Lose your starting quarterback? Lose your starting running back, and the guy who happens to be the NFL rushing champ? Find yourself trailing in the fourth quarter to the defending Super Bowl champs, in their own building, with the aforementioned critical guys sitting on the sideline? Psssht. Who cares?
Certainly not the San Diego Chargers, who waltzed into Indianapolis and closed down the RCA Dome, beating Indy for the second time this year and ending the Colts season in one of the most physical, intense, emotionally charged games of the season. Indianapolis went 0-2 against San Diego this season, 13-2 against everyone else.
You say you like a little offense? How does 857 yards of total offense between the two teams grab you, including 714 through the air? That doesn't even include the 309 return yards the two teams totaled up. If you're keeping score at home, that adds up to 1023 yards of the football moving up and down the field, or well over a half-mile of ground that was covered inside the old building.
Lead changes? This game had all the earmarks of the classic, "Whoever gets the ball last wins" theory of offensive football and even though Indianapolis did get the ball last, they were unable to mount the one final touchdown drive that would have kept their season alive.
A few observations after watching maybe the most entertaining football game of the season:
1) The San Diego backfield during the game-winning fourth quarter drive consisted of Billy Volek under center and Michael Turner at tailback. Who would have imagined the game playing out like that? Furthermore, who would have imagined the Chargers engineering a game-winning drive under those conditions?
2) The Colts lost a few guys to injury during this hard-hitting game, too. In fact, on the last-gasp possession for the Colts as time ran out in the fourth quarter, as Peyton Manning faced a do-or-die fourth and five near midfield, both Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne were standing on the Indy sideline, unable to continue. Manning tried to connect with old reliable, Dallas Clark, but the ball sailed just off his fingertips.
3) After LaDainian Tomlinson had departed wth a knee injury, the announcing crew was bemoaning what a terrible loss it was to the Chargers. At the time, Michael Turner, Tomlinson's replacement, had carried the ball six times for 43 yards, a 7.2 yard average! Turner ended the game with 17 carries for 71 yards and a 4.2 average. Not bad for a backup.
4) Twice the Chargers started a drive without eleven men on the field. The first time, in the first half, they had just ten men on the field and had to burn a precious timeout. The second time, in the second half, they had twelve and got whisted for a penalty. These were not substitution mistakes, they were errors as the offensive unit was taking the field to start a drive. San Diego cannot afford these kinds of mistakes next weekend in New England if they want to have a chance to get to Arizona in three weeks.
5) I don't know if a punter ever gets a game ball, but Mike Scifres may well have saved San Diego's season when he boomed a 68 yard punt from his own end zone late in the fourth quarter. The Chargers were nursing the slim, 28-24 lead and Scifres's punt forced Indianapolis to start their final drive all the way back on their own 32 yard line. An average punt of around 40 yards would have given Manning and the Colts the ball on San Diego's side of the field, where the ending of the game may have been dramatically different.
6) While many people were assuming a Patriots-Colts AFC Championship Game rematch, the Chargers-Pats will be a playoff rematch too. The Pats eliminated the Chargers last season in San Diego in the Divisional Round in a game the Chargers still view as a missed opportunity. Next Sunday's game in Foxboro could be a classic.
Hey everyone, I know it must seem like I've dropped off the face of the earth, but it's nothing like that.
I've been busy writing - two full-length novels so far, plus over a dozen short stories - and working hard to try to get an agent. If you are curious and have a few minutes, check out my website, www.allanleve rone.com.
If you're a literary agent or if you know one, by all means contact me! In the meantime, I'll be here when I can - love this forum - and as always, thank you for checking out my blog, especially considering how many great ones you could be reading instead....
