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Yesterday we kicked things off with two of the most painful memories we as Chargers fans have competing against two really unfortunate but not exactly devastating ones. Today? More of the same. One versus eight matchups are supposed to be close. Today's could be closer since a lot of our readers weren't alive for these one seeds and young people lack perspective.
In case you forgot to bookmark it, you can find the whole bracket by clicking here.
Our first contest of today is: (1) The Holy Roller vs. (8) The 2010 Blowout in Cincinnati
What happened?
(1) The Holy Roller (or Immaculate Deception as Wikipedia claims Charger fans refer to it) isn't just an infamous part of the San Diego Chargers' history. It changed the rules of the game. That's the Raiders for you: cheating before it even became cheating. On September 10, 1978 the Chargers led by six with 10 seconds left on the clock. Ken Stabler took the snap from the San Diego 14 yard line and was forced out of the pocket by Woodrow Lowe. Stabler illegally fumbled the ball forward, then Pete Banaszak recovered and did the same before Dave Casper recovered in the end zone. The referees botched both calls and gave the Raiders the win.
(8) On December 26, 2010 the Chargers traveled to Cincinnati needing a win over a 4-11 Bengals team. Instead they would pull off an amazingly ugly loss to give the AFC West crown to the Kansas City Chiefs. Vincent Jackson got things going early by fumbling on a reverse to back them up. A short punt was followed by a quick Bengals TD. Mike Tolbert would also have a costly fumble that would set up another quick score (and would result his being carted off the field). San Diego would go into half time down 13-3. They would battle back to within 3 points before being outscored 21-10 in the 4th Quarter. An ugly interception by Philip Rivers and a failure to get lined up by the defense punctuated it.
Which is worse?
Honestly, this is the closest 1vs8 you're going to get. The Holy Roller is iconic and terrible, but the Bengals game was a playoff eliminator against a lousy opponent.