.  Running the table and clinching the division title almost seemed like a formality to some.  But in came the Oakland Raiders, who no longer are a doormat and played with intensity and thoroughly and totally dominated the Chargers from wire-to-wire.

The Chargers special teams returned to its early season form...Darren Sproles muffed a punt that would was Oakland's only punt in the first half, and Oakland was up 14-0 in a blink of an eye.  The Chargers were completely dominated on both sides of the ball.  The Raiders didn't even have to attempt a pass if they didn't want too...they were able to get 5, 6, 8 yards by simply running the ball right up the middle.  The Raiders would occasionally run a reverse or a play-action and the Charger defense was always caught off-guard and flat footed.  As a highly ranked defense, they looked totally porous and unable to answer anything the Raiders had.  On the Raiders last scoring drive in the fourth quarter, the Chargers had just scored and were within 8 points to tie the game and the Charger defense could have redeemed itself by preventing the Raiders from scoring and getting the ball back to the Charger offense...but not only did the Raiders mount a touchdown drive, the Chargers had 2 penalties, one on third down that kept the drive going to assist the Raiders.

But the Charger defense wasn't the only thing that stunk yesterday...the special teams, as I mentioned above, not only had the fumble but Nate Kaeding missed a field goal - looks like he's in post-season form - and after kicking 5 last week in a game that didn't matter, it's easy to label Kaeding a choker because he is.

The Charger offense was also man-handled by the Raiders.  The Raiders were able to rush and get to Rivers on a regular basis...but Rivers did have time on many occasions, but the Charger receivers just couldn't get open.  Rivers also, looked "off".  He had an interception where he totally overthrew his receiver and the ball went right to a Raider playing centerfield.

This game also ended my fantasy football season, so it was doubly bitter for me.  I needed a minimal effort from Rivers and the Charger defense to defeat an inferior opponent and advance to the playoffs...but neither Rivers nor the Charger defense was able to muster much of anything for my fantasy team and now, once the highest scoring fantasy team in our league (as of last week) in one game I will be eliminated from the playoffs and lose the overall points scored.  My fantasy team was thin and fading so I really didn't have much faith in going far in the playoffs but at least I would have had a chance.

And back to the Chargers - if they lose this week to Kansas City they will be officially eliminated from the playoffs.  And just like my fantasy season, where last week it looked like everything was just fine to where next week might be an early end to the season for the Chargers...playing meaningless games to finish the year out.

Chargers Destroy Colts, VJ Hurt In Return - Faking It?

In what has become almost a one-sided rivalry of late, the Chargers thoroughly destroyed the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday night.  The Charger defense was the story of this game...intercepting Colts QB and superstar Peyton Manning four times and running two of them back for touchdowns.  But it wasn't just Manning that was having a bad night against the Chargers, it seemed as if most of the Colt receivers were struggling all night with several dropped passes by the Indy receivers.

Phillip Rivers, who was on pace to break every season passing record didn't throw a touchdown and really didn't have to do too much after the defense put the Chargers into the lead.  This was two weeks in a row where the Chargers looked like a more "complete team" (as they like to say).  There wasn't any glaring special teams blunders and Kaeding made 5 field goals ... indoors, under perfect conditions. Antonio Gates did play and made a few catches, but you could tell that he is still hurting.

But one big storyline that came out of Indianapolis for the Chargers is that of Vincent Jackson...Jackson, as most that follow the Chargers, has held out and is returning to the Chargers to play in the minimum number of games so that he qualifies as a unrestricted free agent.  The game against Indy was his first game playing with the Chargers and he played 2 plays and was injured.  Jackson has refused to talk about his injury which has started to fuel the rumor that he might just be faking this injury since, by all appearances, he has no desire to play for the Chargers after this season...so why would he have any desire to play for the Chargers now?  I say this is a good thing to find out now and the Chargers can plan to go ahead without VJ's services.  But it just goes to show what kind of fool Vincent Jackson is.  He could certainly be increasing his value to whatever team he would sign with next year by showcasing his skills this year...but I'm not sure how bright a person is when they pass on a $3+ million offer after having 2 DUI's....Vincent Jackson has been getting advice from some greedy agents that think some owner is just going to shower Vincent Jackson with money...but with the way VJ has conducted himself this offseason I don't know how many owners will be lining up to sign him...and as I continue to bring up, with a lockout likely next year, he may have just pissed his entire career away...

Chargers play the Raiders this week...I was surprised the Raiders lost to the Dolphins at home last week because I think the Raiders are much improved...but the Chargers need to get some division wins and can't have any mercy for the Raiders this week.  The Raiders beat the Chargers earlier this year and now it is time to return the favor...