Panthers Dominate the Chargers, End Any Playoff Chances for San Diego

Let's compare.

• The Carolina Panthers turned the ball over once (which resulted in 7 points for the opposition). The San Diego Chargers, who can not win when they turn the ball over, turned the ball over twice (which resulted in 10 points for the opposition).
• The Panthers gained 372 yards of offense. The Chargers gained 164.
• The Panthers got 27 first downs, the Chargers got 11.
• The Panthers were penalized 6 times for 48 yards. The Chargers were penalized 9 times for 90 yards.
• The Panthers converted 50% of their 3rd downs, while the Chargers converted 33% of their 3rd downs.
• The Panthers held the ball for 37:32, which means the Chargers only had the ball for 22:28.
• The Panthers gave up 2 sacks. The Chargers gave up 6 sacks.

Oh, and while we're on numbers....

Melvin Ingram has 0.5 sacks this season with 2.5 games left. Larry English had 2 sacks in his rookie season.

— Bolts From The Blue (@BFTB_Chargers) December 16, 2012

The Chargers will finish the season with an 0-4 record against the NFC South and are currently 2-7 against teams outside of the AFC West. The only team they've beaten that has any chance of making this playoffs this season is the Steelers. Sure, that win last week was great, but it doesn't take away from the 8 or 9 times that the team didn't show up and were embarrassed.

The Chargers offense is void of talent in the second most important position (offensive line) and it may be the main cause for the destroyed psyche of Philip Rivers and Ryan Mathews (not to mention Rupert Meachem). The first round picks (which, obviously, haven't been offensive linemen) have been somewhere between mediocre and terrible (with the exception of Corey Liuget) for years.

The defense hasn't had a decent Strong Safety since before Quentin Jammer (who, by the way, should not be a starting Cornerback much less your own good Cornerback) played in the NFL. They also haven't had an above-average pass rusher since Jeff Fisher put a hit on Shawne Merriman's knee.

The lack of talent is about 65% of the reason the Chargers are on track for their first losing season since 2003, and their third consecutive season without a playoff appearance. The other 35% is the players showing up to games completely unprepared (the defense looked like they've never seen Cam Newton in their life and didn't know who he was) and careless (how long are we going to let Rivers hold the ball in a fashion where he fumbles it every time someone gets near him?), which is on the coaches (who seem more concerned with just trying to stay employed than actually changing and innovating).

This organization has cancer. You can say the cancer started with Norv or A.J. Smith or even Marty Schottenheimer, but the fact of the matter is that the cancer has spread and is everywhere. It's time to start over and accept the fact that the white blood cells in the organization don't have the intelligence or the strength to build a plan of attack that would actually work and fix this mess. Fire everyone, and do it now because the fans won't stand for another embarrassing loss like that.