The extremist Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Another great regular season, another January, another playoff game -- and San Diego again finds a way to lose. This time the Chargers fall to the underdog Jets, 17-14. For the final four months of every year, they are the finest attraction in America's Finest City, sunny and blue and positively electric. Then, for four hours every January, they become the San Diego Boo. It happened here again Sunday, 70,000 screaming fans falling headfirst into football's biggest tourist trap, the San Diego Chargers suckering everyone into finally believing that they could hang with postseason pressure. Well, once again, the Bolts bolted. They ran from an 11-game win streak. They ran from the league's most talented offense. They ran from everything that made them one of the Super Bowl favorites until they bloodily banged into the hard wall of their history. Welcome to Seasick World. The team with the rookie quarterback and rookie coach and weary players scored 17 points. The team with the home advantage and rest advantage and manpower scored 14 points. The New York Jets upset the Chargers in the divisional playoffs at Qualcomm Stadium on a wonderfully cool afternoon that ended in the chilling black of night. Just like last January. And the January before that. And the January before that. And two Januarys before that. "I've been here seven seasons and the same thing happens every year," said Chargers linebacker Stephen Cooper, shaking his head in a locker room filled with the team's annual blank stares. After some consideration, he did allow as to how this loss was different. "This," he said, "was the worst." He will probably get no argument from the local servicemen and women, dressed in fatigues and scowls, who futilely led Chargers cheers on the giant video scoreboard. He will certainly get no argument from Jets who celebrated by parading giddily around the field as if it were Times Square, or Chargers fans who shouted angrily at departing players, or LaDainian Tomlinson as he fought to keep his composure. "To lose this game, I'm at a loss for words," said the San Diego running back. Check out the Gaglamp District. A Chargers team that had scored at least 20 points in 22 consecutive games -- the league's longest streak -- barely scored twice with a conservative game plan that can best be described as boneheaded. "Your defense can hold them all you want, but if you keep giving them the ball back, they're going to eventually score, and you will lose," said linebacker Shawne Merriman. A Chargers kicker named Nate Kaeding, after successfully connecting on 69 consecutive field-goal attempts from 40 yards or closer, missed both of his attempts in that range. "It's going to be a tough few months," Kaeding said. more at the link: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke18-2010jan18%2C0%2C4496587.column?page=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 A lot of people dislike Plaschke. As a regular reader of LA Times I approve of his work and fail to see the criticism about this man. Good article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Norm strikes again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Kaeding is another guy like Suisham that doesn't perform with the lights on and everyone watching. He suffered the same kind of meltdown 3-4 years ago in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselPwr44 Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 The media keeps trying to put it's finger on exactly what happened to the Chargers but they just can't bring themselves to admit what all Skins fans know....... Norv Turner. That's what happened. His teams always....and I mean always, break your heart. They always do just enough to lose the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Weirdo Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 The media keeps trying to put it's finger on exactly what happened to the Chargers but they just can't bring themselves to admit what all Skins fans know.......Norv Turner. That's what happened. His teams always....and I mean always, break your heart. They always do just enough to lose the game. Norval was born to lose. I have a friend who is a very big Chargers fan. I kept telling him he was getting his hopes up for nothing. He shrugged me off as a "hater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiingspadee Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I love Plashke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paloosa Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 The media keeps trying to put it's finger on exactly what happened to the Chargers but they just can't bring themselves to admit what all Skins fans know.......Norv Turner. That's what happened. His teams always....and I mean always, break your heart. They always do just enough to lose the game. I totally agree with you. Norv Turner can't coach a team to victory in the biggest of games. The only reason he still has his job is due to his win in the playoffs last year. He has the most talent team in the AFC and can't win a Super Bowl with them. His team was the hottest coming into the playoffs with 11 straight wins and he can only manage 14 points against a Jets team that is not a offensive juggernaut. The Colts will destroy the Jets dreams this coming Sunday and the difference will be Peyton Manning. Don't get me wrong but Phillip Rivers isn't anywhere in the same category as Peyton Manning. But the problem is not that Phillip Rivers can't win a Super Bowl it is the coaching style of Norv Turner and his ability to under coach to a lesser talented team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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