Chargers v Colts

[McBoog]

...I for one see another pretty classic and exciting game between these two teams. They know each other well and always seem to have games with wild twists and turns in the action. If it is a close game, I think the Colts are more likely to win it (along the Vegas line). This is probably the most likely outcome. If either team is going to win "big", I think is is more likely the Chargers at home, than the Colts on the road (yeah, call me a homer).

 

So, as a homer, wanting the Chargers to win, I think they have to win by 9 or more to pull it off. And since I think the Chargers are going to win (what a shock, huh? But, I have picked against them in the playoffs) I see them pulling off a win. Manning and the Colts move the ball well but bog down and have to settle for field goals. Rivers has a journeyman type, but very efficient game and the Chargers move the ball just as well but are more successful punching it in, benefiting from better field position due to special teams dominance. I see both Sproles and Scifres having a major impact in the outcome of the game, giving the Bolts a lot of short fields and pinning Manning and Co. deep for too many long drive situations to keep up. Also, look for Naanee to grab a few passes that would generally go to Gates for big plays.

 

Chargers 34 - Colts 23.

 

Pretty good, huh? Not quite being modest, but

 

My score is off but in a way, close.

 

That game was not as competitive as the final score would suggest. The Charger Defense played above their heads and gave a totally unexpected performance. If not for the quick snap TD blunder, the Colts may not have scored again.

 

Take the two opportunities with the Sproles' fumble and RIvers' INT, both in the endzone, the Chargers could have/should have scored at least 10 more in regulation. Final score could have been more like 27 - 17, right around that ten point cushion I thought they would need. The game played into my scenario well, mistakes lowered the score, but the field performance played just as expected.

 

Hey, it was "my formula" for a win and they don't play out always as you hope. But, it was fun and eerie to watch this game unfold the way it did.

 

BTW

 

The Chargers have had that type of D-holding called against linemen three times THIS year that I remember. As the team called for pass interference against them more than any other team this year, I have seen much more "questionable calls", from a homer perspective. I do think that the automatic first down for defensive holding is too punitive. It should be like the offensive variety, ten yards and replay down (if a first is not gained frim the mark-off).

 

The face mask was a grab and twist. It was 15 yards last year as well. That was not a "whoopsie" and let go. Sproles got his friggen head twisted.

 

The reality toward the end of the game and in OT is that the Chargers O-line finally took that game over and the Colts couldn't stop them, especially on the ground.

 

I saw Rivers get an intentional grounding for pretty much the same play a few games back. I thought "in the grasp" would have a been better call last night, but he did get it to the feet of his RB, one of the things that has been added to "protect the QBs". That was borderline and (finally) an important one went in the Chargers favor.

Edited January 4, 2009 by McBoog

[Ursa Majoris]

Regardless, that wasn't really my point in my original post. My point was that the fouls, whether legitimate or not, would have had very little to no impact on the outcome of the game, had they not been called, thus making them unnecessary calls.

Well, I certainly respect your well-stated opinion. I don't quite get the statement above though. How would the fouls have no impact if they weren't called? Wouldn't the Chargers have had to punt at some point, thereby allowing the Colts an advantage from foul play?

[gilthorp]

Well, I certainly respect your well-stated opinion. I don't quite get the statement above though. How would the fouls have no impact if they weren't called? Wouldn't the Chargers have had to punt at some point, thereby allowing the Colts an advantage from foul play?

 

Don't mean to get involved in your conversation, but I can't see how you can speak about fouls, yet not bring up that on the winning TD run, a Colts defensive player who would have tackled Sproles for a loss was blatantly held. Didn't the Chargers gain an advantage from foul play?

 

Blow the whistle, eat the whistle. It needs to be consistent. Last night it was not.

[Bill Swerski]

Congrats to the Chargers, who clearly out-played the Colts last night. Despite shooting themselves in the foot several times, they were still able to come away with the W. Great job by Ron Rivera and, my God, Scifres needs to hold out for a new contract. I've never seen a punter control a game like that before.

