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.