AFC Divisional Playoff: Chargers 28, Colts 24

We're getting under way in Indy, with Greg (Don't Blame Me, I'm Just His Brother) Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf calling it for CBS.

Chargers kick off and TJ Rushing brings it back to the 24. Colts take the field with Marvin Harrison in the starting lineup. Quick circle route pass to Addai gains 12. Luis Castillo is down for the Chargers. That would be a major loss if he can't return. He walks off the field; good news for San Diego. More good news after they stuff Joseph Addai for a 1-yard loss. Peyton changes plays with a blitz coming and hits Ben Utecht in the right seam for 20 across midfield. About 5 to Addai on 1st down. The sound for this game is terrible. It sounds like there's a biplane flying around in Indy's dome. The Colts screw up a draw play, and Merriman drops Manning for a big loss and puts on an obnoxious, crowd-taunting celebration. That should have been a 15-yard penalty. 3rd-11, Manning hits Addai again, but Joe only gains about 9. Crowd gets their way and the Colts go for it on 4th-and-2, where Manning hits Reggie Wayne on a slant for 8. They're at the SD29 now. Addai runs strong over left tackle for 4. Play-action, and a split second before being hit by Shaun Phillips, Manning hits Dallas Clark in the end zone for a 25-yard TD. Safety fell to leave Clark wide open. Just like the commercial. Who's breaking hot? Who's my hot? "Clark". 7-0, Colts.

Indy's kickoff is DEEP, AL ROBERTS, and Darren Sproles can't return it. Chargers start from their 20. LT gets nothing around left end on 1st down. 3 on 2nd down over left tackle. 3rd-and-6, Rivers quickly hits Vincent Jackson for 21. Screen to LT with fake end-around gains another 20. From the Colt 35, Kelvin Hayden appears to pick off a sideline pass intended for Davis. CBS goes to commercial without a replay; TiVoing the main angle, it does look like he possessed it and kept his feet in. Disastrous start for San Diego if the call holds up. Norv challenges, and Gumbel and Dierdorf don't think he secured the ball. I think he did, against his stomach.

WTF - GERRY AUSTIN GOT ASSIGNED TO A PLAYOFF GAME? SO YOU CAN BLOW A GAME AS BADLY AS HE DID WHEN THE BIG DEAD WON HERE IN OCTOBER AND STILL QUALIFY FOR A PLAYOFF GIG? MY GOD NFL OFFICIATING IS PISS POOR.

Austin agrees with my call, and Indy takes over from their 24. Addai up the middle for a couple, and a pass to him gains almost 9. Addai powers over right guard again for 3 and the 1st. Clark takes a sideline pass, breaks a tackle and dives for 11 out to the I47. Addai finds a seam on the right side for 6. Manning hits Wayne at the sideline for 7 and his 9th straight completion. From the SD40, Phillips catches the dreaded Kenton Keith in the backfield for a 2-yard loss. Keith took off but his knee was down. Swing pass to Brian Fletcher gains just 2, as Phillips is all over the place. 3rd-10. Peyton hits Marvin cutting across the middle for 18, but Marvin rustily fumbles it away and Marlon McCree recovers. Big Big play for the Chargers. Still 7-0.

That biplane flying around inside the RCA Dome is really giving me a headache.

Chargers from their 22. LT's tripped in the backfield for no gain. He breaks a tackle in the backfield and gains about 5 on 2nd down as the first quarter runs out.

=======Colts 7, Chargers 0 after one=======

3rd-and-5 for San Diego. Rivers is nearly sacked but hits Jackson on a cross for 9 for the 1st. The Chargers call a timeout but both Rivers and Norv appear surprised. Who called it, Schottenheimer? LT up the middle for 6. Michael Turner's in to vulture LT but he loses ground. 3rd-3. They gave Turner a yard? No matter; delay of game moves it back. 3rd-8. Empty backfield, and though the snap comes with 0 on the play clock again, Rivers steps up and hits Davis for 18. From the Colt 44, Rivers hits Antonio Gates in the left seam for 23. Colts left him wide open. Play action to Jackson on the sideline for 9 puts them at the Colt 12. Chargers will take a 1st down at the 16 after a ludicrous illegal contact call on Hayden, who was pushed around by Jackson more on the catch than the other way round. LT bounces up the middle for 4. At the Colt 12, Rivers uses the Chargers' last timeout. Back from timeout, the RG false starts. 2nd-11. LT takes a draw for 8. The ball popped out at the end, but he was clearly down. I take it back; he did fumble, but Mike Goff, the RG who just false-started, recovered. Then, apparently going for the Alex Barron Award, Goff false-starts again. 3rd-and-8 from the 14, Rivers throws it into the corner of the end zone for the apparently uncoverable Vincent Jackson, who scores the TD and is having his second consecutive monster week in the playoffs. Kaeding ties it at 7 with 8:38 left in the half.

