The Chargers Will Always Be The Chargers

 

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Nate Kaeding had nothing to do with the Chargers blowing a 27-0 lead in Jacksonville last Saturday..... or did he? This latest playoff catastrophe is exactly who the Chargers have been as long as I can remember, which for me started with the king of disappointment Nate Kaeding. I remember being so upset as a kid watching the Chargers season's come to an end due to self destructing in any way you could think of. And today that is amazingly still the case. Players, coaches, and even the city in which they play in has changed, and yet it's still the same recipe of disaster. It's amazing really. 

Here's what the recipe of every season is:

1. Put together a top 5 roster in the offseason, fix the holes left from the previous season, and enter the year a super bowl contender

2. Have various starters get injured starting week 1. O-line depleted

3. Lose games you shouldn't, win games you shouldn't, and then go on a nice run in December to make the playoffs

4. Make the playoffs. Go against an opponent you should beat.

5. Play a tremendous first half. Think there's no way they can blow this one. 

6. They blow it. Season over.

Like clockwork. I'm a former Chargers fan but I'm always going to root for them versus teams like Jacksonville who I could care less if they win. I don't live and die with the wins and losses anymore, but I was rooting for them on Saturday. Here's what the Chargers are missing and may never get over.... They're afraid/petrified to win. And let me be very clear, obviously the players and coaches want to win and are playing to win. There's just something in the genetic makeup of the Chargers that shifts the in game mentality of dominating to playing conservative and merely holding on.

It's happened in so many regular season games and so many postseason games its astonishing. On Saturday, up 27-0 and forcing 5 turnovers, I thought well how about that! The Chargers are finally playing to their potential and are going to flat out beat another team. Wow. WRONG WRONG WRONG.

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They scored 3 points in the 2nd half and thanks to Joey Bosa losing his mind 2 inches from the sideline (resulting in a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty) the Jags elected to go for 2 and got it. Right then and there you knew they were dead. He seemed to be in a different mindspace than usual and it showed in his post game media responses.

 
 
Sports Central LA
⁦‪@SportsCentralLA‬⁩
"I need to be more accountable for my actions, obviously, but..."

⁦‪@jbbigbear‬⁩ unloads as he & the ⁦‪@chargers‬⁩ head into the offseason following last night's loss to the Jaguars

⁦‪@diehardboltclub‬⁩ #Chargers ⁦‪@BB_Chargers‬⁩ ⁦‪@BFTB_Chargers‬⁩ pic.twitter.com/fvhA2IvSCX
 
1/15/23, 6:29 PM
 
 

They didn't have to be but again the Chargers process of defeat is very predictable. So what's the problem? Who's to blame? I like the head coach Staley but he's dug his grave by the way these past 2 years have gone. He has established an aggressive style of play and even though it's not him playing on the field, his squad gave up a 27 point lead. Any way you cut it, those are just facts. In the NFL those are items that don't get overlooked 9 times out of 10. 

Team owner and resident loser Dean Spanos fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season and falling short in the divisional round in 2006. Didn't matter that he was beloved vocally by the players and had consistent success, he was out. It's more likely that Marty took the last batch of chicken tenders in the team cafeteria that Dean wanted that sealed his fate rather than anything football, but if that's the teams president than I don't know how Staley stays the head coach.

The bottom line is this. If you're a former chargers fan like me or a current one, you weren't surprised by the implosion on Saturday, you were just praying like hell it wouldn't happen again. (Unless you're a spiteful former Chargers fan, anti- Dean Spanos guy). That's the culture that Dean Spanos has built. There's some sort of psychological block in the Chargers makeup that allows this to happen. There isn't the killer instinct of keeping the foot on the gas, there's only the hope that they can hang on and win with what they've put together to that point. A recipe that has never worked. Sad for my friends who are still Chargers fan but feels good to not be in shambles because of their BS.

But one thing will always be true until proven otherwise, the Chargers will always be the Chargers.

-Peanut

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