Chargers can clinch long-sought playoff berth on Sunday
By BERNIE WILSON, AP Sports Writer
December 13, 2004
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- It's been a long time since either the San Diego Chargers or coach Marty Schottenheimer were talking playoff possibilities this late in the season.
The unimaginable can become reality on Sunday for the Chargers, who can win the AFC West based on two scenarios, or at least clinch a playoff berth under two other scenarios.
``This is a fun time to be a San Diego Chargers fan and also a player,'' linebacker Donnie Edwards said Monday, a day after San Diego won its seventh straight game, 34-21 over Tampa Bay, to improve to 10-3.
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Edwards, a nine-year NFL veteran, was still at UCLA the last time his hometown Chargers made the playoffs, in 1995. He played for six seasons in Kansas City, and only now, in his third season with San Diego, are the Chargers on the cusp of returning to the postseason.
The Chargers, who have a two-game lead over Denver in the AFC West, can win the division le on Sunday if the Broncos lose at Kansas City, which would secure a better division record for San Diego.
They can also win the West if they win or tie at Cleveland, and Denver ties. The Chargers can clinch a playoff berth if they win and Baltimore loses or ties at Indianapolis, or if they tie and Baltimore loses.
The Chargers have won 10 games for the first time since their Super Bowl season of 1994, but it's not quite good enough yet to stamp their playoff passport.
``It's a very tough division,'' said Edwards, who sealed Sunday's victory with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown in the closing minutes. ``You can be 5-8 and still be in the hunt in the NFC. It's just different. I don't know what it is. But the AFC is a tough division and there's a lot of teams over .500 that still haven't clinched, just like us.''
Providing the Chargers don't collapse like they did two years ago, they're battling Indianapolis for playoff seeding. Pittsburgh and New England have clinched division les at 12-1 and have the inside track to first-round byes. The Colts have won their division and are also 10-3.
If form holds, the Colts and Chargers -- who play each other on Dec. 26 at Indianapolis -- would host the wild-card teams the second weekend in January.
Schottenheimer hasn't been to the playoffs since 1997. His Chiefs missed the postseason in 1998, he was out of football for two seasons, and he fell short with Washington in 2001 and with the Chargers the last two years.
``The excitement I get is about our players, our organization, our fans, because when you're able to have success and get in the playoffs, everybody shares in that,'' Schottenheimer said.
Although Schottenheimer is eighth on the all-time list with 175 victories, he is just 5-11 in the postseason, with Cleveland and Kansas City, including losses in his last four games with the Chiefs.
His Chiefs were 13-3 in 1995 and 1997, getting a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but were upset in the divisional round both times.
Schottenheimer said he took it for granted that his teams would be in the playoffs every year.
``I just sort of thought every year you're there and it's just a matter of how far you go,'' he said. ``That obviously isn't the case anymore in this league.''
Quarterback Drew Brees and Edwards defended Schottenheimer's record.
``Look at Marty's career. Can you argue the amount of wins he's had, no matter where he has gone?'' Brees asked. ``He's done a great job wherever he's been. And this seems to be the year for a lot of crazy things happening. So hey, if that's the way it's been in the past with Marty, 5-11 in the playoffs, then maybe this is the year we run the table.''
Edwards has been in only one playoff game, with the Chiefs following the 1997 season when Denver won 14-10 at Kansas City. That was the third time a John Elway-led team eliminated Schottenheimer from the postseason -- remember ``The Drive'' and ``The Fumble'' in consecutive AFC championship games in the late 1980s when Schottenheimer was with Cleveland?
``That's the past,'' Edwards said. ``This is the new Marty Schottenheimer. We're trying to forget about the days of Cleveland and Kansas City and look to the new days in the playoffs with the Chargers. So hopefully we can turn a new leaf over.''
I am not a Charger fan. But since I am out here and the team I am a fan of has absolutely no chance of making the playoffs, I feel I have to root for them.
They really have had a good season this year. And played hard. I respect them for that. And what a wonderful blow it would be to Manning. Refusing to play for them. A losing team. Haaaaaaa!! What a conceited idiot.
what I have seen of manning he sucks however their offensice line sucks for giants
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