There was a point in time during yesterday’s Raiders Chargers game where it looked like the Oakland Raiders were a 12-4 team, not a 4-12 team.  Then, as reliable as the sun rising, the Raiders flipped the switch and went into “Raider mode.”  Instead of throwing up a hail mary pass to end the half, Head Coach Lane Kiffin called for the field goal team to go onto the field and for Sebastian Janikowski to attempt a 76 yard field goal.  76 yards! The NFL record is 63 and that was kicked in the thin air of Denver with wind assistance.  This was 76 yards into the wind in the dead air of Oakland.

It was at this point that I realized that Lane Kiffin simply doesn’t give a shit about his job anymore.  JaMarcus Russell has arguably the strongest arm in football, throwing an off balance pass 70 yards earlier in the game.  There was no question that Russell could get it to the endzone, it was a matter of Kiffin letting him try it.  Screw it.  Why not try and kick the longest field goal in NFL history with the fattest kicker in NFL history.  Of course Janikowski shorted it, barely getting it inside the five yard line.  Not that it would have mattered even if it had the distance; Janikowski pulled the shit out of it to the left.

Update: Thanks to Deadspin who located a video of the play.  Enjoy it before it promptly gets removed by the NFL Youtube Nazis

After the San Diego Chargers’ shocking loss yesterday, the first thing I wanted to do was log onto Sportable and rip the NFL apart, mainly their most famous referee, Ed Hochuli. But I didn’t want to speak out of rage and emotion. After a reflection of the chaos, I think I’ve calmed down enough to where I can address the nonsense that went down at Invesco Field yesterday.

The weirdness started early on, as Champ Bailey’s extracurricular activities were rewarded, as he stripped an already-tackled Chris Chambers. The result, shockingly enough, was called an interception by Bailey. When Muscle Beach Hochuli went to review it, he found the replay system “malfunctioning.” Convenient. But instead of having a back-up plan, the NFL only requires officials to wait two minutes before moving on with the play as called. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a goon up in the replay booth that has access to these things. In the case of malfunction, why aren’t the review responsibilities delegated to the upstairs official? Seems like a pretty easy way to alleviate the crisis, right Commissioner Goodell?

Then, of course, the Jay Cutler play. Can we think of a more obvious blown call? I can’t. Here’s an issue that needs to be addressed at this year’s owner meeting. Ed Hochuli and his triceps quickly admitted the call was blown, but there was simply no way to correct the call because the whistle was blown. Why in the hell not? Hochuli screwed up, but under this rule, he’s not permitted to fix it. We know Guns’ track record; all in all, he’s a pretty solid official. But he’s human. Humans make mistakes. But I thought the reason we had the review system was so human mistakes wouldn’t decide football games. 

Bad calls are a part of sports. I get that. And while Denver should have never even gotten the chance to score their touchdown and 2 point conversion, San Diego still had two great chances to knock a pass down. For the second week in a row, they failed. For the second week in a row, defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell showed how inept he is, bringing no pressure and letting his all-pro, physical cornerbacks give ten yards of cushion. Old habits die hard. For Cottrell, this latest screw-up should be the deciding factor in giving the defensive coordinator spot to linebacker coach Ron Rivera. 

All in all, the San Diego Chargers were completely robbed yesterday. But even after being robbed (twice), they still had two opportunities to win the football game by making one play. They didn’t. Ultimately, that falls on Ted Cottrell and his suddenly inept defense.

In this edition we take a look at the AFC West, complete with two of the worst teams in football (Chiefs and Raiders) and one of the best (Chargers).  In addition to discussing these teams in depth, we make our playoff and Super Bowl predictions, and you don’t want to miss those.

Hosts: Kevin, Rich, Ryan, Sonny

 

 AFC West [46:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

• The San Diego Chargers, knowing they have a limited window of opportunity to win championships, have always been an organization that looks out for their own. That trend continued yesterday, as the Bolts inked star defensive end Luis Castillo to an extension through 2014. With stars like Antonio Cromartie, Shawne Merriman and Philip Rivers just two years away from free agency, general manager AJ Smith will be busting his ass to get as many of his stars signed as possible.

