Chargers lose to Bucs in typical Charger fashion

Football is a funny cruel sport.  For most of Sunday afternoon, the Chargers played a very complete game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  The San Diego offense played almost flawlessly for the first three quarters, taking full advantage of the worst pass defense in the NFL.  Danario Alexander, Antonio Gates, and Malcom Floyd each had great days and found the end zone.  The defense played very well and prevented Buccaneers' standout rookie RB Doug Martin and former Charger Pro Bowl WR Vincent Jackson from doing any major damage.  In fact, the defense really did everything they could to win this game.  However, all it took was a hiccup on special teams and a bonehead miscue in the 4th quarter by Rivers to doom the Chargers in Tampa Bay.  Final score: Chargers 24 - Bucs 34.


The Chargers did not make many mistakes today, but the ones that they did make ultimately decided the winner of this game.  In the 2nd quarter, the Buccaneers' Dekota Watson blew through the line and blocked a punt by almost killed Mike Scifres, sending the defenseless Chargers' punter spinning end over end while Adam Hayward scooped up the loose ball for the easy Bucs touchdown.  Scifres was down on the field for a few minutes before finally walking to the sidelines on his own power.  It was very clear on a punt later in the game that Scifres was still in quite a bit of pain and it seems very likely that he will appear on the injury report this week.  If he misses any time, it would be a huge blow to the Chargers special teams.  Later, in the 4th quarter, Rivers simply decided that throwing the ball straight into the numbers of rookie CB Leonard Johnson for a pick-6 was a better option than throwing the ball away and kicking a field goal.  That's your ballgame.

Here is a quote from the post-game press conference by Rivers that just left me shaking my head.

"We killed ourselves on the interception for touchdown. We were rolling pretty good most of the game."

No, Philip.  "We" would imply that you had help throwing the ball straight into Johnson's hands.  There was no "we".  You panicked, tried to force something that wasn't there, and it cost the team.  YOU killed the team with the interception for a touchdown.  Unbelievable.

This is the second time in the past year that I have had to watch Greg Schiano lead one of his teams to victory against one of mine, and I can't stand that jackass.  Last December, I had to watch Schiano's Rutgers squad completely dominate my Iowa State Cyclones in the Pinstripe Bowl.  Today, I watched him lead an inspired Buccaneers team to victory over my Chargers.  I absolutely despise the man because of his bullying tactics and his arrogance, but you can't argue with the fact that he gets results, which is more than I can say for "good guy" Norv.

Finally, on a somewhat personal note, I was actually happy for Leonard Johnson when he returned Rivers interception for his first touchdown in the NFL.  Congratulations.  Once a Cyclone, always a Cyclone.