Colts return the kickoff to the 28. Bubble screen to Addai gains 22. 10 to Harrison to the Charger 40. I switched off of DirecTV and the biplane noise seems to have gone away some. Addai sweeps left for 1. Wayne drags Drayton Florence around like a weak-ass DB for 9 and another 1st. Play-action pass is nearly picked off by Merriman for Peyton's first incompletion after 14 straight. Shovel pass to Addai gains basically nothing, and Addai drops a short pass on 3rd down. Vinatieri hits from past 40 for the FIRST time all season to put Indy ahead 10-7.

Sproles returns to the 28. LT is out with some kind of leg injury. Play action to MANU for 3. This is really echoing last night's AFC game. Both QBs are getting forever to throw and are killing the opposing defenses with short passes. Turner drives over left guard for 5. Big cutback run by Turner for 19. Ball at the Colt 45. Play-action sideline pass to the unstoppable Jackson for 13. Chased by Brock, Rivers "scrambles" for a couple. 2nd and a long 8 from the Colt 31 at the 2:00 warning.

Rivers pukes the next pass up out of bounds under very heavy pressure. 3rd down. Tim Jennings knocks down the pass with his hand on the receiver; that is ALWAYS called DPI. OK, not this time, the crowd appears to have cowed the refs into retracting the illegal contact call because Rivers was out of the pocket. A bad call gets worse for San Diego when Kaeding DOINKS the 48-yard FG attempt. Worst. Clutch. Playoff. Kicker. EVER. OK, maybe Mike Vanderjagt.

Bob Sanders was called for taunting after the FG miss so Indy starts from their 24. 10 to Clark, then 20 more, and Indy's across midfield at 1:06. About 7 to sliding Anthony Gonzalez. Replay official wants to review the catch. It looks good. 2nd-2, :45 left. Colts have all 3 TOs. Handoff to Addai gains only a yard and costs a timeout at 0:35. About 4 more for Joe and another TO. :30 left at the SD35. Manning fires incomplete. :25. DISASTER FOR INDY, as Wayne deflects a high pass from Manning to the ever-dangerous Antonio Cromartie, who brings it back all the way for a TD. One of the diving Colt linemen nearly tackled him by his towel, but he cuts back crossfield, gets two lead blockers on Peyton, and it's pretty much all over. Scratch that; it's called back for a hold on Weddell. There was also a hold committed on Gonzalez at the beginning of the return. Big break for the Colts. Chargers kneel and run out the clock.

=======Halftime score: Colts 10, Chargers 7=======

At halftime, Esiason joins Dierdorf in complaining about the holding call that erased the Cromartie TD.

Neither team did a good job getting to the QB in the first half, and the Colts have got to come up with a solution to Vincent Jackson.

San Diego tries an end around on the 2nd half kickoff return but Cromartie only gets out to the 17. LT remains on the bench. Turner up the middle for 4. VJ stays on fire with a 17-yard catch. Rivers hits Jackson again, left sideline this time, at midfield for 13. LT is out with a bruised knee. Meanwhile, Turner's running better than LT has so far this preseason, cutting back up the middle for 7. Turner weaves over left tackle for 7 more. Colts are in major trouble if they can't get the run shut down. Rivers has Gates iso'ed down the sideline on a LB, but Hagler stays with him well and the pass is incomplete. 2nd-10, beautiful pass by Rivers up the sideline to Chambers for a 36-yard TD. Chargers take a 14-10 lead as Indy is showing no sign they can even slow them down a little right now. If only Rivers EVER played like this for my fantasy team.

Rushing breaks the kick return out to the 37. Manning fires to Wayne for 10, and then 21 more to the SD32. Draw to Addai gains 6, a rare successful run for the Colts today. Addai up the middle for the 1st down. From the SD21, stretch handoff to Addai, who has all kinds of room for a gain of 10, but gets his bell rung at the end. They go right to Keith, who motors his way down to the 6. Keith up the middle for 2 more. 3rd-and-3 from the Charger 4.

AND ANOTHER DISASTER FOR THE COLTS. Sloppy screen pass by Manning is tipped by Keith and INTERCEPTED by Weddle at the 1. Throw was well behind Keith. Manning was under heavy pressure, threw it funny, and threw off KEith's timing.

I had this nagging feeling all week that the Chargers would win this game, but I decided their internal clocks would be off, playing at noon Eastern time. Looks like they woke up on time, huh.