 

As for the Colts, it's the same story as last January: If you can't run the ball and can't stop the run, you're screwed. Missing Gray Brackett definitely hurt, but they're just absolutely awful at DT. Polian needs to draft two in April, and probably add one on via FA as well. And their O-line is a shell of what it was two years ago. I'm not convinced that Mike Pollak and Charlie Johnson are NFL-caliber players. Polian also needs to ask Marvin to re-structure his deal. Nine million a year for a guy who only caught 60 balls this season, consistently disappears in the playoffs, and will be 37 next year is ridiculous. I'd love to have him around for one more year, but that money needs to be allocated elsewhere.

 

My guess is that this was Dungy's last game. He nearly hung it up three years ago, and I imagine that he stuck around last season because they had a legitimate shot at another championship. But I don't see them having a legit shot again until they do some serious re-tooling. Frankly, given how bad they were up front all year, I'm shocked that they won 12 games and earned the opportunity to play last night.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Bill Swerski

[McBoog]

I see a lot more crying here in this forum than I do HERE

 

or even HERE

 

Let a Bolt fan question a call and the roof caves in.

 

The Colts got outplayed in a game where the series between the two produces great games. Deal with it.

[McBoog]

Congrats to the Chargers, who clearly out-played the Colts last night. Despite shooting themselves in the foot several times, they were still able to come away with the W. Great job by Ron Rivera and, my God, Scifres needs to hold out for a new contract. I've never seen a punter control a game like that before.

 

As for the Colts, it's the same story as last January: If you can't run the ball and can't stop the run, you're screwed. Missing Gray Brackett definitely hurt, but they're just absolutely awful at DT. Polian needs to draft two in April, and probably add one on via FA as well. And their O-line is a shell of what it was two years ago. I'm not convinced that Mike Pollak and Charlie Johnson are NFL-caliber players. Polian also needs to ask Marvin to re-structure his deal. Nine million a year for a guy who only caught 60 balls this season, consistently disappears in the playoffs, and will be 37 next year is ridiculous. I'd love to have him around for one more year, but that money needs to be allocated elsewhere.

 

My guess is that this was Dungy's last game. He nearly hung it up three years ago, and I imagine that he stuck around last season because they had a legitimate shot at another championship. But I don't see them having a legit shot again until they do some serious re-tooling. Frankly, given how bad they were up front all year, I'm shocked that they won 12 games and earned the opportunity to play last night.

 

Proppers Bill!

 

I was also amazed at how "ordinary" Manning looks when he gets out of the pocket and has to move around a little. Is this typiclal, or just a bad game? Maybe the knee is still bothering him more than they let on?

[rebdog]

 

i love playoff football!

[heydave76]

Proppers Bill!

 

I was also amazed at how "ordinary" Manning looks when he gets out of the pocket and has to move around a little. Is this typiclal, or just a bad game? Maybe the knee is still bothering him more than they let on?

 

Manning is definitely not as good on the move as he is in the pocket. I have seen him make great plays outside of the pocket at times. Usually he's able to make a quick decision and get rid of the ball before the pocket collapses. I think the chargers were doing a great job in coverage and getting pressure on Peyton. Of course, that's a lot easier when you don't have to respect the run at all.

[Ursa Majoris]

Don't mean to get involved in your conversation, but I can't see how you can speak about fouls, yet not bring up that on the winning TD run, a Colts defensive player who would have tackled Sproles for a loss was blatantly held. Didn't the Chargers gain an advantage from foul play?

 

Blow the whistle, eat the whistle. It needs to be consistent. Last night it was not.

I didn't see the foul in question but I do agree - if the D player was held, call it.

[Bill Swerski]

I was also amazed at how "ordinary" Manning looks when he gets out of the pocket and has to move around a little. Is this typiclal, or just a bad game? Maybe the knee is still bothering him more than they let on?

 

Manning is definitely not as good on the move as he is in the pocket. I have seen him make great plays outside of the pocket at times. Usually he's able to make a quick decision and get rid of the ball before the pocket collapses. I think the chargers were doing a great job in coverage and getting pressure on Peyton. Of course, that's a lot easier when you don't have to respect the run at all.

 

I'm sure that this summer's knee surgery didn't help, but Peyton has never been that great at making plays outside the pocket. He has good mobility within the pocket (like Marino did), but throwing on the run has always been tough for him. After getting killed by the Steelers in the '05 playoffs, he actually got quite a bit better at making those plays (and put it on display in Foxboro in '06), but his lack of speed is always going to limit him in that regard.

