Chargers lose to the Bengals, ends playoff hopes

Source: UT

It was a fitting way for the season to effectively end. The Chargers’ 34-20 loss to the Bengals on Sunday was a metaphor for the season. The Chargers got down early and ultimately imploded. Poor play late hurt them as much as a stumble early.

The season of screw-ups is finally ending, they will not be in the playoffs for the first time since those following the 2005 season.

Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati was typical of most Chargers defeats this season. 

Two dominating victories prior to Sunday had given the Chargers hope. Now they can’t even hold their heads high in failure.

This loss had a familiar flow.

The Chargers got down 13-0, appeared ready to take control in the third quarter and then gave the ball and the game back to the Bengals and, ultimately, gave the AFC West title to the Chiefs.

“This game sums up our season,” said tight end Antonio Gates, who watched from the sideline due to a foot injury. “I think about our season, I think about how our day went. We started off slow. Then we start playing. When we’re playing well, there isn’t a team in the National Football League that can beat us. But it’s trying to put everything together to try to give ourselves a chance to prove (that).”

A team that will likely finish with the league’s No.1 offense and No.1 defense could also finish with a .500 record. (As a point of reference, the previous four teams to accomplish that finished a combined 51-6 and won two Super Bowls.)

What the Chargers (8-7) thought was a wakeup call in the Dec. 5 loss to Oakland turned out instead to be a recurring nightmare. When they needed to continue to be at their best, the inconsistency came back out.

Opinions differed on what happened, with the harshest assessment coming, as it often does, from cornerback and captain Quentin Jammer. “They outplayed us the entire game,” Jammer said. “They played faster than us. They were more focused than us. Their defense outplayed our defense. Their offense outplayed our offense. The bottom line was, you could see it, they came out and played faster than we did. “Lack of focus on everybody’s part. That’s the only way I can see it. I can’t see it any other way. I’ve seen us come out and play football, and we didn’t do it … I don’t know how you lose focus on a game that has playoff implications. But we did.”

The Chargers got routed – worse than the final score indicated – by a team that might pick second in next year’s draft. They gave up big plays, many of which allowed the Bengals (4-11) to convert eight of 14 third down tries. The offense could not sustain drives.

But the Bengals were allowed to control the game from the start.

Vincent Jackson dropped an exchange from Mike Tolbert on a reverse on the Chargers’ first play from scrimmage. Jackson recovered the ball but did so 19 yards behind the line of scrimmage, at the 1. The Chargers punted two plays later, and Mike Scifres didn’t get all of a kick into a strong wind.

The Bengals took over at the San Diego 32-yard line and scored on a five-play drive.

Cincinnati went up 13-0 early in the second quarter eight plays after another windswept punt.

Failure to score on three plays from the 1-yard line late in the second quarter forced the Chargers to settle for a field goal. But the Chargers’ defense continued to stop the Bengals, and a 23-yard touchdown run by Ryan Mathews midway through the third quarter cut the Chargers’ deficit to 13-10. And another Cincinnati punt with two minutes remaining in the third quarter gave the Chargers the ball at their 21 with a chance to tie or go ahead.

But after moving to the 47-yard line, Philip Rivers’ pass over the middle was intercepted by Rey Maualuga and returned to the Chargers’ 21. The Bengals increased their tenuous lead to 10 points four plays later.

The Chargers drove to the Bengals’ 10-yard line but got just a field goal. Still within one score, though, they appeared about to stop the Bengals on the ensuing drive.

But a quick snap on third-and-seven caught cornerback Antoine Cason flat-footed, and Carson Palmer’s perfect bomb to Jerome Simpson resulted in a 59-yard touchdown and essentially ended the game.

“That’s a tough way to have it all slip through your hands,” safety Eric Weddle said. “… We weren’t playing well, but just to give it up like that, I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that.”