MemphisRich wrote on Jan 17, 2007 4:31 AM:Great recap. The only issue I have is the constant blame put on Schottenheimer for the calls. Yes he did make a couple of dumb moves (the challenge being the most obvious) but the play calling through most of the game was handled by Cameron and Philips. Marty didn't even have a headset on. The playcalling shouldn't fall at his feet, even though he refuses to throw his staff under the bus. The biggest blame is the execution of the players who I feel were overconfident, a lesson one can only hope they learn for the next time.

Mainiac Pats Fan wrote on Jan 17, 2007 5:28 AM:I read, with interest, the blogs last week before the game, after a story by the same author. It was amazing to see the disrespect accorded the Patriots. While I still believe that the Chargers are a better team this year, they are still a year away from putting it together. And Marty only made a couple mistakes during the game. He had a successful running attack and tried to rely on Rivers and it failed. And he should have led Kaeding kick the field goal on 4th and 11. The lost timeout is a lick on his booth personal for trying to reverse a call that was obviously not going to be reversed. Marty wasn't in the booth but whoever was should find a new job (like the refs in the booth at the OU vs Oregon game this year). That timeout would have allowed another pass play opportunity. As for the Pats doing the Juicer dance, I would have been more upset if they had mimicked anyone else, but the Juicer needs to be out of football for a year so the effects of the juice are gone before being allowed to play again. And Tomlinson overeacted and came off as a poor sport. He would have looked better if he had just pointed it out in the news room after the game. Instead, he tarnished his MVP with what looked to be poor sportsmanship. It may well have been poor judgement to do what they did, but it was, after all, the Juicer. Someone who gets caught breaking the rules need to be a bit more humble upon his return. The dance was stupid, unprofessional and uncalled for. Good luck next year!

stevef wrote on Jan 17, 2007 6:55 AM:Excellent description of what happened. Marty gets 1% blame, Parker, Florence and McCree need to think about their ERRORS! Unbelievable.

Tom wrote on Jan 17, 2007 7:40 AM:Thanks for this great summary of the game. It was great reliving this landmark game and I enjoyed reading it almost as much as watching it live.

Mark from Pitt wrote on Jan 17, 2007 9:19 AM:Blame Marty if you want but San Diegos's WR's were beyond terrible in this game. If anybody should be fired it is the WR coach. Parker should have stayed home and Jackson not dragging his foot in the end zone was just plain stupid. Both had critical drops and errors and their mistakes hurt more than the DB's fumbles and dropped picks. If not for them, the chargers would have been up big by the 4th qtr anyway. The Chargers acted like a team that was not used to pressure and it showed.

Steve L wrote on Jan 17, 2007 10:11 AM:From top to bottom, the head coach is responsible for the play of his team and the performance of his coaches as well. Marty chose to go for it on 4th and 11. Marty burned those time-outs. Marty makes the game plan that apparently overlooked LT in 4th-quarter crunch time. Why haven't his teams historically been ready for the playoffs? When, if ever, will that end?

redzone wrote on Jan 17, 2007 10:30 AM:Looking at the long list of inexcusable failures by Parker, it almost seems he was paid to throw the game. I've watched the way he muffed the punt so many times in replay. Parker is too stupid for the playoffs. Or worse.

Chris from MA wrote on Jan 17, 2007 10:45 AM:It's funny the way authors write what happened. I find you need to read two points of view to get the truth. Now on the pass to LT, I will agree Rivers didn't give it enough OOMPH, but give colvin some credit, even wit hthe short pass, that was a tough angle to make that interception. Maybe people say the game was gift wrapped to the Pats, well since when do opposing teams gift wrap sacks to their own QB? Since when do teams gift wrap fumbles and drop passes? Cuz if that's how it works, and the patriots didn't win the game, the Chargers lost the game....then I want these gifts for Christmas next year...

bolts4betterorworse wrote on Jan 17, 2007 12:03 PM:The only thing more painful than that last game is reliving it one mistake at a time. Looks like we should've gotten rid of Parker and kept Caldwell. But, seriously, where was Malcolm Floyd, why not run Turner some more, and quit blaming Marty for players not making plays! P.S. I guess Jammer isn't a shutdown corner after all.

Harlan wrote on Jan 17, 2007 12:10 PM: The Chargers had ten wins in a row to finish the season. That is a huge accomplishment. Next season they will draw on this "playoff" game as the stepping stone to get in the "Show". The only thing they have ever lacked (and still do), is a good secondary defense. Ask Hadl,Fouts,Humphry,or Rivers.

MartyMustHitTheShowers wrote on Jan 17, 2007 12:22 PM:Get him out now, Jets (2004) was STRIKE 1; Pats (2006) was STRIKE 2; Don't wait for the 3-playoff loss HAT-TRICK analysts!!!!!!!

David from NV wrote on Jan 17, 2007 12:49 PM:Marty gets very little blame from me. The players on this team this year seemed more intersted in making the probowl than the superbowl. They were more interested in talking trash than playing football against the Pats. However, I do not want to take away from the Pats. They earned the victory. I just hope Brees is waiting for them in the big game.