 

But heydave hit the nail on the head: The lack of a running game allowed the Chargers to drop 7 guys into coverage, which really limited the Colts offense last night.

[Ursa Majoris]

But heydave hit the nail on the head: The lack of a running game allowed the Chargers to drop 7 guys into coverage, which really limited the Colts offense last night.

So what is the outlook for Addai next year? Is this a temporary injury issue or is he going to be an also-ran as far as RBs go?

 

ETA: Or an OL issue as you alluded to earlier?

Edited January 4, 2009 by Ursa Majoris

[Bill Swerski]

So what is the outlook for Addai next year? Is this a temporary injury issue or is he going to be an also-ran as far as RBs go?

 

ETA: Or an OL issue as you alluded to earlier?

 

Given that Rhodes has struggled to run the ball as well, I'd say that it's more of an O-line issue. And while Addai has a nice skill set, he can't play through minor injuries and I don't see Polian giving him another contract.

[bushwacked]

Bad calls? Not really. Weak calls, considering they had more of an impact in determining the end result than the actual play by the players? I'd have to say yes.

 

- Intentional grounding no-call on Rivers, I thought was quite obvious. Throwing it directly into the ground is intentional grounding, even if there happens to be a receiver within 5 yards of where it lands... I see it called that way a lot (just not on that particular play).

 

- Defensive holding call - Probably a good call, technically, but that kind of contact takes place on just about every passing play. Given that Rivers basically tried to throw the ball away out of desperation (because of the pressure on him), I would say it was an unnecessary call. Might have even been uncatchable.

 

- Face mask on Sessions - It was a face mask, but Sessions himself had his face mask grabbed/pulled just as much as what he did to Sproles, before the tackle.

 

Props to SD for getting it done. I just hate to see a game decided that way by the most flag-happy referee crew in the league (and that's a fact). Let 'em play! Not saying the outcome would have been any different, but those couple of very weak calls pretty much took away any legitimate chance that the Colts had of stopping the Chargers on that "drive."

 

Well stated, but the facemask was an obvious call IMO.

 

 

 

And there's the point. The three fouls WERE fouls, so it's clear the Colts had no legitimate chance through their own inabilities.

 

Perhaps we should just abandon refs altogether.

 

Perhaps the refs should call at least one foul on every single play, since it's clear that happens.

[Gopher]

The calls were not the reason the Colts lost this game. All they needed was 2 yards for a first down in regulation and the game is over. The Colts not being able to run the ball all year finally came back and bit them. All of San Diego's points in regulation came after Scifres pinned the Colts back at the goal line. That had to be the best game I have ever seen by a punter.You have to be able to run the ball when you are pinned back like that. San Diego has always played Indy well defensively and the Colts being so one dimensional made it easier on the defense. Colts have no one to blame but themselves. Underachievers again.

Definitely agree with this. The Colts seemed to rely too much on the pass this year, and it finally came back to haunt them.

 

Well, I certainly respect your well-stated opinion. I don't quite get the statement above though. How would the fouls have no impact if they weren't called? Wouldn't the Chargers have had to punt at some point, thereby allowing the Colts an advantage from foul play?

I respect your opinion as well... We just happen to disagree on whether or not they were good calls... bottom line. I'll leave it at that.

 

A couple of other things:

 

For the Chargers fans out there, my comments are not intended to be interpreted as saying that the Chargers didn't deserve to win the game. Congratulations... it WAS a very good football game, and the Chargers did outplay Indianapolis. I think they would most likely have won the game anyway. Personally, though, I would rather have seen them do it without the whistles (and I think they would have).

 

Secondly, hats off to Scifres and Sproles... two completely dominating performances.

[tazinib1]

So we are talking about weak penalties instead of how good of a game the Chargers played huh?

 

Good lord.

[bushwacked]

So we are talking about weak penalties instead of how good of a game the Chargers played huh?

 

Seems like everyone is giving SD props on how they played. When refs make a ticky-tack call in OT that affects the outcome, it is going to be a point of discussion amongst unbiased fans.

Edited January 4, 2009 by bushwacked

[CaptainHook]

what a horrible, horrible, horrible call on third down in overtime. Ruined a very good game. The Colts offense has to shoulder it's share of the blame, but that call was just awful.

