Sloppyness cost the Chargers' the game

Source: AP

The Chargers' sloppy plays and carelessness cost them Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots and may have cost them the season.

“There is one thing keeping us from winning,” Norv said. “Everyone is going to talk about a theory -- we are not tough enough. We are not physical enough. Not prepared. All of those things will go away if we take care of the football. Because there are a lot of guys fighting their asses off, playing pretty high level, but it doesn’t matter if we keep leaving the football on the ground.”

The Chargers fumbled the ball three times in the first half Sunday or should I say just willingly handed the ball over to the Patriots.

For the fourth time this season, the Chargers outrageously outgained their opponent but ended up losing the game. In each of those games, they stumbled because of fumbles.

Scoring 14 points and driving for more in the final 7½ minutes allowed the Chargers to talk about fighting back and getting close. It allowed the defense to prove it could make a fourth-quarter stand.

But when newly signed kicker Kris Brown clanged a 50-yard try off the right upright with 27 seconds left it sealed a fate set virtually assured much earlier by three first-half fumbles -- only two of which involved the Patriots actually taking the ball away.

By game’s end – after another almost-heroic effort by quarterback Philip Rivers -- the Chargers had 363 yards to the Patriots’ 179.

“I can’t say enough about the way our team fought back,” Norv said. “But you can’t do the things we did in the first half and win a game in this league.”