Did the Chargers Choke Away Playoff Berth in Week 17?

The San Diego Chargers needed only a win over the Kansas City Chiefs to make the playoffs in Week 17. Unlike every other team still in the playoff chase, the Chargers didn’t need any help.

The Chargers controlled their own destiny and "choked" it away, as Rodney Harrison pointed out, in a 19-7 loss in Kansas City, per Tom Krasovic of UTSanDiego.com:

Scoring just seven points isn’t going to win many games. It’ll win even fewer on the road.

"We scored seven in three of the last four games," quarterback Philip Rivers said after the game, via Marty Caswell of the Mighty 1090 in San Diego. "Usually you’re not going to win."

Given the fact that the Chiefs had to use their backup quarterback Chase Daniel because Alex Smith lacerated his spleen last week, the game couldn’t have been set up better for the Chargers. In theory, the Chargers had an advantage because they are also the one team in the league that has played against Daniel for more than a few snaps—Daniel’s only career start in Week 17 last year.

A missed field goal by then-Chiefs’ kicker Ryan Succop saved the Chargers from an embarrassing loss to Daniel and the Chiefs’ backups to make the playoffs last season in Week 17 but not this year. This time, the Chargers completed the choke job.

Inconsistency and injuries certainly played a role in the inability of quarterback Philip Rivers to lead his team to points Sunday. The Chargers were down to their fifth starting center this season and third-string right guard, and had lost right tackle D.J. Fluker for a while during the game.

"A lot of teams deal with injury," Rivers said via Caswell. "We’re pretty beat up, and most teams are at Week 17, but that’s not why we lost today."

The lack of protection resulted in a poor performance from Rivers, who rallied his team to win last week against the San Francisco 49ers after being down by 21 points. The Chiefs sacked Rivers seven times, and he completed under 60 percent of his passes with no touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble.

After Seyi Ajirotutu was ineffective replacing injured No. 1 wide receiver Keenan Allen last week, Rivers found a new target in Dontrelle Inman. Rivers hit Inman several times on the final few drives, including on a key fourth down against the 49ers, but Inman wasn’t quite as effective after the Chiefs were able to study him.

Inman managed seven receptions for 79 yards, but he had to be better than that in a game in which the Chiefs blanketed Malcom Floyd and tight end Antonio Gates. Floyd and Gates combined for just seven receptions Sunday, and most of those came late with the Chargers trailing by two scores just trying to get back into the game.

Despite their losing effort, head coach Mike McCoy remained positive in describing the effort his team put forth, via ESPN's Eric Williams:

Where the Chargers needed to make a play was in the red zone, but they scored a touchdown on just one of three opportunities. Worse, all of them were goal-to-go situations.

If the Chargers score touchdowns in all three red-zone trips, they probably win the game. The defense stepped up in the second half and held the Chiefs to just a field goal, but Rivers couldn’t rally the offense as he did last week.

The red zone is the area where Rivers and his receivers need to be at their best. It’s also where the Chargers should have been able to manage the Chiefs’ pass rush, but they still couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.

The officials surely didn’t do the Chargers any favors with a few borderline calls and non-calls, but the Chargers had more than a few opportunities to get the ball into the end zone. In fact, they gave themselves those extra opportunities by going for it on fourth down, and it didn’t help them get into the end zone.

On the second-to-last drive, the Chargers went for it on 4th-and-1, and the Chiefs simply wanted it more. It was the Chargers’ last chance to climb back into the game, and they couldn’t execute the play. Krasovic of UTSanDiego.com shared his analysis of the play:

Execution on offense wasn’t the Chargers' only problem. They also committed 10 penalties, and their kick coverage without the big leg of punter Mike Scifres—placed on injured reserve this week—was atrocious.

The Chargers allowed 69 yards on four punt returns. The Chiefs started drives at the San Diego 8- and 17-yard lines and at the 50—all of them were Cairo Santos field goals. That alone would have been enough to beat the Chargers on Sunday.

As great as the comeback was last week, the Chargers were down 21 points with their season on the line. They fought back, but they ran out of that fight in Kansas City. The injuries and ineffectiveness of too many key players were just too much for the Chargers, and they finally succumbed to the brutality of the long NFL season.