[McBoog]

what a horrible, horrible, horrible call on third down in overtime. Ruined a very good game. The Colts offense has to shoulder it's share of the blame, but that call was just awful.

 

Piss you off, don't they!? The Boltz have been victimized the same way all year. AND NOT ONE OF THEM was deserved!!

[gilthorp]

Piss you off, don't they!? The Boltz have been victimized the same way all year. AND NOT ONE OF THEM was deserved!!

 

I know they got jobbed in the first game against Denver. Did they get pimped all year as you're saying?

[Bill Swerski]

I know they got jobbed in the first game against Denver. Did they get pimped all year as you're saying?

 

Not that I'm complaining about the officiating, but it seemed to me that the crew over-compensated last night for the infamous non-fumble call in the Denver game.

[gilthorp]

Not that I'm complaining about the officiating, but it seemed to me that the crew over-compensated last night for the infamous non-fumble call in the Denver game.

 

I'm curious about McBoog's statement about getting jobbed all year. It was unbalanced last night and I had no real skin in that game.

[McBoog]

I'm curious about McBoog's statement about getting jobbed all year. It was unbalanced last night and I had no real skin in that game.

 

In a season that could have had the slogan, "Couldn't buy a break", they were the most penalized team for pass interferance in the league. After seeing so many of them, there are plenty of them that you could point to as "qestionable". Believe me, I was scratching my head a lot this year. It is what it is.

 

There was a lot of stuff that was borderline in that game, but Chambers' sideline catch comes specifically to mind. For the first time this whole season, a game seemed to be breaking the Chargers way, for a change. I do not deny for a minute that they got some breaks, but none of those calls were agregious errors by the crew. The call against the D lineman for defensive holding and the facemask penalties were clear infractions. The Chargers had one go their way on the holding call against Chambers. It was a penalty, but could have been allowed to slide as well. That call, or the lack of it would have been discussed either way.

 

The Chargers are the only ones who believed in themselves when the "experts" and their fans all but left them for dead. It has made them strong and very close. They are a very dangerous football TEAM right now because nobody, but themselves matters to them.

 

As far as "making up" for the Broncos, or even a season of frustration and questionable calls, forget it. The Chargers are NOT a big market team and would not be afforded the extra consideration. They do not have the National draw power that the Colts would have throughout the playoffs. But they may have gotten a little "home cookin'" for a change. I'll take that evey now and then.

 

The Colts had the chance to put that game away and didn't take advantage of the Chargers' mistakes. That is what it really boils down to.

[Bill Swerski]

As far as "making up" for the Broncos, or even a season of frustration and questionable calls, forget it. The Chargers are NOT a big market team and would not be afforded the extra consideration. They do not have the National draw power that the Colts would have throughout the playoffs.

 

I disagree with this, as San Diego is a larger media market than Indy, especially when you factor in fans in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. But I don't think that media demographics or money had anything to do with it. I suspect that it was more of a PR move by the officials. The asstards on NBC were STILL talking about the stupid Ed Hochuli call last night, despite the fact that it ultimately didn't cost the Chargers anything down the stretch.

 

The Colts had the chance to put that game away and didn't take advantage of the Chargers' mistakes. That is what it really boils down to.

 

Absolutely. The Colts couldn't control the line of scrimmage and got absolutely owned on special teams last night. If Sproles hadn't coughed it up on the one, Rivers hadn't made a bone-headed throw into the endzone, and Cromartie hadn't fallen asleep on the field, the Chargers would've won by at least 17.

 

It seemed to me that the Chargers were getting a little more than an officiating home-field advantage last night, and I still think that the Denver game is the reason why. That said, it didn't determine the outcome of the game. The Colts' inability to do anything other than pass and defend the pass did.

[pseudolefty]

Congrats to the Chargers, who clearly out-played the Colts last night. Despite shooting themselves in the foot several times, they were still able to come away with the W. Great job by Ron Rivera and, my God, Scifres needs to hold out for a new contract. I've never seen a punter control a game like that before.

 

Hey Swerski: thanks for the congrats. It means alot coming from a long-time huddler and well-known Colts supporter like yourself. The Chargers and Colts have always been an exciting matchup and continue to have some great games. Now it's on to Pittsburgh and dealing with Menudo...