San Diego came into the postseason viewed as a dangerous underdog and lived up to that billing with an upset at Cincinnati the previous weekend. But the Chargers left Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday as an afterthought.
They knew their performance in a 24-17 playoff loss to the Broncos didn’t measure up. Though they made a late push, the Chargers never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead from midway through the second quarter.
“We just didn’t get it done,” coach Mike McCoy offered as an all-encompassing answer to the many questions that were aimed his way. San Diego had only five first downs through three quarters. Quarterback Philip Rivers called timeouts in frustration to avoid penalties because the offense wasn’t lined up correctly. The Chargers’ defensive linemen had five encroachment penalties, several helping to keep Broncos drives alive.
“We didn’t have the right personnel in the game for the play that was called,” Chargers tight end Antonio Gates said of the wasted timeouts. “We didn’t realize it until we broke the huddle.”
For three quarters, the Chargers bumbled along, looking totally inept.
“We got it rolling pretty good at the end,” Rivers said in an attempt to find something positive. “We didn’t play very good in the first half. I firmly believe that if we could have gotten one more chance, we would have tied that thing up.”
Rivers, who called the windy weather less-than-ideal conditions, credited Denver’s defense for his team’s troubles.
“There were some new wrinkles, but there was nothing that surprised us,” he said. “They just outexecuted us in the first half.”
McCoy played conservatively, trying to run the ball and use up the clock, but the Chargers were stymied for three quarters. They scored all of their points in the fourth quarter. They were bolstered by a successful onside kick, but after pulling within seven points, they couldn’t get the ball back.
“No excuses. We just got beat,” said McCoy, the Broncos’ offensive coordinator in 2012. “We got beat in all three phases at times in the game. We fought to the bitter end, but it wasn’t good enough to win.”
