Maybe the last season for the San Diego Chargers in the city, maybe not. It’s a sad story in any case, as a 33-3 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs drops them to 2-8 this season, for the first time not looking competitive from the first minute to the last.
Even Philip Rivers, who has had some fantastic games this season go to waste, looked like he’s had enough. He was sacked three times and hit quite a lot after releasing the ball by the hungry Chiefs defense, completing just 19-of-30 passes for 178 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception that was returned for a touchdown. He completed just 1-of-8 passes thrown more than 10 yards downfield. It’s the second worst mark in the past 10 seasons (11.1% in Week 8 2012) for him.
This is the eighth loss of the season for a team that’s won 20 games combined in the last two. The Chargers lost by 17 points to the Vikings early this season, but the rest of their losses have been a one-possession defeat, including two consecutive, painful three point losses heading into this week. But maybe this kind of destruction was in the works for a long time. An offensive line that’s fallen apart, without a running game, and too many injuries on both sides of the football, leaving Rivers to fend for himself.
Rivers signed a new contract this offseason, something some thought was not going to happen with his reluctance to move to Los Angeles. But now he and the Chargers are tied together for good, forever. Will it be with Mike McCoy, who isn’t very popular as a head coach, and probably does the offensive coordinator job a little bit better? Or are the Chargers heading towards a major rehaul once this season is over, with the bottom line too painful to ignore?