unofficial weblog of the S.D. Chargers

And so it ends for the 2005 Chargers, not with a bang, but with a whimper losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 20-7 (with 2 minutes in the fourth quarter of saturday's game)
Where was the intensity and the heart the defense brought to the Colts game?
Well, you can't be inconsistent in this league, you can't go all out one week and then play lackluster games in others, especially in December with the playoffs on the line.

You have to hand it to Larry Johnson, he came to play, our defense exhibited some poor tackling, failed to rush the QB cosistently (sacking Trent Green only once) and committing costly penalties.

What happened to throwing to Antonio Gates? He was torching them early in the game, but somehow SD forgets about him and insists on running L.T.
L.T. didn't look effective at all, a lot can be attributed to K.C.'s defense but he didn't look 100 percent making his cuts to me.

So 9-6 eliminated from the playoffs.
Forget a wild card, Santa needs to bring us some playmakers on the secondary. Converting 10-16 3rd downs KC? That's freaking ridiculous.....
A second pass rusher the quality of Shawn Merriman would also help matters tremendously.

Happy Holidays.
See you in the offseason.
peace out

What a great win. Despite errors and turnovers which could have proved costly, in the end the Chargers found a way to win and halted Indy's bid for perfection with an inspiring 26-17 victory.
What most impressed was the play of the defense, especially Shawn Merriman, whom I have been saying should be defensive rookie of the year. The dissapointing factor is the Chargers can end up with 10 or 11 wins this season (I predicted that they would win at least 10 and if they win one more they won't make a liar out of me) and still miss the playoffs.
Pittsburgh must stumble and they have games against Houston and Detroit to close out the year.
The Chargers have to go into KC and beat the Chiefs and then dump the Broncos at home.
Will there be anything on the line once the Broncos come into SD for the final sunday of the season? Only time will tell.

After suffering their first loss in 7 straight games, a bitter defeat to the Miami dolphins 23-21 (in my opinion) in a badly officiated game, the Chargers end up with an 8-5 record, fighting for their playoff lifes. Kansas City, the Steelers and the Chargers are fighting for the final wild card spot and even though the Chiefs lost to Dallas and are also 8-5, both K.C. as well as Pittsburgh's remaining 3 games seem to favor them as the Chargers have the toughest stretch. I believe that a team should beat the teams they have to beat, and even though the Chargers did so against a weak Oakland team last week, they toyed around with the Dolphins and as a result were upset by an inferior team. Now they have the unenviable task of going to Indy to try and beat a Colts team which looks to remain perfect on the season. Can San Diego run the tables? K.C. must first lose to the Giants on Saturday for the Bolts to have a chance. What d'yall think?

SOURCE: UNION-TRIBUNE
December 5, 2005


In a nutshell | Week 13
The Chargers play virtually mistake-free football to dominate the Raiders and win their fifth consecutive game.

Quarterback


A
Playing it cool, Drew Brees is becoming a greater Raiders-killer than LT.

Running back


B
LT doesn't have his usual Silver and Black stuff, but good enough against these stiffs.

Receiver


B
Everyone has big catches. Antonio Gates is guarded like Buckingham Palace.

Offensive line


B-
Brees is sacked twice – two too many. Run game is almost painful.

Defensive line


A-
If Jamal Williams doesn't go Pro Bowling, the vote was taken in Florida.

Linebacker


A
But, pray tell, why does Shawne Merriman come out on passing downs?

Secondary


A
Terrence Kiel's out, so Clinton Hart plays Lou Gehrig to Kiel's Wally Pipp?

Special teams


B
Nate Kaeding should just try onside kicks, for all the distance he gets.

Coaching


A
The Raiders are puff pastry and Marty Schottenheimer is John Goodman.

Next opportunity (vs Miami)

A

Ricky comes home, plays, loses, then flies off to Tibet.

By the numbers


0
Touchdowns by LaDainian Tomlinson, only the second time in 10 career games against Oakland he has failed to score.


1
Penalty called in the game – against the Chargers. (Oakland entered the game leading the league in penalties.)


5
Consecutive wins for the Chargers, only the second time since 1995 they've had a winning streak longer than four games (eight in 2004).


5
Consecutive wins by the Chargers over the Raiders, the longest streak by San Diego in the series since it won the first six meetings (1960-62).


19
Consecutive home games in which the Chargers have scored at least 20 points.


25-7
Marty Schottenheimer's career record against the Raiders. No coach has won more games against the Silver and Black.


76-24
Combined score of San Diego's victories over Oakland the last two seasons at Qualcomm Stadium.

– JAY POSNER