• With so much talk about the Giants and Cowboys, I guess the Eagles’ Donovan McNabb was getting a little bit antsy. McNabb came out and hyped up the Eagles‘ chances at a Super Bowl berth. I understand it’s foolish to count out Andy Reid’s boys. But come on, Donovan. Because you “should have” beat the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins, that makes you Super Bowl contenders?

• More news about he who shall not be named. Reports have surfaced of an old, indecisive quarterback calling up the Minnesota Vikings using a cell phone provided by the Green Bay Packers. In other news, both the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are downplaying their interest in you-know-who.

• Good news for teams that haven’t signed their first round pick yet. The Bears (#14 Chris Williams) and Giants (#31 Kenny Phillips) have both signed the dotted line with their top choices With a few more first rounders getting signed, this should speed up negotiations between teams and unsigned picks.

You heard it all week. The banged-up Chargers would be routed by the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, serving as merely a speed bump on the Patriots’ road to Glendale, Arizona. But despite injuries to seven current or former Pro Bowlers, San Diego made it a game well into the 4th quarter. None of those injuries were more serious than those of quarterback Philip Rivers, who played through a sprained MCL and partially torn ACL.

Lost in the midst of Rivers’ “trash talking” was the fact that he closed out 2007 very well. After struggling to adjust to Norv Turner’s more complex offensive system, Rivers threw 14 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in the Bolts’ last nine games. The fact that he played his last seven games with a knee injury (or two) shows this guy’s toughness. On a day when LaDainian Tomlinson sulked on the Chargers bench nursing a knee injury, Rivers earned the respect of everyone around the league.

“He earned my respect tonight,” said Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi. “To come back and play the way he did, I think all of those fans of the San Diego Chargers should understand that they have a tough guy at quarterback.”

“Toughest guy on the whole field today, both sides,” center Nick Hardwick said. “There’s no way he should have been playing. I wouldn’t have played if I was him. He’s a tough sucker. I don’t care what anybody says about him talking. He’s a competitor. Nobody was going to keep him off the field. He willed himself to play this game. It’s pretty amazing.”

Rivers’ ability to grasp a new system and silence the brainless boo-birds in San Diego should bode well for the 2008 season. With Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and that LT guy playing together all year, Rivers’ confidence should only grow…if that’s possible. And the defense that limited the Pats to 21 points and forced three turnovers? They’re not going anywhere either. In fact, they’ll only get better with the impending departure of nickel cornerback Drayton Florence. While the Chargers didn’t have enough to beat the Pats in their year of glory, this team will definitely be back.

The Colts were supposed to blow this one wide open by the third quarter. They were supposed to send the RCA Dome out in style. Instead, the defending Super Bowl Champions got served a batch of humble pie by back-up quarterback Billy Volek when he snuck in the go-ahead touchdown with a little over four minutes remaining in the game. It assuredly wasn’t how Peyton Manning had envisioned the game going. It assuredly wasn’t how Norv Turner had envisioned the game going especially after losing LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers to injuries. In the end, however, it was that jumbled mess from San Diego who began packing their bags for New England, not the reigning Super Bowl Champs.

Give both teams some credit. Five lead changes in a game that was one of the finest I’ve watched all season. We had Marvin fumbling, Dallas stumbling, Rivers mumbo-jumbo-ing, and LT left wondering. Where was Bob Sanders? The Defensive Player of the Year was invisible on the field for most of the game with the exception of the injury he sustained. Where was Joseph Addai? 13 rushes for just 43 yards isn’t the kind of balance we are used to seeing from this Colts offense.

Don’t bother giving any credit to the referees. One of the more lopsided games I’ve ever seen called included a phantom holding penalty that negated an interception return for a touchdown and a pass interference call that wasn’t much beyond a tap of the receiver.  There was a point in this game where it appeared as if Norv Turner’s head might explode from screaming so much.

If yesterday’s game is any indication of how gritty this San Diego team will play next week versus the New England Undefeateds, then I think we are in for a good one. Even with the prospect of Rivers or LT not playing, this Chargers team looks like it has no fear. I’m not going to call them the Super Bolts just yet but maybe, just maybe, this team got it’s 2006 swagger back