San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts — 1/7/06

After the Jacksonville game, as I said in A Day in the Life, we were on top of the World. We were 13-0 and going back home to face one of the best teams in the AFC. At the same time, we had reached all of the goals that we could have possibly reached, at the time. There was one last piece of history, that we had a chance to capture... And that was becoming only the second team ever to go undefeated, since the notorious 72’ Dolphins. It was a piece of history the entire team could appreciate. Although it was not part of our initial goals in the beginning of the year, we could look at it as the icing on the cake.

If you threw out records, just looked at the level of talent, and based it on the previous year’s performance, the San Diego Chargers might be the best team in football. They had an encore of stars. LaDainian Tomlinson at RB, Antonio Gates at TE, Drew Brees throwing the ball, Keenan McCardell an All- Pro wideout catching it. That is why they say, “you play the games.” Records, what they did the year before, what they did the week before, what stars they have on their team... None of that matters after that first whistle blows and it’s you on him, mano y mano. The name of the game, is beat your man, period.

Still, there was a funny feeling in the air, even though we were playing at home. We didn’t warm up as hard as we usually do. Corey Simon, one of our defensive leaders, didn’t dress for the first time, since he had been activated, this season. Something had my radars up (I had a funny feeling that something was going to go wrong).

The Chargers won the opening kickoff and guess who was on our kickoff team, so hyped? Well, you might have guessed it, me! I hadn’t been activated in weeks. I was practically salivating at the mouth, to get a piece of this great season.

Right now, I’m what you call a role player. My weekly role depends on whatever my coach asks me to do that week. I don’t argue and I don’t grumble. When I wasn’t active, my job varied from charting the amount of plays that each D-lineman played, to holding my coach’s headset, when our defense wasn’t on the field. I’m just glad to have a role. I will take it how it comes, until I earn my stripes and my keep. As long as they let me feel like I’m part of the Colts family, that’s all I care about. Well this was my time to shine, so I had to “do what it do.” Sorry for the tangent, back to the game...

Dave Rayner kicked off to the Charger 15, where Darren Sproles caught the kick. I was running down the right side, of the field, so hard and I was so juiced up, that I just flew into the wedge blocking, that they had set up for Sproles. On the left of the wedge, teammate Keith O’Neal, went kamikaze himself, into the wedge. We stopped it dead in its tracks. Rob Morris came and cleaned up, after Sproles had no choice, but to stop his feet. It felt so good to be in there, getting a piece of the action again.

The Chargers offense took the field. They opened up the game just like we thought that they would, with a hand-off to All-Pro running back LaDainian Tomlinson. He carried for only three yards on first down, before Free (Dwight Freeney) got a hold of him. On second down QB, Drew Brees, hit All-Pro TE, Antonio Gates, for a short, four yard gain. Despite a minor setback on third down ( Shane Olivea, their offensive guard false started), they still managed to convert. Brees hit wideout Vincent Jackson for a 20 yard gain. On the ensuing first down, the Ole Wiley Coyote (Montae Reagor) stopped Tomlinson for a 2 yard gain. Two incomplete passes later, punter, Mike Scifres, was punting a fair caught ball to Troy Walters.

Our offense took over at their own 15 yard line. The Chargers were ready for P (Peyton Manning) and company. On first down they sacked P, for a 7 yard loss. On second down P handed the ball off to Edge (Edgerrin James), for a 2 yard gain. That put us in a 3rd and 15, from our own 10 yard line. P was unable to find Marv (“Marvelous” Marvin Harrison) on that right side and Hunter Smith was punting out of our own endzone.

The kick went 43 yards and was returned 11 yards by Eddie Parker. Starting at our 42 yard line, Brees went 4-5 passing, putting together a very impressive drive. He had two receptions back to back, of 29 yards a piece, the latter of which was a TD pass to Keenan McCardell.

Our offense couldn’t get much going on the next drive, as P was intercepted on second down, by D. Florence. We were fortunate that he fumbled the ball and Big Jeff (Jeff Saturday) recovered. Since the ball traveled forward past the first down marker, we actually gained a first down on the interception/ fumble. However, luck wasn’t on our side. On the unearned first down, P was sacked again and right tackle Rian Diem was injured on the play. I know this drive is hard to keep up with, but that made it 2nd and 17. On second down, P hit Weezy (Reggie Wayne) for a 10 yard gain. On 3rd and 7, the pass protection broke down and P had to take off. He only gained five yards, so we had to punt the ball away.

The Chargers fair caught the ball at their own 29 yard line, but they were called for defensive holding, on the play. That gave them the ball on their own 19. On first down, Brees hit Parker for an eight yard gain. On second and two, Brees hit Parker again, this time on a deep post route, for 49 yards. That brought them, all the way, to our 24 yard line. On the following first down, Tomlinson carried the ball, for a 12 yard gain. On the next two plays, the Chargers were called for back to back holding calls. Somehow, that made it 1st and 29 from our 31 yard line. Tomlinson then carried the ball three consecutive times for a total of 14 yards. Nate Kaeding ended the drive with a 36 yard field goal.

