Here's a fun exercise for masochistic Charger fans! (1 Viewer)

[Gr00vus]

So with some hindsight, let's pick the scabs. Which of these things is the most unforgivable, heinous, awful part of that game, such that you still have nightmares about it?

For myself, I'm going with not getting the ball to LaDainian. Sure the other stuff is miserable, but I can't forgive them for not getting the ball to the best player in the league with the game and the season on the line, especially when he and they were having good to great success every time they did and the Pats D was on the ropes. It's like letting someone else take the last shot when you've got Michael Jordan on your team. Maddening! :X

 

[vverhei]

McCree's INT and fumble, because it was actually TWO stupid plays.

 

[SammyJankis]

McCree's INT and fumble, because it was actually TWO stupid plays.

I here ya. "Hey TJ, what are you supposed to in that situation? (Together, loudly) KNOCK IT DOWN!"

 

[LHUCKS]

Other - Not figuring out a way to keep All Pro Drew Brees on the team...or drafting Phillip Rivers. Take your pick.

 

[Bri]

every play Tomlinson was on the sideline

 

[UCLAGIE]

Had to go with the Parker's fumbled punt only because the only reason he is back there returning those is because of his sure hands. He was never a threat to break one on a return and the Chargers were fine with that. Too bad he choked when it mattered.

 

[CalBear]

I'd vote for either:

* Going for it on fourth and long when in range for a long field goal.

Or

* Dropping into prevent defense against Tom Brady at the end of the game.

Therefore, Belichick and Dungy are clearly morons.

 

[UCLAGIE]

Other - Not figuring out a way to keep All Pro Drew Brees on the team...or drafting Phillip Rivers. Take your pick.

 

[Raider Nation]

McCree's INT and fumble, because it was actually TWO stupid plays.

I here ya. "Hey TJ, what are you supposed to in that situation? (Together, loudly) KNOCK IT DOWN!"

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house? Not saying what he did was right.... it's just human nature. And, we are assuming that he realized it was 4th down. In the heat of battle, few players are smart enough to say "If the ball comes to me, I'm batting it down."ETA that I voted for Marty's RIDICULOUS challenge. That cost them in a huge way.

 

[mad sweeney]

The muff and the personal foul were on the same drive and ended up with 3 points. While it was a momentum changer, it was not as damaging. Not being aware of down and distance and score cost them the game. If McCree knocks it down, it's a brilliant play and the Colts come to town. If McCree catches it and runs it, he might make it to the original line of scrimmage, in which case it;s a dumb play that worked out ok and the Colts come to town. They were up by 8 so there were no need for heroics, no need to try and bust a long return. If McCree stupidly intercepts it, then goes right to the ground it's a dumb play that loses 20 yards but still ok and the Colts come to town. If McCree catches it stupidly and even more stupidly tries to make and unnecessary heroic play then fumbles it, the Chargers are golfing while the Colts and Pats play in Indy.

Many of those mistakes helped contribute to the loss, but that play right there was the final straw and if he did it 3 of the 4 ways, the Chargers win, despite all the other problems. But he did the stupid thing, and then chose the stupid option afterwards and the unfathomable happened. Chargers lose.

 

[CalBear]

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house?

How about the Indy DB who picked Brady in a very similar situation this week? He dropped to the ground. Game over.

 

[mad sweeney]

McCree's INT and fumble, because it was actually TWO stupid plays.

I here ya. "Hey TJ, what are you supposed to in that situation? (Together, loudly) KNOCK IT DOWN!"

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house? Not saying what he did was right.... it's just human nature. And, we are assuming that he realized it was 4th down. In the heat of battle, few players are smart enough to say "If the ball comes to me, I'm batting it down."ETA that I voted for Marty's RIDICULOUS challenge. That cost them in a huge way.

There is a difference between being a great athlete, and being a great football player. Someone in the huddle should've been saying knock it down. Great players force smart decisions over human nature.

 

[Raider Nation]

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house?

How about the Indy DB who picked Brady in a very similar situation this week? He dropped to the ground. Game over.

That pick of Brady vs. Indy ended the game.McCree's INT happened with quite a bit more time remaining, no?

 

[CalBear]

That pick of Brady vs. Indy ended the game.McCree's INT happened with quite a bit more time remaining, no?

Well, yes, but it was still "in the heat of the game". If he knocked the ball down, the game wouldn't have been over, but San Diego would have been in a much better situation--even if he didn't fumble, just getting tackled there cost the Chargers 10 yards over knocking down the fourth-down pass.

 

[Buttmonkey]

McCree's INT and fumble, because it was actually TWO stupid plays.

I here ya. "Hey TJ, what are you supposed to in that situation? (Together, loudly) KNOCK IT DOWN!"

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house? Not saying what he did was right.... it's just human nature. And, we are assuming that he realized it was 4th down. In the heat of battle, few players are smart enough to say "If the ball comes to me, I'm batting it down."ETA that I voted for Marty's RIDICULOUS challenge. That cost them in a huge way.

