The San Diego Chargers Advance In The Playoffs

First, the Chargers lost LT. Then Philip Rivers. And they still beat the defending champion Colts ... on the road. Are you kidding?

Even without LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers, the Chargers made sure the Indianapolis Colts won't repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Honestly, as a big Colts fan, I have to admit the Indianapolis Colts didn't deserve to win this game. They played horrible. They played like the playoff Colts I remember from 2 years ago. On offense, Peyton Manning's passes were tipped and intercepted. At times I didn't know what he was thinking when he overthrew passes or tried to fire them in. Oh, and what a wonderful defense! No, seriously, that defense was great! (That's sarcasm). You know what the worst part is? Almost all the calls and penalties favored the Colts. They had plenty of help and still couldn't win.

OR PERHAPS the Colts should have won this game? I don't know, but look at it this way. They technically should have won, but they didn't deserve to win. The main reason why the Colts lost the game was because of 3 red zone possession turnovers...2 of which were freaky, tipped passes that just happened to land in the defender's arms. Those 2 bizarre interceptions (I swear the ball just happened to land in the defender's arms) should have been at the bare minimum 2 field goals instead. So instead of the Colts losing 28-24...they could have won 29-28! By 1 single point the Colts would have won if those bizarre, tipped interceptions never happened. Oh well, that's football.

I still have more. Injuries plagued this team all game and the Chargers just seemed to have done everything right. Even the Chargers' punter played well, pinning the Colts back on their final drive. However, injuries also plagued both teams. Injuries took a toll on both teams in Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game.

San Diego lost LaDainian Tomlinson for much of the day with a bruised left knee. The Chargers also watched Phillip Rivers head to the locker room after hurting his right knee on a short pass that Darren Sproles turned into a 56-yard touchdown on the last play of the third quarter.

Indianapolis lost safety Bob Sanders, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, briefly with a shoulder injury, while running back Joseph Addai sat out a portion of the second half after being shaken up on a 10-yard run.

Rivers jumped to throw the ball to Sproles and landed awkwardly. He was helped onto a training table on the sideline before going to the locker room for evaluation. By the time he jogged back out of the tunnel onto the Chargers sideline, he already had been replaced by Billy Volek.

Tomlinson was injured during a second-quarter run and remained on the sideline through the end of the third quarter, even though the Chargers said his return was probable. Sanders injured his shoulder tackling Turner with 6:14 remaining in the third, but returned the next time the Colts defense took the field.

Tomlinson limped off after being tackled on an 8-yard run that helped set up a second-quarter touchdown. The NFL rushing champion fumbled on the play, but San Diego recovered and Rivers threw a 14-yard TD pass to Vincent Jackson on the next play.

Tight end Antonio Gates, whose status was uncertain because of a dislocated big left toe, played sparingly in the first half. His first reception, a 23-yard catch, came on the same drive Tomlinson was hurt.

Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo also was taken to the locker room for attention after being blocked in the ribs on a first-quarter passing play. He returned after only missing a few plays.

But as LT and Philip Rivers watched, Michael Turner and Billy Volek helped the Chargers reach the AFC title game in New England.

With Billy Volek at quarterback and Michael Turner as the main runner, San Diego went 78 yards on eight plays, with Volek sneaking in from the 1 with 4:50 remaining for the lead. The Chargers' big-play defense then held on downs at its 7, and stopped Indy again in the final moments to preserve their eighth straight win.

The Chargers persevered 28-24 and its a sad day in the NFL, except for Chargers fans. Oh yea, and this may have been Tony Dungy's last game. I hope not.

The Chargers didn't come close against the Patriots in Week 2, falling 38-14. That was the beginning of a slide to 5-5 for San Diego. Perhaps this is a sign of the inevitable. That is, the New England Patriots were meant to win the Super Bowl this year.

And Philip Rivers needs anger management help with the way he was screaming at the Colts fans. Even the commentators said he needs to give that up. Seriously, though. Things like that is what gets you penalized or hated by millions of fans. I can't stand that guy's attitude and his constant angry face. Even when he's smiling he looks angry. He hasn't even accomplished anything yet, except for almost making me hate Tom Brady less. Still, despite that mad face he could be the nicest guy in the world. Anyway, I'm probably just sour the Colts lost.

