49ers vs. Chargers: What We Learned on Thursday Night
The San Francisco 49ers went down south to Qualcomm Stadium to take on the San Diego Chargers on Thursday night and came away thoroughly beaten.
The matchup marked the first meeting of these West Coast foes since October of 2006, when the Bolts beat the Niners handily, 48-19.
Clearly, things have continued to fall in the Chargers' favor since then.
Neither team is firmly in or out of the playoffs, just as the situation was coming into the game, but what are the big takeaways from San Diego's 34-7 beatdown of the Niners?
Read on to find out.
San Diego Coming on Strong in December...Again
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The Chargers' win on Thursday night brought the team's record in December to 20-1 since Philip Rivers became the full-time starter, with the lone loss coming two weeks ago against Oakland.
Perhaps no one should be surprised that San Diego is now 8-6 after starting the season 2-5, considering how the Chargers have gotten stronger as the season has progressed in each of the past few years.
Again, like clockwork, the Bolts are back in the thick of things in the AFC West.
49ers Not Quite Ready for Prime Time
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On the flip side, it looks like San Francisco still has a ways to go before it can legitimately hope to be a playoff team.
Granted, the 49ers are still technically alive in the NFC West and are likely to remain a game back of the division lead with the St. Louis Rams and the Seattle Seahawks facing superior foes this week.
That being said, the Niners didn't quite seem ready for the big time on both sides of the ball.
On offense, San Fran twice had points taken off the board—on the same drive, no less—at the goal line.
On defense, small mistakes, like the ejection of defensive lineman Justin Smith, cost the Niners dearly and eventually snowballed as the Chargers continued to put points on the board.
Thus, whether or not San Francisco has the talent to win, the team just doesn't have its house in order enough to finish strong.
Chargers Are Getting Better with Health, Return of Holdouts
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A big factor in San Diego's recent resurgence is the return of Pro Bowl left tackle Marcus McNeill and wide receiver Vincent Jackson.
McNeill has done quite well since coming back from his holdout, helping the Chargers to protect Philip Rivers to the tune of five sacks in five wins.
Jackson had taken a bit more time to get back into the flow of things in San Diego, with just two receptions for 29 yards in two games.
However, with five catches for 112 yards and three touchdowns, it would seem as though Jackson is firmly back in the fold.
Furthermore, with the Chargers due for a 10-day break before their next game, allowing the likes of Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates to heal up, the best is yet to come.
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Mike Singletary: Another Blemish on the Coaching Résumé
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By all accounts, the 49ers came into the season with plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, enough that most had them pegged to win the NFC West this season.
Again, they just might.
However, judging by the team's performance thus far, it hasn't all come together quite yet.
Which leaves the burden of proof on head coach Mike Singletary.
The Hall of Fame linebacker's on-field success has yet to translate to sideline success, at least this season, with an overall record of 18-21 since taking over for Mike Nolan during the 2008 season.
Some have questioned whether Singletary's fiery personality is conducive to winning as a head coach, ascribing to him a character flaw that could ultimately land his head on the chopping block by season's end.
The Chargers' D Is for Real
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The Chargers came into Thursday night's game with the NFL's best defense, at least statistically.
Despite the numbers, many still questioned whether San Diego's D really was that dominant or if the lack of yardage yielded had more to do with the team's poor kicking game.
The numbers now suggest even more that the Bolts can dominate their opponents' offenses, as demonstrated by the team's 65-7 scoring advantage over its last two games.
Whether it's a question of special teams or not, holding an opponent to 192 yards, particularly one that put up 40 points the previous week, is a sign of strong defense.
Niners Follow Up Studly Performance with a Dud
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Sadly enough, San Francisco looked to have things headed in the right direction before this week's game.
The 49ers were just four days removed from a hefty 40-21 victory over the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks, in which the team's defense forced five turnovers.
One could make a fairly strong argument that the Niners lost this game in large part to the fact that they were afforded only a short week to prepare.
However, it's difficult to imagine the factor of time accounting for the swing from a 19-point win to a 27-point defeat—a difference of 46 points!
Regardless, the fact that there was such a difference in performance suggests that perhaps the Niners still lack the maturity of a true winning team, as they lost after a huge win.
San Diego's Special Teams Are Still Suspect
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As well as the Chargers played in just about every phase of the game on Thursday night, their performance on special teams still left much to be desired.
Specifically, the kick coverage unit essentially gave up an 85-yard return for a touchdown to Ted Ginn Jr. to start the second half before the referees called it back due to a holding call on the 49ers.
Had San Francisco not made that mistake, the play would've counted as the fifth return touchdown allowed by the Bolts this season to go along with a league-worst 19.4 yards allowed per punt return.
Considering the team's success on offense and defense, it would seem reasonable to suggest that San Diego would be far and away the best team in the AFC West by now if not for its horrendous special teams play thus far.
Philip Rivers: A Dark Horse MVP Candidate
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On a brighter note for the Bolts, Philip Rivers continued his march into the history books on Thursday night.
With 273 yards and three touchdowns, Rivers brought his season passing yardage total over the 4,100 mark, giving him an outside shot at breaking 5,000 passing yards for the season and challenging Dan Marino's single-season record of 5,084 yards.
Records aside, Rivers established himself even further as a dark horse in the race for the NFL MVP award, lagging just behind Philadelphia's Michael Vick and New England's Tom Brady.
Chances are, if San Diego's record were better than 8-6, he would be firmly in the mix to come away with the league's most prestigious individual honor.
Going Forward: San Francisco 49ers
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So where does each team go from here?
For San Francisco, it's time to do some soul-searching.
Mike Singletary must figure out if he and the rest of the 49ers are truly serious about being a potential playoff team and, well, playing like it on the field.
The Niners were bested in literally every possible metric tonight—points, yards, time of possession, penalty yardage, turnovers, first downs and the list goes on.
As good as the Chargers may be, no team with playoff aspirations should be so thoroughly dominated in so many facets.
San Francisco still has a slim shot at coming away with a postseason berth out of the NFC West, but the chances of that happening are just that.
Slim.
Long-suffering Niners fans will likely have to wait at least another year before their football team can call itself a winner once again.
Going Forward: San Diego Chargers
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The Chargers, on the other hand, look fantastic, yet they, like the 49ers, are still far from guaranteed a spot in the NFL postseason.
At 8-6, San Diego stands a mere half game behind Kansas City, which faces off with 6-7 St. Louis in the Battle for Missouri in Sunday.
The Chiefs should win that one assuming Matt Cassel is back to his normal self following an appendectomy.
That being said, the Chargers will need the Chiefs to drop at least one game if they are to win the AFC West.
To make things even simpler, San Diego would want KC to drop its season finale against Oakland, thereby giving the Chargers the division record tiebreaker.
Even if the Chiefs hang on for the AFC West crown, the Bolts still have a chance to sneak into the playoffs with a wild-card berth.
All in all, expect to see San Diego playing in January.
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