The San Diego Chargers: Underachieving since 1979

In the final game of week 1 last Monday night, we saw an all too familiar occurrence at Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers came out firing on all cylinders building a 28-7 lead early in the 3rd quarter against one of the best teams in football to the surprise the entire football world. San Diego was not expected to be a playoff team this year despite whatever Phillip Rivers thinks which is ironic because his regression is the main reason we all felt that way (Peyton Manning in the same division doesn’t help either). For thirty two minutes of play though, Charger fans had that old familiar feeling of hope and optimism that has broken their hearts countless times before.
Maybe Rivers had finally gotten out of his funk; maybe their secondary had finally solved their problems just maybe. What proceeded was 24 unanswered points leading to a 31-28 loss leaving an awful taste in the mouth of 70,000 San Diego fans. Worst off all, it looked like they might have survived the second half meltdown after an huge stop by the defense as they were clinging to 28-21 lead late; Phillip Rivers famous tendency for not knowing the moment reared its ugly head once again. He threw an absolutely awful pick six trying to fit a ball through a small window And Brian Cushing took it to the house overshadowing a great first half in what seemed like a possible resurgence for Rivers. Once again, the Charger faithful had their hopes built up to an astronomical point just to see them blow it once again. Just like in the early 80’s led by great players like Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow, John Jefferson and Fred Dean among others winning the division four years in a row just to fail to reach the super bowl each year. Particularly in 1979 in which many considered them to be a favorite just to be upset in the first round by the Oilers. How about in 1994 when they finally reached the big game after riveting wins against Dan Marino’s Dolphins and the Steelers just to get blown out by 49ers. How about from 2004-2009, an era in which the Chargers were considered “the most talented roster in the nfl” just to blow it again and not eve reach the Super Bowl once. This last one hurts the most probably for