May have been Chargers' last chance
By Kevin Acee 4:41 p.m. Nov. 3, 2013
Philip Rivers connects with Danny Woodhead on a 6 yard pass play that was initially called a touchdown but reversed. The chargers failed to convert a touchdown after this play settling for a field goal then losing in overtime 30-24. — Sean M. Haffey
LANDOVER, Md. — They were so close.
”It was all there for us to win,” head coach Mike McCoy said. “It was all there for the taking.”
And now they are so far.
The Chargers were two feet from being hailed as a team of destiny, a group that could overcome its own mistakes and win on the road. This was the new Chargers, it seemed.
Then three plays of dubious derivation failed. The Chargers lost, 30-24, in overtime to the Washington Redskins on Sunday in a game they essentially had to win.
So, as it is, we can pretty much chalk this season up to a growing experience and resign ourselves to waiting another year for the playoff drought to end.
“Totally disheartening, terrible, just awful way to lose,” safety Eric Weddle said. “I’m so tired of giving games away when we have it in the bag and we just find a way to lose. It’s just so devastating. Just awful.”
Redskins fans cheered lustily when a ruling that Danny Woodhead had scored a go-ahead touchdown with 21 seconds remaining was overturned on review. It seemed the FedEx Field faithful were hoping against hope, given the fact the Chargers had plenty of time to run three plays from inside of a yard.
Evidently, what they were hoping was that Philip Rivers would audible to a slow-developing run play out of the shotgun on first down, then throw a fade to Antonio Gates on second down before essentially throwing away a third down pass.
If so, they were right. Amazingly.
A half-dozen times, McCoy was asked different ways to talk about the thinking by he and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt on that goal-line series. Every time, McCoy gave a variation of the same answer -- that he would not second-guess the play calling.
“If one of those three plays worked, there would be no questions asked,” McCoy said.
Considering that neither of those first two plays had a very high chance of success, that “if” was a lot bigger than the six-inch gulf that felled the Chargers.
And, for the record, just as in Tennessee when McCoy accused the assembled media of questioning him only because something didn’t work, questions were rampant in the press box (and, probably, in living rooms across America) from the time Rivers handed off to Woodhead on first down on Sunday.
Few people defer to coaches' playcalling more than I do. You watch film with people who play and coach the game and you learn every time how much you don’t know.
But in this instance, no defensive alignment, no matchup issue, almost nothing you could imagine could convince me that the Chargers trying to run power at least once was not the right thing to do.
Chargers players resolutely took the fall for not executing the play calls.
Regardless, they had a gnawing feeling as overtime began.
It wasn’t like they had scrambled just to the 30 and then made a game-tying field goal as time ran out.
“We were so close,” Rivers said.
“Anytime you don’t capitalize when you’re so close,” center Nick Hardwick said, “it always seems to come back and get you.”
Still, this team’s main issue – the reasons it won’t be playing in January -- is more than the McCoysenhunt offense choking on its own bile.
We knew the Chargers defense was their weakest link. We just had more opportunity to see it Sunday.
The Redskins beat the Chargers the way the Chargers had beaten people -- by staying on the field. Just twice all season had their opponent won the possession battle-- and never like this, holding the ball for 34 minutes in regulation and then marching unobstructed for an overtime touchdown.
We can talk about Rivers being a little off, about one of his receivers running the wrong way on a second-quarter interception and another dropping a sure third-down conversion and not fighting for the ball on another pick. We can wonder what happened to the running game the Chargers had so proudly established the previous two weeks.
But what had been mostly masked of late was again plainly evident Sunday.
The Chargers are not accomplishing anything with this defense.
It must be noted that the defense made a momentous third-down stop to give the offense that last chance. But that was one of just five times in 17 chances the Redskins did not convert on third down.
The Chargers failed to get the Redskins off the field on six straight third downs from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter as the Redskins went from trailing 14-7 to leading 21-14.
Weddle eventually got around to a brave, “We’ve just got to bounce back. We’ve bounced back from losses. We’ve shown we can do it.
Even then, he trailed off with this acknowledgment: “But we needed this one. We threw it all out there. We tried.”
Yes. And, ultimately, they weren't good enough. They blew it.
To some extent, this coaching staff being second-guessed is a victim of what they have wringed out of this team to have it at 4-4 midway through the season. As an end, it’s been impressive.
But a missed opportunity such as what they let slip away Sunday is not something this team can overcome.
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