Turner gets stuffed for no gain on 1st-down from the 1, then advances to the 5 on 2nd down, and UH OH, Bob Sanders is injured at the end of the play. Injury timeout.

Rivers rolls out of trouble and throws a dangerous pass incomplete for Sproles. San Diego will make what I believe is the first punt of this game. With room to return, Rushing brings Scifres' terrific punt back across to the 50.

Play action pass to Keith gains 18; nobody picked him up out of the backfield. Slant to Gonzalez for 10-11, and the Colts are right back in business again. Addai may be out with a concussion. 1st-10 from the SD21. They'll barely miss Addai as little as they've run today anyway. Keith gains 2 up the middle. Play action to Keith again but just for 4. Colts hurry the 3rd-down play and catch SD offside. That's all Peyton. 1st and goal at the 9, as Addai surprisingly re-enters the game. Pass in the flat to Wayne, who makes a sick cut on Florence and CLEARLY dives into the end zone, though it's not called for some inexplicable reason by the "all-star" crew of refs. Dungy challenges the call, and the Colts should move ahead here 17-14.

Austin reverses the call to TD and the Colts do indeed take the lead. 2:53 left in the 3rd.

Sproles brings the kick back from 5 yards deep, fakes a reverse to Cromartie, gets pounded at the 20 but gets out to the 26. Sanders returns for Indy. Huddle violation on SD moves them back to the 21. Rivers rolls right and hits Gates for 5. Rivers audibles but the handoff to Turner gets squat. 3rd-and-10. Chargers moved twice with no flag, and the clock ended up running out on them for delay of game. More awful refereeing. 3rd-15 all the same. Rivers, though, steps up under heavy pressure and flips it out to Chambers at the 44. Both secondaries are awful today. 1st down pass is deflected incomplete. On 2nd down, WOW, as Sproles takes a screen, turns the corner and takes off like a freaking shot for a 56-YARD TOUCHDOWN. 21-17, Chargers, as we head into the 4th quarter of a playoff classic.

Couple of thoughts: a ton of Ram fans wanted to draft Darren Sproles a few years ago for just the role he played right here, but NO, we're assured he's too small. I'll have to look up who Martz took instead.

And if I'm a Charger fan, I am not thrilled AT ALL with LaDainian Tomlinson's 2nd straight playoff game where he barely even shows up. I'll be interested to learn the extent of his injury. They're saying bruised knee, but a bruise isn't ordinarily a problem until the next game, when it's had time to stiffen up. And LT's standing up over there on the sidelines. As far as I'm concerned, if he can stand, he can play.

For crying out loud, now Rivers is going to the locker room for San Diego. If they go on to win this game, it'll be epic.

Rushing powers out to the 30 with the kick return to start the 4th quarter. Play action bomb misses Wayne, but there's a VERY late flag. At this point, Charger fans have got to wonder if the NFL has already ordered Colts at Patriots for next week. DPI call there is TERRIBLE. The ball wasn't catchable! 25 yards for Indy instead. Manning drills it to Clark, who weaves inside the Charger 20, but illegal hands to the head is called on Ryan Diem instead. 1st-25 from the Colt 40. HUGE reversal of fortune there, and a legitimate call. Manning rolls out of trouble, and Wayne gets another gift from the zebras, a defensive hold that sets Indy back up with 1st-10 at their 45. 4 to Addai. The hold by Florence on Wayne was a legitimate call. Dangerous bubble screen to Addai for maybe 1. 3rd-and-5. Looks like a blitz from San Diego, and a short pass for Wayne is blanketed by Florence, and the Colts have to punt. It's their first punt, but that's a big stop for San Diego. The Colt gunner puts his toe on the goal line trying to down the punt and the Chargers will start at their 20.

BTW, the Rams passed on Darren Sproles in the 4th round of the 2005 draft so they could take injured safety Jerome Carter, who was never a good pro safety and in fact missed most of this past season with an injury. Nice pick, Martz.

Stop by the Colts is mandatory here. The Charger backfield is now Michael Turner, Andrew Pinnock and BILLY VOLEK. Turner gains a couple off left tackle. Rivers will return, but not this possession. Handoff to Sproles gains maybe 1. Third down pass for Gates is low and incomplete. Colts got what they needed there. Scifres' moon shot well outkicks the coverage, and Rushing returns it 23 to the Colt 45. About 11 minutes left.