We muffed the following kick return and we were also called for holding. That put our offense in 1st and 10 from our own 11 yard line. On first down, we were called for holding. Our offense couldn’t muster anything on that drive and we were forced to punt. The Chargers had no better luck on their drive, as they went three and out.

Our offense got the ball back, and took over at our own 15 yard line. This time when our offense took the field, P and company put together a classic Colts drive. On first down, P hit Marv for an eight yard gain. On second down, Edge ran for a 13 yard gain. P followed that up with another completion, this time to Weezy for 13 yards. You could tell that our offense was heating up. On the next play defensive back Jamar Fletcher, was called for illegal contact (a fairly new penalty, called after a defender touches a receiver, five or more yards beyond the line of scrimmage), while trying to keep up with Marv.

P completed three more passes on the drive and Edge mixed in a couple runs. Couple those with two more San Diego penalties and we were down to the San Diego 10 yard line. Prime scoring position for a potent offense like ours, right? Well not exactly. On 1st and 10 from the 10 yard line, Edge was tackled for a 2 yard loss. On second down, P tried to hit Weezy on a fade route, but the Charger’s D was all over it. On third down, he did hit Weezy on a slant route, for 11 yards. We went for it on fourth down, from the one yard line. P thought he had the Chargers D fooled with a play fake to Edge, but they weren’t. As he tried to bootleg around the left side, he was tackled for a six yard loss, by Shawn Merriman, who had a very,very big game.

San Diego took over on their own seven yard line, with a little over 8:30 left in the second quarter. Brees hit WR, Reche Caldwell, on first down , for 11 yards, which gave them some breathing room. He nickeled and dimed his way down the field,handing off to LaDainian Tomlinson seven times and Michael “Burner” Turner twice. They combined for a total of
25 yards, on the drive. They got all the way down to our four yard line, before we were able to slow them down. Nate Kaeding hit a 20 yard field goal, with 15 seconds left in the half, to end the drive.

Dom (Dominic Rhodes) almost took the ensuing kickoff to the house, but was tripped up after a 26 yard return. Then, P hit Marv for a 19 yard pass, with a second left on the clock. Dave Rayner tried a 59 yard field goal attempt, so we could try to get some points on the board before the half, but it sailed short. We were down 13-0 to the Chargers at half-time.

We came out of the locker room after half-time and even though we received the ball, we still couldn’t get much going. After a one yard run on first down and an incompletion on second down, P was sacked by Merriman again, on third down. So, Hunt (Hunter Smith) had to kick the ball away on fourth down.

The Chargers offense really started to gash our defense, on their drive. The drive started on their own 30 yard line and went ten plays. Although Drew Brees only completed two of five passes, for a combined 1 yard, they still managed to march down the field. It wasn’t Brees that hurt us, it was the trio of running backs that we faced. Tomlinson, actually, did the least amount of damage. It was the combination of Michael Turner and Lorenzo Neal, that helped the Chargers get down to our 26 yard line. Enough was enough. On third down Heem (Raheem Brock), thwarted a screen attempt to Tomlinson, for a four yard loss. We made kicker, Nate Kaeding, make a 48 yard field goal. We were now down 16-0.

Our offense took over at our own 29 yard line and we needed points, and fast. On second down, P hit Stokley for a 24 yard gain. Three plays later P hit Marv for a 31 yard gain. Despite getting the ball all the way down to the Chargers 15 yard line, we had to settle for a 32 yard Vandy (Mike Vanderjagt) field goal. Nevertheless, we had finally put some points on the board.

Our defense really needed to see that little ray of light. We took the field prepared to get the ball back to our offense, which was starting to get going. After the Chargers gained a first down, Brees made his first big mistake of the game. He attempted to throw a pass to WR Keenan McCardell but G.B. (Gary Brackett) jumped the route and picked Brees off. After he picked Brees off, G.B. gave Tomlinson a little taste of his own medicine. He shook L.T. along the Chargers sideline and if he had another yard or two of field, he would have taken it to the house.

Our offense took over at the San Diego 26 yard line. On first down, P hit Marv for a 25 yard gain, in which Marv really tried to stretch for that last yard and TD. He wanted that TD so bad and was so close, but couldn’t get in. On the next play, Edge plunged in, to make it a 16-10 game.

