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...