The NFL playoffs? Though not officially eliminated from them, it appears as if the Chargers’ chances of participating in them are fading.
The Bolts’ 22-10 loss to the visiting Denver Broncos Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium dropped their record to 8-6 on the season – and two games back in the AFC wild-card race with two games left in the season.
The Chargers face a daunting task with their final two games on the road – Saturday at San Francisco and the following week at Kansas City. To say that the Chargers need some help in their quest to become eligible to vie for the Lombardi Trophy is an understatment.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, both with 9-5 records, currently have the AFC’s two wild-card spots within grasp. The Steelers face the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals in their final two games while the Ravens have the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns remaining on their schedule. If both the Steelers and Ravens win out, they clinch at least a playoff berth. Both teams are still in contention for the AFC North Division title.
The Broncos are sitting a lot prettier. Sunday’s win clinched the AFC West Division title for Denver – the Broncos’ fourth straight – and an automatic berth in the upcoming playoffs. It was a perfect homecoming present for Broncos head coach John Fox, a 1973 graduate of Castle Park High School and former player at Southwestern College and San Diego State University.
“It’s always nice coming back,” Fox said, adding with a smile, “Go Trojans!”
The Broncos are still in the hunt for the overall No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC, though New England owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, with both teams sharing 11-3 records.
Fox said winning the division title is a “goal every year.”
“It’s been our goal at the start of every season to win the division, because then you’re guaranteed a playoff spot,” Fox explained. “Everybody’s hope and dream for the season before the journey starts is to be hoisting those championship trophies. We got close last year (in the Super Bowl) and came up short. Obviously, that’s a goal that our players set and our coaching staff did a nice job of motivating them for that. Obviously, it’s a great accomplishment but we still have more season left, both regular season and playoff season.”
Recharged
Though outmatched on the field, the Chargers fought hard to remain in the playoff race.
Scoring was negligible in the opening half. Denver took a 9-0 lead on a trio of field goals by Connor Barth – the first from 19 yards with 6:59 to play in the opening quarter, the second from 26 yards with 6:06 to play in the second quarter and the third from 19 yards with 1:50 to play in the first half.
The Chargers defense stopped the Broncos at the one-yard line on their first and third scoring drives to force short field goals.
With Denver starting quarterback Peyton Manning feeling the ill effects of flu-like symptoms (he said he received four IV treatments for dehydration over the course of the past two days), the Broncos were not running at full speed, but enough to keep ahead of the hosts, who were desperate for a win.
San Diego’s Eddie Royal returned a punt 58 yards to the Broncos 17-yard line with 50 seconds to play in the second quarter to ignite the Chargers. But the Broncos made a defensive stand, forcing Nick Novak to boot a 30-yard field goal that trimmed the Denver lead to 9-3 at halftime.
Manning finished the first half with eight completions on 12 attempts for 137 yards. Running back C.J. Anderson had 17 carries for 56 yards. (Manning left the field before the halftime break to receive extended medical treatment for a thigh injury, partially exacerbated by ongoing dehydration.)
San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers completed just seven of 15 attempts for 56 yards while Branden Oliver, in for injured starter Ryan Mathews, carried five times for 15 yards.
Despite leading the game, Manning surpassed the 4,000-yard passing mark on the season for the 14th time in his career to extend his NFL record in that category.
Manning returned for the second half but mainly limited himself to hand-offs for most of the third quarter. Rivers had much more success in moving his team.
Novak attempted a 42-yard field with 4:32 left in the third quarter but the ball hit the upright and bounced back onto the field.
Manning returned to the passing lanes after the missed San Diego scoring chance in an effort to further separate the teams on the scoreboard. Manning capped the drive by throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas with 31 seconds left in the third quarter as the Broncos extended their lead to 16-3. The visitors went 73 yards in 4:01 to score the first touchdown of the game.
San Diego drove to the Denver six-yard line on a pass from Rivers to tight end Antonio Gates, with a subsequent one-yard run giving the Bolts first-and-goal from the five-yard line with 10:37 to play in the fourth quarter. The Chargers capitalized on their red zone opportunity as Rivers connected with Gates for a five-yard TD pass. The point-after-touchdown conversion by Novak cut the Broncos lead to 16-10.
Barth kicked a 49-yard field goal with 4:53 remaining to give Denver a bit more breathing room at 19-10. The Broncos employed 10 plays to take more than five minutes off the game clock.
