How the mighty have fallen
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens are in the same boat.
And it’s taking on water.
One season after they were among the best teams in the NFL, the Chargers (5-5) and Ravens (4-6) are in danger of drifting into irrelevant seas. They play today at Qualcomm Stadium, and the loser could have a difficult time reaching the playoffs.
San Diego had an NFL-best record of 14-2 last season, and Baltimore was 13-3. And even though both were upset in divisional games -- the Chargers were knocked out by New England, the Ravens by Indianapolis -- the future appeared bright.
However, the Chargers have been wildly inconsistent this season, and the Ravens followed a 4-2 start with four consecutive losses.
“Clearly, both clubs had higher expectations,” Baltimore Coach Brian Billick said last week in a conference call with San Diego writers.
“But in this league, you see that. From one year to the next -- you’re talking about New Orleans, Chicago, ourselves, San Diego -- the list goes on of teams that were in that upper echelon and had no reason to believe they weren’t going to be there again. Then, as this league does, things happen to you and you find yourself in a different situation.”
The Chargers have one key factor weighing in their favor: They play in the AFC West. Despite their herky-jerky start, they’re still tied for first with Denver in the NFL’s only division led by .500 teams.
AFC West teams are a combined 16-24, a .400 mark that, according to Stats LLC, is that division’s lowest-ever winning percentage through 10 games.
San Diego’s attitude is that the record doesn’t need to be pretty. All the Chargers want is to get to the playoffs by winning the division -- a wild-card spot is all but out of the question -- and see what happens after that.
But there are nagging reservations.
“My concern [is], do we have what it takes going down the stretch?” running back LaDainian Tomlinson told reporters recently.
“Do we have what it takes to come together -- coaches and players alike -- and put a run together? Put all the egos aside and play football, that’s my concern.”
Those egos are plenty bruised, as are the ones in Baltimore, where the Ravens are 0-5 in AFC North games, including last Sunday’s spirit-crushing overtime loss to Cleveland.
For one thing, the Ravens can’t hang on to the football. They are tied with Houston for the most turnovers in the league, 26 -- 14 coming in the last three games. They have lost games by an average of nearly two touchdowns.
It has been 10 years since a team that started 4-6 made the playoffs, so Billick’s biggest challenge might be keeping the heads of his players in the game.
“It’s always a difficult time,” he said. “But you have to count on the character of your team to hold out whatever that motivation is, because until we’re not in the playoffs, we’re in the playoffs. It’s one of those things that until you’re eliminated, you hold that carrot out.”
Things only get tougher for the Ravens. After San Diego, they play host to New England and Indianapolis in the following two weeks.
The Chargers have games against their three division foes down the stretch -- on the road against Kansas City and Oakland, and, on Christmas Eve, at home against Denver.
“There’s still a third of the season left,” quarterback Philip Rivers told reporters.
“I’m not asking for any sympathy or anybody to feel sorry for us. But . . . this could still turn out to be as great a year as we set it out to be. We just have to have the right mind-set.”
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Cooking at home
Since the beginning of last season, San Diego has been as good as any team in the NFL at protecting its home turf. Here are the best regular-season home records in the league since the start of the 2006 season:
*--* Team Record Pct San Diego 12-1 923 Indianapolis 12-1 923 Pittsburgh 10-3 769 Baltimore 10-3 769 New England 9-3 750 *--*
Source: Stats LLC
