Chargers Suffer First Loss of the Season

On a 4 th and 2 from the Baltimore 15, Phillip Rivers handed the ball off to Darren Sproles, trying to keep the drive and their hopes of pulling out a victory alive. In a blink of an eye Ray Lewis was upon Sproles, stopping him dead in his tracks and dropping him for a five yard loss. Thirty seconds remained, but for the Chargers the game was over, and it died right there in the red zone where many other drives like it suffered the same fate throughout the contest.

The red zone was definitely the dead zone all day for the Chargers. Five times San Diego moved the ball inside the Ravens 20. The first four of these drives lead to field goals and a total of 12 points. And the last drive…well…Ray Lewis took care of that. It was a frustrating day for the Chargers offense to say the least. But only so much blame can be placed on them as the Ravens defense did what it does best by making plays when it mattered the most. That’s not to say the Chargers didn’t have their chances to win the game as they certainly did from beginning to end.

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a more exciting start for the Chargers in their home opener when on their second possession of the game Rivers and his speedy half back Sproles made a little magic. With the ball at their own 19 yard line Rivers dropped back, avoided the rush, and dumped the ball off to Sproles who then took flight down the sideline for an 81 yard touchdown. The play sent the packed stadium into a frenzy, but the Chargers fan’s jubilance wouldn’t last long. On the very next series Baltimore responded with a nine play, 68 yard drive that took just under four and a half minutes and ended with a five yard touchdown run by Willis McGahee to tie the score at 7-7. The Ravens would score two more touchdowns on two of their next three possessions while the Chargers began the vexing trend of settling for field goals in the “dead” zone.

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Despite their red zone futility San Diego came out of the half time break trailing by only five points, 21-16. They forced the Ravens to punt on the opening drive of the second half, and had the chance to go for the lead. However, the game’s biggest turning point was about to unfold. After being pinned back at their own 3 yard line, the Chargers gained some breathing room, advancing to their own 24. That’s when Rivers made his biggest blunder. Under pressure, and being flushed out of the pocket, Rivers made a blatantly careless throw, chucking the ball away in the hopes of avoiding the sack. Dawan Landry intercepted the pass and then lateralled to Ed Reed who brought the ball to the San Diego 22. Shortly after, Joe Flacco connected with his tight end Todd Heap for a nine yard touchdown pass the put the Ravens up 28-16.

As usual the Chargers battled back. With their running game struggling due to the absence of Ladanian Tomlinson and a staunch Ravens defense, the Chargers scraped and clawed their way to another touchdown that came from out of the red zone of course. Rivers hooked up with Vincent Jackson for a 35 yard TD pass and moments later Antoine Cason intercepted Joe Flacco, putting the Chargers back in business with a chance to drive and regain the lead. San Diego got all the way to the Baltimore 7, but once again had to settle for a field goal that trimmed the score to 28-26.

One week ago Phillip Rivers mastered a game winning touchdown drive against the Raiders in the same situation. He was going to have to do it again if the Chargers were to stay undefeated and almost did. Rivers lead his team from their own 27 to the Ravens fifteen, but that was as far as they would get thanks to Ray Lewis’s play at the end and perhaps poor play calling by deciding to run on a 4 th and 2 rather than pass.

Nevertheless the Chargers have been handed their first loss of the 2009 season. They’ll get another chance to win their first game at home this year when the Miami Dolphins come to Qualcomm Stadium. One would think that the opponent would be a little easier to beat than the team that just left town. Then again in the NFL nothing is ever easy.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com San Diego Chargers Correspondent