Fan Appreciation Day attracted a crowd of 68, 682. However, about half the crowd wore Broncos orange jerseys.
Denver put the game away when Akim Talib intercepted Rivers with 4:16 to play and returned the ball to the Chargers’ 34-yard line. Chants of “Let’s go Broncos!” rang up from the stands with 4:05 left. The Chargers took their third and final time-out with 4:01 to play with the visitors facing fourth-and-two.
Barth kicked a 44-yard field goal with 3:56 remaining. End result: Broncos 22, Chargers 10.
Manning completed 14 of 20 passing attempts for 233 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a quarterback rating of 125.6
Rivers finished the game 24-for-42 with 232 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a QB ratinbg of 62.2.
Thomas had six catches for 123 yards and the lone Denver TD; Gates had six receptions for 54 yards and the only Charger TD.
San Diego’s Novak had a day he’d rather forget, with one field goal attempt blocked and another that hit the upright to deny the Chargers six more possible points on the scoreboard.
Fox lauded Manning’s performance despite the Broncos signal-caller being less than 100 percent. “He did a tremendous job under the circumstances,” the Denver coach underscored. “We were unsure at halftime to be honest with you until Peyton made the cavalry entrance at the start of the third quarter, I don’t think anybody was sure. We were prepared otherwise, but I think it’s a tribute to the kind of toughness Peyton has and the kind of competitor he is.”
Manning called the victory against the Chargers “a good team win.”
“We showed a lot of toughness on our team’s part,” Manning said. “We had a lot of guys banged up, a lot of reserves stepped up and did a good job, a lot of the main starters raised their level of play. It’s a tough division to win. It guarantees a spot in the playoffs, nothing more than that. It gives us a shot, so it’s a very satisfying victory.
“We faced some adversity throughout the day today and to beat this team here at their place, it’s very satisfying. We’ve got a good football team, we can win different ways … It was a good overall team win.”
The Chargers remain alive in the playoff hunt, tied alongside the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills – all with 8-6 records. The three teams trail the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens by one game for the a wild-card playoff berth.
“Against a very good team obviously, we made too many mistakes,” San Diego head coach Mike McCoy admitted. “The kicking game missed opportunities to get points on the board at critical times. Offensively, the turnovers toward the end of the game (hurt us). Defensively, making some big time plays there, but giving up too many big plays on the outside on the fade route. That was one thing they gave up the second half. That’s a good football team. Against a good team like that, you can’t give them those opportunities. You’ve got to make the plays that present themselves and we didn’t do enough of that today.
“I thought the players fought extremely hard, but it’s not good enough. It’s all about winning, and that’s the most important thing as a good football team. I think defense had some nice stops in the red area again, and on third down, efficient at times. Unfortunately, we didn’t make enough plays as a football team to win the game against a good team.”
With back-to-back losses to the AFC’s elite in the New England Patriots and Denver, Rivers acknowledged that the Chargers aren’t playing at the same level of both those teams.
“We’re not in their company yet,” Rivers said. “We’re just not. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe we can ge, or don’t believe we can beat them. I believe we can. But those are the two teams that beat us in the last two weeks. They’re first and second in the AFC, so it’s not like we’ve lost to the bottom of the barrel. I think making sure we acknowledge the opponent … that doesn’t make me feel any better, and I don’t want any sympathy … but again, like I always say there’s another team playing us. It’s not just a matter of us going and doing our job. We need to do our job better, but they’ve caused us to not do it as well as we wanted to.”
The Chargers’ playoff scenario has been reduced to must-wins in their final two regular season games. One more loss and the Bolts’ post-season dream appears to be over.
Still, there is hope.
“We’ll bounce back,” McCoy promised. “We’ve got good leaders on this football team. We’ve got a good coaching staff. We believe in each other. We’ve just got to play better as a whole entire football team.”
NFL playoff picture
The Arizona Cardinals, braced by Eastlake High School alumnus Tony Jefferson, became the first team in the NFL to reach 11 wins after nudging past the host St. Louis Rams, 12-6, in a battle of field goal kickers on Thursday night. The Cardinals’ quarterback woes continued, as former SDSU star Ryan Lindley was pressed into emergency duty. Lindley passed for just 30 yards and a sub-par 47.9 quarterback rating but the Arizona defense held up its end to lead the team to the clutch win.
