The Post Mortem

Up early for all of you that need a place to bag on the Chargers.

What could have made the Chargers season worse? How about your star player running after an member of the Patriots after the game looking to start a fight? Listen, LaDainian Tomlinson is one of the best players in the league and, by all accounts, a pretty classy guy. But chasing after a member of the Patriots because he is doing the "Light's Out" dance is pretty weak. Actually pretty stupid. If anything, it made the Chargers look more like a second-rate franchise (as hard as that is to believe.).

As if blowing that game could have made it any worse. If you are going to be pissed about teams "showing your up" or dancing on your logo, the alternative was to, you know, win the game. That would have solved a whole lot of problems.

People will try to find a way to blame Marty Schottenheimer for this game. But there were too many drops, a stupid personal foul after stopping the Patriots on third down, and the fumble by Eric Parker. The Chargers made too many mistakes on the field and they deserved to lose. Having LT trying to start fights after the game didn�t help. The Chargers choked again. There is no way to really explain differently.

Hopefully Marty enjoys (forced) retirement. There is no way the Chargers bring him back next season. And it kind of sucks. If, for no other reason, the team will probably hire Mike Martz to run the team.

• LT explains himself after the game: "When you go to the middle of our field, when you start doing the dance that Shawne Merriman is known for, that's disrespectful to me. And I can't sit there and watch that. And so, yeah, I was very upset. And just the fact that they showed no class at all. Absolutely no class. And maybe that comes from their head coach. So you know, there you have it.�
  
  Listen, does Bill Belichick (expletive) around with other guys wives? Sure, but don't insinuate that he has no class.

• Quote of the Day: "Anytime you're in the playoffs and lose, and certainly I have plenty of experience at it, there's a disappointment," Schottenheimer said.

• When did LT turn into Redd Foxx? Hold me back, hold me back! What a tragic end for such a magical season. What will you remember more, the 31 touchdowns or the fight? What a sad ending.
  

• Marty did make one mistake when he went for it on fourth-and-80 during the first half. Why not try the field goal there? If you had confidence in Kaeding to hit a 54-yarder, why not go for the FGthere?

• To add insult to injury, Belichick�s son sold a bunch of Chargers fans $200 worth of oregano after the game. That�s just cold, man.

• Who wants to be the top seed in the AFC anymore?

• You want to hate Tom Brady and the Patriots for winning, but why? Brady is a Patron Saint of THN for his 2001 playoff season. But if the Chargers can�t beat him on the field, then so be it. Don�t start acting like a jilted teenager because you lost. You lost. Don't start talking (expletive) about the other team's coach or anything. You lost.

PEYTON MANNING CLASSY AS ALWAYS

LT wasn�t the only one embarrassing his fan base after the game. Said Peyton Manning after the Colts victory. "It seems like for so long it's been 'Colts win', but then 'Peyton Manning loses. Either give me all the credit when we win or give the team the blame when we lose.

Thanks, there will be no temptation to root for the Colts next week.

• You have to admit that you are relived a little bit when the Colts win because that means that Tony Dungy�s kids survived the weekend. Just saying is all.

• One of the kickers is choking next week. It has to happen. ngy's kids Speaking of choking, did you notice that (Lil' Hater's note: This will end right here. Sorry for you guys that read this far.)

The NFC Playoffs

Congratulations to Rex Grossman for redeeming his career by beating the Seahawks. Oh wait, didn�t the Bear destroy the Seahawks 37-6 earlier this season? So didn't he regress a little bit on Sunday? Is anybody picking the Bears to win at home against the Saints? Well, except for Dr. Doug?

Conrad Bain, who is 7-1 in the playoff, has long said this is the NFC�s year to win the Super Bowl. And it is hard to pick against the Saints who would probably have little trouble scoring points against the Colts or Patriots. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

• How many Subway commercials are we going to be enforced to endure until Michael Strahan has paid off his divorce settlement? Strahan is the only guy who can make Jared seem butch. And did anybody else notice that Strahan was wearing jhorts? Jeans/shorts?
  

• Hey 24 is back on FOX. What, you don't care either? Sweet, neither do we.

• Is there any way to really describe how Baltimore feels today after the Colts just punked them? Sand Diego is pretty bummed, but you can�t top Baltimore right now. Even the ghost of Johnny Unitas is depressed.

AND FINALLY

The Patriots seemed pretty cocksure following their defeat against San Diego. But be warned, Patriots, losing to the Colts would pretty much render all of that meaningless and actually ruin your three-Super Bowl dynasty. Don�t blow it now. Alright, that's pissed Chargers fan talking, please, just beat the Colts.