Chargers rout Broncos to grab improbable playoff spot

The Chargers certainly owe their postseason bid to the fact that they play in a division that no one wanted to win which made their 8-8 mark good enough for a playoff berth.  That notwithstanding, however, the team deserves much credit for the way they finished the 2008 regular season.  Entering December with a 4-8 record, the Chargers won four straight games to conclude their schedule including Sunday’s 55-21 rout of divisional rivals Denver. 

San Diego’s offense was balanced and efficient, led by QB Phillip Rivers who finished with 207 yards on 15 of 20 passing with 2 TD passes and no interceptions.  He was aided to victory by an equally dominant rushing attack—Darren Sproles gained 115 yards and Ladanian Tomlinson added 96 as the Chargers scored early and often against a shellshocked Bronco defense.

Denver enjoyed a decent passing performance from Jay Cutler, who finished with 316 yards along with two costly interceptions.  Still, the Broncos had no answer for the Charger offensive domination.  Denver briefly had a lead early in the first quarter at 6-3 but that was short lived.  LT scored the first of his two rushing TDs with just under three minutes to play in the first quarter to put Denver up 10-6 and they never relinquished this advantage.

With the win the Chargers became the first team to win a divisional title with an 8-8 record in 23 years—it was last done in 1985 by the Cleveland Browns.  Overall, they’re the ninth team in league history to make the playoffs with an 8-8 record.  They became the first team in NFL history to qualify for postseason play after starting the season 4-8. Now that they’ve made the postseason, unfortunately, historical precedent is decidedly against them:  of the aforementioned eight teams with 8-8 records to make the playoffs only two managed to win a postseason game.

On the other side of the field, Denver completed a collapse of historical proportions.  They had started the season 3-0, but became a completely bumbling football team in the final stages of the season and finished by losing three straight games and four of their last six.  They became the first team since divisional play began in 1967 to miss the playoffs after having a three game lead with three weeks to go in the season.  They also joined a dubiously selective group of teams to have held a three game lead at any point in the season and failed to make the playoffs along with the 2003 Vikings and 1978 Packers.

The Chargers will open the playoffs on Saturday as they host the Indianapolis Colts in the wild card game.