You're saying professional athletes don't know what down and distance it is? How does he "not" know it's fourth down. It really goes to coaching - if he was coached for just this type situation, which I hope he was being he's an elite athlete that has one role on team. I think players go for interception more for glory, stats, or just aren't "team" players. A team player would have knocked down, or not put himself in a situation to get the ball strip i.e. giving himself up.

 

[Raider Nation]

McCree's INT and fumble, because it was actually TWO stupid plays.

I here ya. "Hey TJ, what are you supposed to in that situation? (Together, loudly) KNOCK IT DOWN!"

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house? Not saying what he did was right.... it's just human nature. And, we are assuming that he realized it was 4th down. In the heat of battle, few players are smart enough to say "If the ball comes to me, I'm batting it down."ETA that I voted for Marty's RIDICULOUS challenge. That cost them in a huge way.

You're saying professional athletes don't know what down and distance it is? How does he "not" know it's fourth down.

That's precisely what I'm saying. I've seen it a million and one times.

 

[brettdj]

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house?

How about the Indy DB who picked Brady in a very similar situation this week? He dropped to the ground. Game over.

That pick of Brady vs. Indy ended the game.McCree's INT happened with quite a bit more time remaining, no?

Or the Chicago DB that started to catch the ball and then purposefully dropped it on a 4th down play.

 

[massraider]

I voted for the only one on there that is completely unforgivable, and can't be defended in any way:

Florence's headbutt.

 

[DanFouts]

Can we vote "All of the Above".....

Well, I had to pick the prevent D stinking at the end of the first half.

I was at the game, when we went ahead 14-3 on Turner's TD. The crowd was crazy, the team was pumped. It was time to dominate. Then this happened....

2nd-17, NE35 0:59 T. Brady passed to J. Gaffney to the left for 17 yard gain

1st-10, SD48 0:53 T. Brady passed to J. Gaffney down the middle for 16 yard gain

1st-10, SD32 0:33 T. Brady incomplete pass to the right

2nd-10, SD32 0:31 K. Faulk rushed up the middle for 5 yard gain

3rd-5, SD27 0:24 T. Brady passed to R. Caldwell to the right for 9 yard gain

1st-10, SD18 0:17 T. Brady passed to J. Gaffney to the left for 7 yard gain

2nd-3, SD11 0:17 SD committed 5 yard penalty

1st-6, SD6 0:08 T. Brady passed to J. Gaffney down the middle for 6 yard touchdown. S. Gostkowski made PAT

All the momentum died, and the game was back on. You stop them there, I guarantee we win that game even with all the other mistakes......

Oh well....looks like Rivers would have missed the next week anyway, so we likely would have lost to Indy without him.......

 

[massraider]

Oh well....looks like Rivers would have missed the next week anyway, so we likely would have lost to Indy without him.......

Why? Cause he's skipping the Pro Bowl?

 

[DanFouts]

Oh well....looks like Rivers would have missed the next week anyway, so we likely would have lost to Indy without him.......

Why? Cause he's skipping the Pro Bowl?

Ummm......yes..........Team sources told ESPN's Ed Werder on Monday that quarterback Philip Rivers re-injured his sprained right foot in the season-ending 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Jan. 14. The injury is severe enough that Rivers will not take part in the Pro Bowl Feb. 10 in Honolulu.

According to the source, Rivers would not have been able to play in the AFC Championship Game had the Chargers gotten past the Patriots. He was initially injured in the final regular-season game, a 27-20 Chargers win over the Cardinals Dec. 31.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2739779

 

[massraider]

Oh well....looks like Rivers would have missed the next week anyway, so we likely would have lost to Indy without him....... :(

Why? Cause he's skipping the Pro Bowl?

Ummm......yes..........Team sources told ESPN's Ed Werder on Monday that quarterback Philip Rivers re-injured his sprained right foot in the season-ending 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Jan. 14. The injury is severe enough that Rivers will not take part in the Pro Bowl Feb. 10 in Honolulu.

According to the source, Rivers would not have been able to play in the AFC Championship Game had the Chargers gotten past the Patriots. He was initially injured in the final regular-season game, a 27-20 Chargers win over the Cardinals Dec. 31.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2739779

That may very well be so, but FYI, a team source isn't going to say, "Oh, he could play next week, but not in the Pro Bowl...."If they are pulling him out of the Pro Bowl, in 3 weeks, they have to say he couldn't have played next week.

 

[Kit Fisto]

You guys missed one of the most important plays of the final drive...

Antonio Gates posts to the sideline where Rivers hits him in stride. If he continues on his path, he goes out of bounds. But inexplicably, he turns back into traffic, only to be tackled in bounds, costing the Chargers about 20 seconds.

20 seconds to get Kaeding a little closer.

