The San Diego Chargers success versus Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts continued Saturday night in the Wild Card round of the 2009 NFL Playoffs. Led by Darren Sproles and a surprising impact performance from San Diego punter Mike Scifres the Chargers beat the Colts 23-17 in overtime.

The defenses controlled the game early on till about midway through the 1st quarter when MVP Peyton Manning led the Colts on a 9-play 81-yard touchdown drive that was concluded with a Joseph Addai 1 yard td run. Peyton went 6 for 6 on this drive with his favorite target being Anthony Gonzalez as he contributed 3 grabs and 59 yards to this drive.

            After another stop by the Indy defense, Mike Scifres entered the equation, as he was able to pin the Colts back on their own 3-yard line. Once the Colts weren’t able to get a first down to give punter Hunter Smith any breathing room from his own end zone, it was quite apparent that this was a great opportunity for the Chargers to get on the board in the 2nd quarter. Sproles was able to return the ball 18 yards to the Indy 44 yard line. It didn’t take long for the Bolts to strike from this point as after a big 30-yard completion to Antonio Gates, the banged up Ladainian Tomlinson gingerly strolled into the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7.

            In response Peyton led the Colts into field goal territory to take the lead back at 10-7. The Indy defense continued to impress on the following drive getting to and sacking Rivers for the second time of the half. But to change the tide again Mike Scifres rocked a 67-yard punt to pin the Colts back on their 7-yard line. With absolutely no running game to support Peyton and the Colts offense they were once again forced to punt from their goal line. A shanked punt later and San Diego was back in Indy territory at the 45-yard line. Quarterback Phillip Rivers then connected with big target Chris Chambers twice to get SD to the 9-yard line where the elusive speedy back Darren Sproles cashed in with a 9-yard touchdown run. This gave San Diego the lead just before the half 14-10. On the ensuing kickoff, Chad Simpson appeared to fumble the ball but was ruled down by contact. When it was reviewed the evidence wasn’t 100% there to overturn the call even though it seemed to be a fumble from my perspective.

            In the 3rd quarter, Mike Scifres made yet another impression on the game by pinning the Colts on their own 9-yard line. In this one-dimensional offense that the Colts were putting on display tonight it seemed that it would doom them yet again, but this time the MVP put the offense on his shoulders and made something happen. On a 3rd and 5, Peyton hurried his offense to the line catching the Charger defense off guard and launched deep down the left sideline for Reggie Wayne hitting the wide-open star receiver in stride for a 72-yard touchdown. This was more evidence of why this quarterback is the MVP of the league, but you did get the feeling that it was going to take something like this for the Colts to succeed due to the lack of any running game.

            The underrated Phillip Rivers responded to the MVP’s score by marching the Chargers down the field into the Indy redzone where he then dumped off a screen pass to Sproles who in an attempt to fall backwards into the endzone was hit and the ball was jarred loose into the endzone where the Colts Raheem Brock recovered the ball for a touchback, to kill San Diego’s threat to score.

            With the 4th quarter ticking down and the Chargers trailing 17-14 with 3 minutes remaining the Chargers offense stalled again getting sacked for the 4th time of the night, this time on a big 3rd down, which forced them to punt the ball. But on a night like this it was far from a consequence with Mike Scifres on their side. He proceeded to bang a 52-yard punt that not only landed on the 1-yard line, but also managed to bounce directly parallel to the goal line and out of bounds at the 1-yard line. With one first down needed to ice the game and win for Indianapolis they faced a 3rd and 2 from their own 9-yard line. The Colts chose to come up in shotgun formation empty backfield, and with 2nd string tight end Gijon Robinson on the end to protect, who apparently was unaware of the snap count or just had a mental lapse on the biggest play of the season, as he let Tim Dobbins blow right by him untouched for a clean shot on Peyton Manning to sack him and force a 4th down on their own 1 yard line. Hunter Smith then was able to get some serious leg into his punt, banging it 63 yards, but it was a line drive punt that didn’t give the coverage team time to pressure Darren Sproles. Sproles scampered 26 yards on his return to the Colts 38 yard line. Rivers then hit Gates twice for two big 1st downs, shaking off defenders. Nate Kaeding then stepped on to the field and hit the game tying 26-yard chip shot to send it to overtime.

            In the very important coin toss San Diego’s tails call was correct and proved to be as vital as ever. And as Marcus McNeill boldly said, “Game Over.” But it didn’t come without a close call or two and some controversy. San Diego immediately faced a 3rd and 11 where Rivers faced pocket pressure and couldn’t find a receiver open past the marker, so he chose to dump down in the flat to the shifty Sproles, who then went on to squirm between 2 defensive players and get the big first down. Rivers was then able to hit Gates for a first down right at the marker, where he had a little luck on his side, as he fumbled the ball on his way to the ground and managed to land his back on it and reel it back in before any Colt defender had an opportunity to jump on it. Then controversy sparked on a big 3rd down from the Indy 40. It was 3rd and 8 and Rivers was under pressure and had no one open, so he just heaved a lob up in the vicinity of big wideout Chris Chambers. Indy cornerback Tim Jennings did a good job sticking with Chambers and had a very minor brief tug on the shoulder of Chambers that barely affected the play and the official called an enormous defensive holding penalty. It was a game changing call that did not warrant a flag. It is a shame that the referees have to get involved at such a key moment when they have no business calling such a ticky tacky penalty with a team’s season on the line. Then on the following play Sproles was stuffed on a run up the middle and yet another flag hit the ground. My first instinct said here comes the make up call, and rightly so. But as the replay was shown it was a personal foul facemask penalty on Clint Session. This penalty was not questionable from the majority of the public and isn’t as debatable, but it still was surprisingly called after the huge penalty called on the previous play. To me it seemed to be harsh because Sproles seemed to be wrapped up and tackled from the ankles and his progression was stopped when his masked was grabbed, but maybe that’s just because I had a bad taste in my mouth from the play before. And two plays later the speedy Darren Sproles got outside and sprung his way up field, shook up a safety and cashed in on the 22 yard touchdown run to win it for the San Diego Chargers 23-17 in overtime.

            San Diego Charger fans can probably respond to these calls by citing the Ed Hochuli game where they were robbed and say that this was a makeup for the injustice they went through in the regular season, and they are probably right. But in my opinion it is a shame that the Indianapolis Colts had to be the innocent victim of thee happenings. Having the up most respect for MVP quarterback Peyton Manning, I hate seeing him have these misfortunes always happening to him. I have to admit it upsets me to see him sit on the sideline and have the camera constantly flash on him when he has no part of the game when its all on the line in overtime. It also really bothered me having to see Ladainian Tomlinson after every play, as he has lost a lot of my respect when it comes to postseason performances. At least this year he didn’t have his helmet on, pouting. But I wanted the attention for the Chargers to go to Sproles, Rivers, and Scifres, the guys who deserved the attention.

            So in the end San Diego continues their big turnaround and will continue on in the playoffs, next traveling to Pittsburgh to face the stingy tough Steelers. And like a felt before this game Sproles is a better option then LT at the moment.

            As for the Colts, Peyton goes home to hard luck, as the Colts clearly need to do something to improve their running game and fix the Marvin Harrison situation.

            And of course the overtime rule, I have always been a supporter of a new system ever since I saw the first game of overtime that was decided without the other team getting the rock. I am an old school, purity type fan, but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to fix things that improve the game.

                                    Peter Lomuscio