The current AFC West Division Champions of the NFL,
the San Diego Chargers, defeated the Indianapolis Colts in overtime
23-17. This win was a surprise for the fans since the Chargers were
struggling at the beginning of the season with a record of 4-8.
However, the Chargers have found their winning ways and have steak
together. Besides, his coach Norv Turner has also steak to the plan and
has support his players even when things don't go their way. That was
shown in Saturday's game especially in overtime, when Darren Sproles
did a 22-yard touchdown that gave the Chargers the victory.
During
the game things were equally managed by the two teams; the Colts had
the great presence of their superstar and MVP quarterback Peyton
Manning, who had a solid performance by converting 25 of 42 for 310
yards with no interceptions and completing a touchdown. Their running
back Joseph Addai was not clearly good as he only got 44 rushing yards
on 16 carries. Team's receiver Reggie Wayne for his part, after some
absence in the first half, appeared in great way in the second half
ending with 4 receptions for 129 yards. Wayne also converted a key
touchdown of 72-yards to give the lead to the Colts at the beginning of
the third quarter.
On the other hand, the Chargers had great
performances from their running back Darren Sproles, who substituted
starting running back LaDainian Tomlinson and who gained 105 yards on
the ground and 45 yards on five receptions in the game. This 5-6 ft
running back also converted two touchdowns, one of 9-yards and the
22-yard winner touchdown in overtime. Sproles was a real headache for
the Colts the whole game, and Indianapolis couldn't find a way to stop
him. Another key player for the Chargers was their punter Mike Scifres,
who was really amazing by averaging 52.7 yards on 6 punts inside the
20, and also averaging a net of 51.7 yards. With this Scifres also
broke a couple of post season's records, the best net average and the 5
punts in a NFL playoff game that Green Bay's Craig Hentrich set in 1998.
The
effort of these players, along with that of their quarterback Philip
Rivers, who controlled the Chargers' offense, and the contribution of
rest of their teammates, gave the team a positive result and the
victory at the end.
The coach of the Chargers, Norv Turner, was
really pleased with his team's effort and how they are finding their
winning ways again. On the other hand, Colts' coach Tony Dungy was
really disappointed with his team, especially because they converted
too many doubt penalties and didn't convert some key plays. Dungy also
expressed that Scifres was a key player for the Chargers. "He was the
difference in the game," recognized Colts coach Tony Dungy. "He just
punted us in the hole all night long with long, high punts, stopping
inside the 10-yard line."
The next playoff game for the San Diego
Chargers will be on Sunday January 11th against the Pittsburgh Steelers
at the Heinz Field.