Addai gets spun down for 1. 2nd-9, Jammer has Marvin Harrison blanketed, and Manning barely avoids a crushing INT. 3rd-9. Next, here's why you don't blitz Peyton Manning on 3rd-and-long. Manning finds Gonzalez down the sideline, he breaks another poor tackle by McCree, barely keeping his left foot in bounds, and sprints away for a 50-plus-yard TD. Weddle, normally safety help on that play, was blitzing. Norv will challenge whether Gonzalez stayed in bounds, but it should hold up, and Indy should take a 24-21 lead.

What a game. Super play by Gonzalez to break the tackle and stay in bounds, going down to one hand. Colts lead, 24-21.

Chargers returned the kick to the 22, and what do you know, VOLEK is still in. He hits Chambers in a crowd for 15. Jackson turns a short flare into a 6-yard gain as two Colts collided. Turner's dropped for no gain to set up 3rd-and-4. Volek gets plenty of time and just misses Sproles deep, well-covered by Sanders. Marlin Jackson commits a CRITICAL 15-yard face mask, though. That puts the Chargers at the Colt 42. Screen to LEGEDU NAANEE (!) gains 27 down to the 15. Turner cuts back up the middle for 9 to the 6. That face mask was a KILLER. Turner again, for 2 and a 1st-and-goal. This game is unbelievable. Turner bounces down to the goal line; the ball comes out, but he was down. 2nd-and-inches. Volek sneaks it in (heard of that play, SCOTT LINEHAN?) for a TD and a 28-24 Charger lead with about 4:50 left.

Indy's crowd has been outstanding all game, but their hearts are in their throats now.

Kick return's out to just the 22. Manning to Clark for 15. Over the middle to Wayne for 11. Manning next guns it to Aromashodu for about 11. Slant to Gonzalez for 5. They're at the SD34. Manning escapes trouble and goes long for Aromashodu, but it's too deep. 3rd-and-5. 3:10 left. Manning, with ALL DAY, can't connect deep with Wayne, and it's 4th-and-5. 3:02 left. They're near the edge of Vinatieri's range; traditionally, this would be a 51 yard attempt, though Dierdorf pronounces it as 53 for some reason. After a Charger timeout, Indy will go for it. Manning gets ALL DAY again and GUNS it to Dallas Clark inside the 20. How freaking clutch is Dallas Clark? Add a face mask penalty on Phillips at the beginning of the play, and the Colts are inside the 10. Addai gains a couple with 2:45 left. Colts go five-wide. Manning's flushed and throws a dangerous pass that LB Cooper knocks down. 3rd-and-goal from the 7. Blitz look from San Diego - Addai drops a pass at the 2, Phillips deflected it. Colts go for it on 4th-and-goal. Shawn Merriman, who'd had a very quiet half, smokes Tony Ugoh and forces an off-balance incompletion. Even if it had been caught, it could have been well short.

2:01 left. Turner gains 1 to the 8. 2:00 warning. I believe the Colts have all 3 TOs.

Turner takes the next run outside for about 5 as Indy uses TO#1 at 1:49. 3rd-and-4. Turner gets nothing, and the Colts should get the ball back with over 1:30 and a timeout left. Scifres blasts a 66 yard punt; Rushing returns it to the 32.

1:30. Colts 32. 5 to Addai over the middle.
1:13. Incomplete throwaway. Colts already facing 3rd-and-5.
1:08. 20-yard pass to Wayne down the right seam incomplete after McCree's big hit.
4th-and-5, 1:03 left. Wayne was injured on the last play, which will consume Indy's last timeout.
Dierdorf's exactly right; the Patriots have to be loving how these two teams have beaten each other up today. Chargers better look for Dallas Clark. Manning finds Clark open, but the throw is too high; Chargers put on good pressure, and they're going to Foxborough.

And the freaking Chargers also stick a fork in my football pool for the week.

I HATE THE FREAKING CHARGERS.

Still, what an epic win; they lost Tomlinson, they lost Rivers, they barely had Gates, and they go East and beat a team that hadn't lost at home all year. Guess we'd all better shut up about Norv now, huh?

The Patriots are going to score triple digits on the Chargers, though, the way their secondary played today. Sad exit to the season for Marvin Harrison, who was left off the field most of the first half in favor of Aromashadu. Gonzalez is a good bet to grow into that role, but the Colts need to get deeper at WR, better at corner and probably also deeper on the o-line.

It's hard to pick a single player of the game for this classic. I almost want to give it to Norv. Volek, Turner and Sproles all deserve a hand, though the key play of the game was the stupid face mask penalty on Marlin Jackson.

I'm going to give it to Norv Turner. The Chargers had no business holding it together with Rivers and Tomlinson on the bench and Gates hobbled and a non-factor. He'll get slaughtered next week, but right now, he's king for a week.