Chargers fall short against Pats

Sunday, Jan 14, 2007
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

The Chargers reeled off 14 wins this season by protecting the ball, capitalizing on turnovers and taking advantage of a favorable bounce here and there.  

For the first time since late October, the bounces went the other way, and the Chargers saw their season come to an end Sunday with a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.  

“Our guys played their hearts out today,” Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer said.  “Obviously we’re very, very disappointed in the outcome of this football game, but this team had a hell of a year.  We turned the ball over four times, and you can’t do that and expect to win.”

For more than three quarters, the Chargers were able to accomplish several of the things they felt they needed to in order to come away with a victory.  They ran the ball affectively.  Their defense kept the Patriots from doing so.  They forced turnovers and created field position.  

But in the final minutes, things started to unravel.  With the Chargers holding a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter, Eric Parker was unable to cleanly field a punt.  New England recovered deep in Chargers territory.  A Shaun Phillips sack had the Patriots backed up at the 35 yard line, creating a long field goal attempt for rookie Steven Gostkowski.

But a personal foul on Drayton Florence gave the Patriots a new set of downs, and moments later they cut their deficit to one with a 34-yard Gostkowski chip shot.

“I lost my cool a bit,” Florence said.  “There was a lot of talking going on the whole game and for a moment I didn’t handle it like I should have.”

On the following drive, Philip Rivers moved the Chargers to the New England 37 yard line when a swing pass intended for LaDainian Tomlinson was tipped and intercepted by Roosevelt Colvin.  

The Bolts defense held, and LaDainian Tomlinson was able to push the lead to 21-13 with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter.  New England’s ensuing drive appeared to have come to an end when safety Marlon McCree intercepted Tom Brady on 4th-and-5 from the San Diego 41.  Again, the Chargers were hit by a bit of bad fortune.  Patriots wide receiver stripped McCree during the return, and New England’s fumble recovery allowed them to continue the drive.  

Five plays later, Tom Brady found former Charger Reche Caldwell in the back of the end zone, and Kevin Faulk’s conversion on the two-point try allowed New England to tie the ball game.  

After the Chargers stalled, Brady came back on the field to work more of his postseason magic.  On 3rd-and-10 deep in his own territory, he found Caldwell running down the sideline for a 49-yard gain.  A 31-yard Gostkowski field goal gave New England their first lead since midway through the second quarter.  

Rivers got the Bolts to the Patriots’ 36 yard line with eight seconds left, but Nate Kaeding’s 54-yard field goal attempt fell well short and New England preserved the win.

“I don’t know if I can put it into words,” Tomlinson said.  “We’re very disappointed.  I think we all share in the disappointment.”

Tomlinson was brilliant in defeat, finishing the game with 123 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.  He added two receptions for 64 yards, including a 58-yarder that set up a Michael Turner touchdown run.

New England rushed for just 51 yards as a team, and through three quarters, Brady’s passer rating was just 45.7.  He finished the game 27-for-51 for 280 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.  The Chargers failed to score on any of their takeaways.    

“All year, things bounced our way,” defensive end Luis Castillo said.  “With that said, we still had the opportunity to win the game.  We just failed to do it.”