Chargers Defeat Ravens: Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Chargers spanked one of the best teams in the AFC tonight. In an amazing victory, I started to feel that sense of hope. The, "Where has this team been all year" comments vanished and were replaced by, "This could really happen" thoughts. Do the Chargers need help? Yes! Is it impossible? No!

I understand that most Chargers fans will hold back emotionally buying into the Chargers making a playoff run, and I don't blame them. With that said, the Chargers have given us a reason to be excited and I'm going to enjoy this victory against the Ravens, as well as the win streak the team is on.

Good:

Philip Rivers: Nothing like seeing Rivers only threw the ball 23 times. Philip was fantastic tonight against the one of the best defenses in the league. Guess he's not hurt anymore. FWIW - Rivers is now 24-2 in December and January.

Antwan Barnes: LaBoy went down and Barnes did his thing. Six tackles (five solo), four sacks, and three qb hits. FOUR SACKS! That really happened.

Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert: Mathews didn't run for 100 yards, but 90 against the Ravens is practically 100 yards against most teams. For the record, Mathews had 109 total yards and two touchdowns. Tolbert to his credit compiled 58 yards and a touchdown.

Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd: Combining for 8 catches and 180 yards, they stretched the field and attacked the ball. Playing like top shelf receivers.

O-Line: The line has played great during this stretch. It's hard to have imagined that the line would perform like this without Kris Dielman and Marcus McNeill.

Playoff chances: Broncos, Raiders, and Jets all lose. Keep hope alive.

Bad:

Run defense: Lucky for the Chargers defensive line, the offense was clicking on all cylinders. That forced the Ravens to abandon the run game and play catch up. The Ravens did average 6.4 yards per carry.

Ugly:

Playoff Chances: Although everything that needed to happen, happened today. The Chargers need another week of great luck and taking care of business on their end to sneak in to the playoffs. I'm bracing myself for plenty of, "The Chargers are the team no one wants to face in the playoffs".

Shameless plug: High Boltage Radio will not be live the rest of the season, but we will have some podcasts. Stay tuned.