The Post Mortem

You know it's a big win when Bim Bim the Bastard emails you moments after the Chargers victory with the subject line, "The Hat." (That's because he correctly predicted a Chargers win and was never sweating it.)

And you have to give it to the Chargers, that was a real impressive win. In fact, that was the first time in club history that the Chargers have rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win on the road. So yes, this was a big win.

But is this the kind of win that summons you to throw caution to the wind and proclaim that the Chargers are going to do something in the playoffs?

Well, let�s just enjoy this one. Be honest, it has taken only 14 weeks, but Norv Turner has finally got the Chargers to the same point they were at last year. Turner was hired to take the Chargers higher. So as the Wolf says, �Let�s not start sucking each other�s (expletives) just yet.�

However, you really have to be impressed with Philip Rivers. He looked like hell during this game, getting beaten on by Kyle Vanden Bosch for most of the day. That led Titan Tim to say this guy has regressed worse than Rick Mirer.

But he was money when it counted. Rivers was 11-for-17 for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the final two drives. The Titans were playing a zone, but Rivers still led the team down the field. He�s not Joe Montana or Dan Marino by any means, but you have to give him credit.

And what about LaDainian Tomlinson who, at one point, looked so disgusted at Rivers that he walked away from him when the QB took a seat next to him on the bench? Maybe it was LT's cold shoulder that sparked some life into Rivers who seems like he needs to take extra doses of Ritalin when he's out on the field.

• The only bad news is that a source in Tennessee overheard Titans center Kevin Mawae say that Shawne Merriman is likely done for the season. Take that for what it's worth.

TAYLOR DIED FOR YOUR FREEDOM
The NFL is going to wear the No. 21 decals to honor Sean Taylor. Not that Taylor�s death isn�t a tragedy, but the NFL forced Jake Plummer to swallow his pride and not wear Tillman�s No. 40.

Hell, the NFL should still be wearing No. 40 stickers.

You have to wonder if the NFL isn�t using Taylor�s death to cover-up everything with Pac-Man Jones and Michael Vick who -- incidentally -- will be sentenced Monday. Is the NFL is riding Taylor�s corpse in the hopes that people forget that the Michael Vick thing is happening.

• More players should make guarantees. That way, they will become so absolutely meaningless, that nobody will ever pay attention to them again. Although getting attention from a meaningless guarantee is better than the alternative, like crashing your motorcycle into somebody�s car like the quarterback did.
  

• Do all of the camera (expletive) 1972 Dolphins show up when the current squad plays host to the currently undefeated Patriots? Like Nick Buoniconti is going to be sitting there, cheering on Cleo Lemon like there is no tomorrow.
  

• The Patriots should invite members of the 1976 Buccaneers onto the sidelines for the showdown to counteract all of the old Dolphins. That would be cool.
  

• The Patriots should invite members of the 1976 Buccaneers onto the sidelines for the showdown to counteract all of the old Dolphins.
  

• Don�t look now, but it looks like Brian Billick has kissed his job goodbye in Baltimore. Raven looked like the football field was the last place that they wanted to be on Sunday night. Even the Philadelphia Quitters were offended by that performance.
  

AND FINALLY
The more you look at the schedule of games remaining, the most fortunate we are as a nation to not have NFL Network in our homes. Time Warner should run counter ads saying, �If we buckled to the NFL Network, you would have to watch Denver at Houston. Or worse, the Bengals at San Francisco on Saturday. Do you want to listen to Bryant Gumble for three hours?"

You would have to pay me to watch that game on Saturday.