 

[Gr00vus]

Oh well....looks like Rivers would have missed the next week anyway, so we likely would have lost to Indy without him....... :(

Why? Cause he's skipping the Pro Bowl?

Ummm......yes..........Team sources told ESPN's Ed Werder on Monday that quarterback Philip Rivers re-injured his sprained right foot in the season-ending 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Jan. 14. The injury is severe enough that Rivers will not take part in the Pro Bowl Feb. 10 in Honolulu.

According to the source, Rivers would not have been able to play in the AFC Championship Game had the Chargers gotten past the Patriots. He was initially injured in the final regular-season game, a 27-20 Chargers win over the Cardinals Dec. 31.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2739779

That may very well be so, but FYI, a team source isn't going to say, "Oh, he could play next week, but not in the Pro Bowl...."If they are pulling him out of the Pro Bowl, in 3 weeks, they have to say he couldn't have played next week.

They're talking possible surgery on it - at this point I believe them that he wouldn't have been able to play.

 

[Gr00vus]

I'm with you guys, but what DB in this day and age isn't gonna pick that and try to take it to the house?

How about the Indy DB who picked Brady in a very similar situation this week? He dropped to the ground. Game over.

And I'll bet you a million dollars to a FBGs subscription that McCree's play was going through his head at that very moment. In fact I think you can see the very moment he remembered McCree as he did start to run with it and then suddenly dropped to the ground when the thought "#### I don't want to end up like McCree" registered.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

I voted for the only one on there that is completely unforgivable, and can't be defended in any way:Florence's headbutt.

This was by far the stupidest mistake, and among the most costly, so it gets my vote.

 

[massraider]

Oh well....looks like Rivers would have missed the next week anyway, so we likely would have lost to Indy without him....... :(

Why? Cause he's skipping the Pro Bowl?

Ummm......yes..........Team sources told ESPN's Ed Werder on Monday that quarterback Philip Rivers re-injured his sprained right foot in the season-ending 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Jan. 14. The injury is severe enough that Rivers will not take part in the Pro Bowl Feb. 10 in Honolulu.

According to the source, Rivers would not have been able to play in the AFC Championship Game had the Chargers gotten past the Patriots. He was initially injured in the final regular-season game, a 27-20 Chargers win over the Cardinals Dec. 31.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2739779

That may very well be so, but FYI, a team source isn't going to say, "Oh, he could play next week, but not in the Pro Bowl...."If they are pulling him out of the Pro Bowl, in 3 weeks, they have to say he couldn't have played next week.

They're talking possible surgery on it - at this point I believe them that he wouldn't have been able to play.

Fair enough. I'm just a cynic.

 

[Gr00vus]

Fair enough. I'm just a cynic.

Me too. I thought it was bs until I heard about the possible surgery.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Hi Groovus,

I hope this is cathartic for you guys. I don't know that I've seen a gap as wide in the quality of teams where the lesser team won in a while than the NE-SD game. I think if SD had won, they would have easily handled Indy.

With that said, I voted "other" as given your long list of possibilities, the fact that I heard many folks trying to pin the entire blame on Schottenheimer was the biggest mistake I saw associated with the game.

Good luck to you guys. You have a great young team that should be very much in the hunt for a while.

J

 

[My_Favorite_Team_is]

Hi Groovus,

I hope this is cathartic for you guys. I don't know that I've seen a gap as wide in the quality of teams where the lesser team won in a while than the NE-SD game. I think if SD had won, they would have easily handled Indy.

With that said, I voted "other" as given your long list of possibilities, the fact that I heard many folks trying to pin the entire blame on Schottenheimer was the biggest mistake I saw associated with the game.

Good luck to you guys. You have a great young team that should be very much in the hunt for a while.

J

 

[Gr00vus]

Hi Groovus,I hope this is cathartic for you guys. I don't know that I've seen a gap as wide in the quality of teams where the lesser team won in a while than the NE-SD game. I think if SD had won, they would have easily handled Indy.With that said, I voted "other" as given your long list of possibilities, the fact that I heard many folks trying to pin the entire blame on Schottenheimer was the biggest mistake I saw associated with the game.Good luck to you guys. You have a great young team that should be very much in the hunt for a while.J

I was trying to figure out which things can be corrected and which things were just "stuff that happens," when I looked back over the game. When I realized how many times and ways the Chargers screwed up I had to put it all down in a list (I missed some too like Olivea's unnecessary roughness penalty on an extra point!), and at that point I figured why not let other people weigh in with their opinions. I wasn't expecting catharsis really, more analysis. That's why I ended up with my opinion that the most unforgivable, and yet correctable, screw up was not getting LaDainian the ball enough, especially at the end with everything on the line. I hope they learned a lesson there that you can in fact be too "anti-Martyball."As for blaming Marty - that didn't really happen until after the game, so I didn't consider it, but you may be on to something there.