The Post Mortem

Your San Diego Chargers are the 2007 AFC West Champions.

Even that didn't seem possible despite playing in one of the worst conferences in the history of the NFL. The Chargers were absolutely miserable in the early part of the season, with the home loss to Kansas City being one of the defining moments of Norv Turner's early tenure in San Diego.

But now the Chargers have won four consecutive games and eight of their last ten. They are playing good football right now. Almost like a real football team. Are they good enough to beat New England? Why bother to answer that right now. The Chargers have gone through so many losing seasons, fans need to take enjoyment from their team doing well right now.

Because really, they won't suck me in.

Like last year. The Chargers had me convinced. And we remember how all of that ended.

Of course, firing Marty Schotteheimer following a 14-2 season only raises the expectation level. Although, take a look at recent history. The Steelers went 15-1, but lost to the Patriots in the playoffs that year. Pittsburgh struggled the following year, but ended up getting into the playoffs and eventually winning the Super Bowl. The Colts went 14-2 and lost in the playoffs (to the Steelers) that season. Indy struggled (sort of) to get back into the playoffs the following year, but ended up winning the Super Bowl.

Oh great, the Chargers are starting to sucker me in again. Well, not really. But hey, they won the division title and have won a ton of games over the past two seasons. There is no team in the AFC (outside of New England) that looks that impressive. The Chargers have already beaten the Colts. Jacksonville would have to come to San Diego. Cleveland wouldn't be able to stop the Chargers. Pittsburgh has been exposed. And when you get down to it, the Chargers don't have to be better than the Patriots, they just have to be better than the Patriots for 60 minutes.

Damn it, they are not getting me.

THE PATRIOTS WIN
Funny, watching the Patriots get all of the calls on replay and their fans tossing snow balls in the air was a lot of fun a few years ago. Fun, when it was coming against the Raiders and the St. Louis FC. But now, looking back at partying with Patriots fans following Super Bowl 36, you feel like the Americans who sided with Bin Laden during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It made sense at the time, and hell you made some money off of it. But now you just feel dirty.

And wasn't it ironic that it was the Jets who were done-in by a video replay on Sunday?

• Is it wrong to root for hotter heads to prevail in NFL brawls? The Bucs and Falcons were getting into some great fights on Sunday. Just what do you suppose the Bucs were saying to Falcons players on the field during the game? That would have been a great game to have some players mike'd up.
• When you heard that Ray Lewis broke his hand, was your immediate reaction, "how will he conceal murder weapons now?"
• And incidentally, what's the over/under on the number of Dolphins and or Raven arrested in South Beach after Sunday's game? Even the French would be embarrassed by the way Raven folded. (Did you notice that it was two former Chargers Cleo Lemon and Greg Camarillo who led the Dolphins to the win? Figures.)
• How many fantasy owners would like to bring a class action suit against Brian Westbrook for not running in that touchdown at the end of the Cowboys game on Sunday? Nice move, jerk.
• Could Jessica Simpson be the new Yoko Ono of the Dallas Cowboys? (And please, no supportive emails saying that it wasn't Yoko's fault that the Beatles broke up. Yes, she just had to take the deal in St. Louis, the same way that Hitler just had to take Poland. Oh wait, got the Murdering Showgirl confused with the Murdering Ono.) The point is, don't hook up with broads during the football season. Tom Brady didn't start knocking up models and actresses until after he won a Super Bowl.
  
• Lil' Hater sent in a note to say that all snow games should immediately be shown on local television. And that sounds good in theory, like a round of Jagermeister shots. Those games are fun for a few minutes until you end up getting an 8-0 snoozer. The only time those games pay off are when the Raiders get screwed.
  

AND FINALLY
Rich Rodriguez will be the new coach at Michigan. Titan Tim had the best reaction to this, namely, how does he think he is going to get guys like PacMan Jones and Chris Henry into Michigan? That can't happen.