Our defense was even more fired up, after the touchdown and the crowd was back in the game. The building was rocking! We stopped returner Darren Sproles at their 25 yard line and a holding penalty pushed them back to the 15. On first down, Brees tried a little swing pass to Tomlinson, but Harpo (Nick Harper) stopped him after he gained just two yards. On second down, the crowd noise caused the Chargers O-line to false start. On second and 13, the “Michigan boys” Jack (Marlin Jackson) and Kay (Cato June) dropped Tomlinson for a no gain. On third down, Brees was sacked and stripped by Free, and The Ole Wiley Coyote recovered.

Our offense took over from the Chargers four yard line. On first down, P’s pass to Marv fell incomplete. On second down, P tried Marv again, this time for three yards and almost a TD. When third down came around, I think San Diego’s defense was so worried about Marv, that they totally forgot about Dallas. P hit a wide open Dallas Clark, for the one yard score. Dallas spiked the ball and it flew up over his head, as we took the lead back from the Chargers.

On the ensuing kickoff, the crowd was going wild and adrenaline was rushing through the entire building. I ran down and with the help of Sapp (Jerome Sapp), I made my first special teams tackle, of the year. Our defense took the field even more audacious than before. Despite a 15 yard personal foul penalty, we still stopped the Chargers in five plays.

We were now in the fourth quarter and although our offense had heated up for a couple of possessions, San Diego’s defense was revved up and up to the challenge, as they had been all afternoon. We were called for offensive holding once during the drive and the Chargers were hit with a pass interference penalty. The two penalties kind of balanced each other out, during the drive. San Diego’s defense wasn’t giving anything up easy. So, we eventually had to punt. Hunter Smith punted the ball 55 yards to the San Diego one yard line. Keenan McCardell (who should not have attempted to return the ball), caught the ball and took it back seven yards, to the eight yard line.

He quickly made up for his special teams mistake, as McCardell caught a 54 yard pass from Drew Brees on 3rd and 9, from their own nine yard line. That brought them to our 37 yard line. They only gained six more yards but Nate Kaeding squeezed in another field goal, this time a 49 yarder. We were still up on the Chargers 19-17 at that point.

On the ensuing kickoff, we fumbled the ball and the Chargers recovered. The mistake was somewhat masked, two plays later, by a Harpo interception. Nevertheless, it was another blunder that we had, in a very tight game. When Brees dropped back to pass on second down, he didn’t account for Harpo’s athletic ability or veteran status. Harpo intercepted him in the endzone, for a touchback.

Our offense took over and moved the ball all the way down to the San Diego 24 yard line. What happened next, was very uncharacteristic of our team and the person who did it. On 2nd and 9 from the Chargers 23 yard line, P dropped back and was under a lot pressure. He tried to stepped to his left, to give his receivers, down field, more time to get open. As the new pocket caved in on him, he threw the ball down the left sideline. The only problem was that there was no receivers in the area and he was not outside the pocket. We were called for intentional grounding, which backed us up to the 35 yard line. Intentional grounding is also a loss of down, so now it was 3rd and 21.

P tried to make a play on third down but he was sacked, for the fourth time in the game. The Chargers did a very good job, all afternoon, putting the pressure on P. Sadly, we had to punt from San Diego’s 38 yard line. The Chargers took over from their own 20 after a touchback, with only 2:28 left in the game.

On the first play of the following series, Free dropped Michael Turner for a three yard loss and did his distinct, soccer ball kicking, celebration. On the very next play, we were in an eight-man front,run stop defense and somehow Turner squirted through. He didn’t stop until he reached the endzone, on a 83 yard TD run, to pretty much seal the San Diego victory. San Diego led 26-17 at this point.

Our offense did take over with a little over two minutes left in the game, but after P was intercepted by Quentin Jammer at their own 1 yard line. The game was all but over.

I told you, something had my radars up. Although we didn’t win the game, I feel the loss may have helped the team, in a few ways. For starters, whenever you are on a winning streak like we were on, your confidence shoots through the roof. Sometimes it shoots too high. A loss is always very humbling and it allows you to really go back and evaluate yourself or in this case our team.

Secondly, I feel that our coach was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He never really cared about having an undefeated season. He had his goals set, already, and going undefeated was not one of them. As I said earlier, that would have just been the icing on the cake. After we beat Jacksonville, Coach Dungy was more concerned about getting all of our players healthy and ready for the playoffs. The players really wanted to go for the record though. So, at the very least, Dungy gets what he wanted, which is usually the right thing for the team anyway.

I always like to put a positive spin on any situation, no matter how negative it is... Although our first loss did hurt, it may have also helped...

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1/7/06 — San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts

1/6/06 — Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars

12/16/05 — Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts

12/10/05 — Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts

11/27/05 — Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals

11/19/05 — Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans II

11/10/05 — I have to apologize for running so late on the Gameday Review.

10/24/05 — Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans

10/18/05 — Colts fire on all cylinders vs. Rams

10/10/05 — ANOTHER DEFENSIVE DAY