San Diego Chargers Are an Exercise in Futility

Maybe my mom has a point.

Every football season, my mother, who doesn't know the difference between Antonio Gates and Antonio Garay, likes to age me prematurely by rooting for any team the Chargers is playing at the time. Her explanation is simple.

She has grown tired of watching her sons get excited about the potential for a different outcome, i.e. a win in a big game, only to be disappointed yet again. 

This is how our conversation goes typically:

Me: You ready to root for the Chargers yet?                                                      

Mom: Nope. They'll choke, they always do.

The scary thing is that its more true that any of us would like to believe. Maybe it was our fault for buying into the hype. "We've been here before" and "We know what to expect" was all we heard during the week in San Diego. The Chargers 11-game winning streak had us fans scanning the Internet, trying to find out how much it would cost us for a flight to Florida and tickets to the Super Bowl.

We started believing that Norv Turner had shaken the title of "Great Coordinator/Average Head Coach", and that Philip Rivers and crew were the second coming of the Fouts-Chandler-Jefferson-Winslow era. We saw the ridiculous East Coast bias that is ESPN finally start to wane, and the Chargers getting the respect they finally deserved.  

Then something happened...They played like a Pop Warner team.

They missed tackles, gave up big plays, and were penalized 10 times for 87 yards. They threw interceptions, lacked a rushing offense, and stopped pass blocking. They turned from one of the most explosive teams in the NFL into a team that would have been beaten in the UFL.

You can point the finger at Nate Kaeding for thrice pulling a Ray Finkel, Philip Rivers for making mistakes when mistakes could not be made, or LaDainian Tomlinson and his makeshift offensive line for not showing up at all.

However, Norv Turner and his coaching staff must draw a large portion of the blame. The team was ill-prepared to start and finish this game, even with a bye week to prepare. Poor playcalling, sloppy play and ridiculous penalties helped spark the Jets comeback, and make one look a wee bit closer at this Chargers team.

Maybe they need a disciplinarian to keep them motivated...who knows? Either way, Turner and staff were hired to replace Marty Schottenheimer and his penchant for going "one and done" in the playoffs and nothing has changed.

Now, risk runs high for the San Diego franchise. A large part of their contributing roster is up for free agency. A stadium deal is less likely, one would think, without a Super Bowl appearance. Fans are once again calling for Norv's head, Nate's head, and LT's retirement. Dogs and cats are living together...it's mass hysteria.

The optimist in me thinks that upper management will get it done, release the non-contributors, and sign the players necessary to make another run at the playoffs....but a little voice keeps ringing in the back of my head..."they'll choke, they always do."

Thanks Mom.