“A Messy Monday”

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The Chargers won a game they almsot gave away.  It would have been devastating if they had..

It was devastating for the Steelers, and yet they almost won, despite having to play the game without 5-defensive starters.

QB-Justin Herbert was dynamic and would not let his team lose.

His defense was a disaster till right at the end of the game.

Bottom line, the Chargers won a game they gave away.  The Steelers lost a game they had no business climbing back into.

Such was an upside down Sunday around the NFL.

And around the league they are probably asking the same questions in places like Buffalo, and Tennessee; Green Bay and Dallas; Las Vegas and Seattle.

It was bedlam lots of places around the NFL.  How did this all happen.

The Chargers, with 70% of the fans in So Fi Stadium wearing Black and Gold, rode the arm and the legs of their 2nd year quarterback to the wildest roller coaster win we have seen in years (41-37).

The Bolts piled up 533-yards in offense and needed everyone of them after blowing a 17-point lead in the 4th quarter.  The Steelers will forever regret failures of not punching it in at the 1-yard line, or going for TDs twice when they had it in at the 18 in Chargers territory.

Herbert finished with (382Y) passing and bailed his struggling offensive line out with an amazing 91-yards rushing, including runs of 18-18-36-yards.

Austin Ekler had a (115Y) all purpose night that resulted in 4-TDs.  Keenan Allen had a 9-reception night covering 112-yards.

The Bolts destroyed the Steelers defense, finishing with 21-playes of ten yards or more, highlighted by the 53Y-TD pass to Mike Williams with 1-minute to go in the game.

Oddly Herbert survived shoddy play from RT-Storm Norton, who gave up 2-sacks and 2-pressures and should have been flagged for a late game helmet hit.

Joey Bosa survived bad penalties to record a critical last possession sack of Ben Roethlisberger.

It was another night of dreadful play by CB-Michael Dsvis, who gave up 7-passes and a TD.

The same bad performance was turned in by Trevaughn Campbell who allowed 3-completions late and took a pass interference penalty.  For all the good things everyone says about Asante Samuel, he gave up another TD among the 3-completions he allowed.

Ben Reothlisberger was game rallying his team, without a run game, with a leaky offensive line and with  his own set of dropped passes.  It’s odd, Ben is (1-8) in games played on the West Coast.

As putrid as the Pittsburgh defense was, they pressured Herbert 13-times, only to have him run for nearly 100-yards breaking containment.

1-would have wondered what the game might have been like if Pittsburgh had its starters TJ Watt..Minkah Fitzpatrick..Joe Haden, Ty Alulea or Stephon Tuitt on the field on defense?

But at the end of the season, maybe their messy win is what allows the Chargers to get into the playoffs.

Of course there are what-ifs everywhere in the NFL this morning.

Green Bay has lost 2-of-3 since the Aaron Rogers covid issue surfaced.  These losses probably seal the fate of the Packers having any home field advantage in the playoffs in January at Lambeau Field.  Wonder if the quarterback will regret all this?

In Buffalo, the Bills wake up with another loss after allowing Colts running back Jonathon Taylor to trample them for 5-touchdowns in a bad loss in Indianapolis. The Bills have flaws they cannot fix right now.  So much for being elite.

In Nashville, it’s not the same Titans team without Derrick Henry after they watched QB-Ryan Tannehill throw 4-picks in a really bad loss.

Dallas is so beat up with injuries and covid issues, they go back to work trying to recapture their edge, fearing a virus outbreak.

The Jon Gruden era continues to stain the Raiders, with their losing streak at three games now, and with a suddenly pedestrian Derek Carr led offense.  That is Las Vegas plunging towards last place.

And the skid in Seattle has worsened.  Who would ever think the Seahawks would be (3-7) with Russell Wilson running the show, but their offense is staggering and the defense cannot stop anyone.

It was wild the way these games wound up.

What few Chargers fans out there in LA are happy.  Truth be told, the quarterback is really special.  Truth be told, without him, the Chargers are a bad football team.  A win is a win, but kicking a cripple like Pittsburgh, and nearly losing it, isn’t a real accomplishment.

Like I sad, real raw emotions on a Messy Monday morning.
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