An Evaluation Of Star Rookies And Sophomores In The NFL

I just learned that tailback Darren McFadden, the University of Arkansas star runner who finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up in each of the past two seasons, will forego his final season of college eligibility and enter the 2008 NFL draft. This is also confirmed on ESPN.

Multiple sources said McFadden's father, Graylon McFadden, dispatched the appropriate paperwork to the NFL office early this week. The decision by one of the college game's most electrifying performers to leave school a year early and pursue a professional career was hardly unexpected.

League and team officials, by policy, are precluded from commenting on underclass players who have petitioned for early draft entry until after the deadline for doing so has passed. The deadline is Jan. 15, and the NFL will release a full list of underclass prospects after that.

While it is still early in the evaluation process for the April 26-27 draft, many league scouts feel that McFadden could be the most talented prospect in the player pool.

Now to be fair, because I'm not a huge college football fan, I haven't had the chance to watch this guy play often. Therefore, I can't predict how he will perform in the NFL next season. However, based on the trend of rookies and sophomores not performing well the past two years (except for a selected few) my guess is he'll get off to a slow start.

Other than Adrian Peterson, who seemed to just explode out of nowhere, I'm unimpressed by the lack of talent from recent college players who entered the NFL, especially after all the hype that surrounded them. The following list includes young players who have not impressed me thus far or are terribly overrated.

-Reggie Bush - He is the definition of what it is to be overrated. Maybe because of his name people like him so much. The fact is, he can't run straight. He's too fancy and runs like he is still in college. Well, this is the NFL and in the NFL if you run and spin to the sides to dodge you're going to get run over.
-Vince Young - I really loved this guy at first. If anybody was going to succeed out of college, he would have been my pick. However, he sold out to the Madden curse and has been plagued by injuries all year. His career will never be what he hoped it would be as a result.
-Matt Leinart - Where did this guy go? He had a less than mediocre first year and he rarely played this year due to injuries.
-Brady Quinn - He never got a chance to play with the Browns....and he probably won't play for awhile thanks to the recent discovery and success of Derek Anderson.
-Troy Smith - He'll see playing time next year, but the Ravens should have started him later in the season. They had nothing to lose anyway.
-JaMarcus Russell - Yet another example of a rookie quarterback who should have started after all the hype, but never was given a chance to.
-John Beck - Speaking of nothing to lose, the Dolphins started this guy hoping maybe he'd change things for the better, but he didn't. I don't think Bill Parcells is that fond of this guy and I doubt he'll be starting next year.
-Jay Cutler - Just Awful
-Tarvaris Jackson - Even worse than Cutler!
-Kellen Clemens - If the Jets are hoping that there future quarterback lies in the fate of Kellen Clemens, then the Jets have a major screw loose.
-Calvin Johnson - He was hyped up a lot....until he got hurt.
-Brodie Croyle - Unimpressive this year.

Now this isn't to say that these guys can't improve. I'm just saying these guys were hyped up coming into the league and have done nothing noteworthy

Enough with the negativity. Who are the young players who have been doing well?

-Joseph Addai - Perhaps he's just lucky to be playing along side Peyton Manning.
-Maurice Jones Drew - Very fast, very small, and very powerful. This is a good-quality running back.
-Lawrence Maroney - Same with Addai, only he's luckier to have fallen in with the Patriots.
-Greg Jennings - One of the players on the Packers who has given new life to Brett Favre.
-Devin Hester - If nobody kicked to him, then teams would save giving up lots of points. But, that wouldn't be fun to watch.
-Marshawn Lynch - Probably the Bills' best player. Still, that's not saying much.
-Chris Henry - LenDale White - These guys make a decent running back duo for the Titans. Better than the running back duo on the Saints , at least, but no where near as good as the running back duo on the Vikings, Cowboys, or Jags.
-Anthony Gonzalez - With the loss of Stokley this year and the absence of Marvin Harrison, Anothony Gonzalez has proven too be a reliable extra weapon for Peyton Manning.