Recap of Game! wrote on Jan 17, 2007 1:04 PM:Patriots taught the cry baby Chargers a lesson they will never forget! The Chargers got to big for their britches and forgot how to keep playing like a Super Bowl is suppose to play. Alll the way to the end! If they paid as much attention to the details of the game as they did their goofy dancing or how the Patriots disrespected them, maybe they would have had a win! Boo Hoo, they disrespected me! You want respect, play solid football from the first kick off to the last second of the last play! Thay will give you respect that no one can take away! That is also why the Pats are a winning team! Play football and grow up Chargers!

hungster-in-Esc wrote on Jan 17, 2007 1:38 PM:As I slowly getting out of the mourning, I long for some light at the end of the tunnel. We cannot turn back time, so we can only correct the mistakes in the future. While many of gaffs mentioned in the Klitzing article are correctable, either by improving the mental approaches or changing personnel, but I believe the WRs must be a priority this off season. The Defense Secondary must be retooled thouroughly, and the Prevent Defense must be deleted from the playbook. As for the coach, although Martyball as we knew it has been dead (after the Baltimore debacle), it might have reincarnated in a no-less sinister form. By being so detached from the playcalling, it seems the only way the coach can show his command of the game by being ready to intervene even in the most inopportune way (4th and 11 in the First, non-challenge challenge plus the timeout rightafter the Pats injury timeout in the Fourth. These mistakes originated from the 15 yds he got for stepping-on-the-field-arguing in the Jet game two years ago). When it leaks, it rains down from the top. That is where accountability should also be held.

HunterT` wrote on Jan 17, 2007 3:37 PM:SteveL, it's silly to say a coach is responsible for absolutely everything that happens on the field. Is Parcells responsible for TO's shenanigans? No. And Shcottenheimer is not responsible for Parker's dropped passes, muffed ball (which he should have fallen on). Should Schottenheimer have done a better job showing Parker how not slip on reverse plays? I suppose James Lofton has never shown Vincent Jackson how to drag a foot either. At some point, SteveL, players become responsible for executing. They're not robots programmeed by a head coach. They're grown men and supposedly professionals. If anybody should be cfired after this game, it's Parker. He's never been much more than mediocre and if he would have been that against the Pats, we'd still be in it. What has the guy ever really done besides play one of the worst individual playoff games in Bolt history?

Michael wrote on Jan 17, 2007 6:01 PM:Why is Reche Caldwell the player shown in this website's Chargers banner? Get that dude outta' here! How about someone like Rivers, Williams, or Superman?

greg wrote on Jan 17, 2007 6:46 PM:I am still so disappointed I don't know if I can watch anymore of the playoffs or the Super Bowl. The bottem line is, we were not ready to play. Period. The fellows played like a bunch ready to go to Hawaii and relax. Not matter how good you are, you still have to play this game with the will to win. Taking nothing away from the Pats, but the best team of the last decade played to win. We lost our focus and determination to show the world we were really the best NFL team this year. I think I am going to go throw up. I am still sick over this lose. It was unexcuseable.

Jim wrote on Jan 17, 2007 7:17 PM:A good recap, but, I'll split hairs on a couple of points. The "fresh set of downs" that resulted from Donnie Edwards' offsides penalty was essentially meaningless, i.e., with 13 seconds left, 1st down isn't appreciable any better than 2nd down. Of course, we'll never know if the 5 yards was critical. The Pats made a nice play for the TD--one of Brady's few good passes in the 1st half. Secondly, when Philips sacked Brady, a Pats Offensive lineman caught the ball and stumbled to the 34. So, while there is no argument that Florence is a knucklehead, Gostkowski may have made a 51 yarder at that point. His 50 yarder in the 1st quarter had plenty of distance. We'll never know if the Pats would have risked a FG attempt, though. Now, this is really splitting hairs, but Tomlinson gained NEARLY 6 yards on that 1st down run with under 4 minutes left. Was the pass call on 2nd down some perverse way of AVOIDING being ridiculed for playing Martyball? Because to me, when you have an effective ground game, Martyball is a GOOD thing. I was very surprised that they threw on 2nd down. A couple of more notes **I'm surprised that a couple of people are ragging on Kaeding. **I can't put McCree's fumble in the same category as the mistakes made by Parker, Jackson, Florence and Olivea. Speaking of Olivea's personal foul, the Pats MOST LIKELY PUNT if they face that 4th and 5 situation in their own territory--which is where they would have been without the personal foul penalty--right? We might never have had to suffer through the INT/fumble by McCree!! **I usually defend Marty, and am glad he's coming back, but the 4th and 11 non-FG attempt was very strange. OK, stupid. I don't care if Cam said that he had a DOZEN plays that could pick up the yardage. If Kaeding was a bum, it would have been acceptable to go for it. Instead, it was dumb. **90% of the Chargers played hard and played well. Yes, they gave the game away, but most of the Chargers played well enough to win. Saying the "Chargers choked" is far from accurate. Only a handful of them blew this game.

American-Irish Resident wrote on Jan 17, 2007 9:01 PM:Mr IQ, McCree, was the crowning glory that truly represents the SD Charger players' mental strength. Coaches are there to try to teach men who are as slow-witted and brain challenged as McCree. SD did not deserve to win this season. Employ players with intelligence as the winning teams do and they will win playoff games.

Bond, but not James wrote on Jan 18, 2007 12:54 AM:Parker should be fired. I used to like the guy, but a pro player just can't play like that and keep his job. And what about Kaeding? I'm still waiting to see him winning us a game. 54 yard field goal it´s not and unreachable distance for a good kicker. If he can´t do that, bring someone who can. After all the mistakes and stupid plays, the final play was his and he failed miserably.

Bree wrote on Jan 21, 2007 11:01 PM:Honestly the pats are overrated and Tom brady is to. Now everyone bumps him up saying he led another great comeback win. He did't do nothing the whole game even when the chargers weren't touching him. We should of won, everyone knows were the better team but the better team doesn't always win. Some of the players should be ashamed of themselves. This is heartwrenching. The pats got lucky and we all know this. Tom and Bill do especially Tom.

fxstc111 wrote on Apr 15, 2007 8:12 PM:To bolts4betterorworsethe and your personel attack on jammer, can you please switch to a subject that you can understand and give us a break cause I'M wondering now if your joking or not.