But the question remains whether the Cardinals have enough left in their tank to hold on to win the NFC West Division. Arizona holds a one-game lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks following Seattle’s 17-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks eliminated the 49ers from this year’s playoff picture and will play the Cardinals for the rights to this year’s division title next Sunday night in Phoenix. A win by either team will n Arizona win will clinch the division title.
The Cardinals became the first NFC team to clinch a playoff berth, however, as they can no finish no worse than with a wild-card berth.
Meanwhile, the race in the AFC North Division remains the tightest in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns were all but eliminated from contention in the race for the division title and a wild-card berth following their 30-0 loss to the division leader Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals (9-4-1) hold a tenuous half-game lead on both Pittsburgh and Baltimore, with one games against Pittsburgh that will likely decide the division champion.
Both the Steelers and Ravens would be the two wild-card teams in the AFC if the season ended today.
Sunday’s game marked the debut for top draft pick Johnny Manziel’s as Cleveland’s starting quarterback. It was a nightmare starting debut for Johnny Manziel, who failed to lead his team to any points in the blowout loss to Cincinnati. Manziel three two picks and was sacked three times. The Browns fell to 7-7 and are on the brink of elimination.
The Steelers remained a half-game behind the Bengals with a 27-20 win over the host Atlanta Falcons while the Ravens did the same by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-12, behind 221 passing yards by signal-caller Joe Flacco.
The Buffalo Bills remained in playoff contention with a huge 21-13 upset win over the visiting Green Bay Packers, the team many tout as the top team in the NFC this season. The Bills improved to 8-6 while the Packers dropped to 10-4 – one game behind the Cardinals for the overall NFC lead.
The Packers are now tied with the Detroit Lions for the NFC North Division lead. The teams meet in the final game of the regular season. The Lions squeaked out a 16-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings to move into the division lead on tiebreaker criteria, with the Packers bumped down to wild-card status.
The Carolina Panthers remained alive for the NFC South title despite possessing a 5-8-1 record. Carolina defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 19-17, on Sunday to move into sole possession of first place – a half-game ahead of the the Atlanta Falcons, pending the outcome of Monday night’s game pitting the New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears Atlanta is 5-9; New Orleans is 5-8. The Saints could jump into the division lead with a win over the Bears.
Kansas City, led by ex-Bonita Vista Middle School and Helix High grad Alex Smith, remained in the playoff hunt with a 31-6 pounding of the Oakland Raiders.
In other divisions, there was more finality to the season.
The New England Patriots sealed yet another AFC East Division championship by handing the Miami Dolphins a 41-13 defeat. It was the 12th division title in the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era for the Patriots (11-3); the loss all but eliminated he Dolphins (7-7) from playoff consideration, though they still officially remain in the hunt.
The Indianapolis Colts (10-4) won the AFC South Division crown by edging the Houston Texans, 17-10, while the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys met Sunday night for the rights to the NFC East title. The Cowboys (10-4) topped the host Eagles, 38-27, to move into sole possession of the division lead, needing to win out to secure the division title. Philadelphia (9-5) drops into fight for a wild-card berth, though they hold tiebreaker criteria should the Eagles and Cowboys tied at the end of the season.
Expect the playoff field in both conferences to be whittled down by next week.
AFC Playoff Race
Division leaders:
AFC East: New England (11-3, clinched division title)
AFC North: Cincinnati Bengals (9-4-1)
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts (10-4, clinched division title)
AFC West: Denver Broncos (11-3, clinched division title)
Wild-cards:
Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5)
Baltimore Ravens (9-5)
In the hunt:
Kansas City Chiefs (8-6)
San Diego Chargers (8-6)
Buffalo Bills (8-6)
Houston Texas (7-7)
Miami Dolphins (7-7)
Cleveland Browns (7-7)
Key games next weekend:
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Baltimore at Houston
Denver at Cincinnati
Chargers at San Francisco
Minnesota at Miami
NFC Playoff Race
Division leaders:
NFC West: Arizona Cardinals (11-3)
NFC North: Detroit Lions (10-4)
NFC South: Carolina Panthers (5-8-1)
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys (10-4)
Wild cards:
Seattle Seahawks (10-4)
Green Bay Packers (10-4)
In the hunt:
Philadelphia Eagles (9-5)
New Orleans Saints (5-8)
Atlanta Falcons (5-9)
Key games next weekend:
Seattle at Arizona
Detroit at Chicago
Green Bay at Tampa Bay
Cleveland at Carolina
Indianapolis at Dallas
Atlanta at New Orleans
