Well THAT was weird.  I stopped watching this game at halftime, with the Chargers down 14-3, and Kris Dielman having been ejected for throwing a “phantom punch,” and…well, that’s reason enough, isn’t it?  I mean, this is the Chargers, who haven’t lost a game in December in like three seasons, and they were losing to the Chiefs.  Apparently, the second half got pretty interesting.  As always, this week’s column contains uncredited and unappreciated wit and witticisms from Ryan “Leaky Pipes” Thies, JJ “The Other JJ” Fiddler, and Shar “My Wife” Higa. 

1. I’ll move on, but rewatching the Dielman “punch”…wow.  Seriously, how many makeup calls are we owed next year?  I’m thinking maybe we’ll just demand some kind of diplomatic immunity from any and all penalties. 

2.  At 12:30pm on Sunday, the Chiefs were beating Chargers, the Bengals were beating the ‘Skins, the Texans were on top of the Titans, and the Lions had just tied the game against the Colts in the fourth.  In other words: this is the kind of year it’s been.

3. I’m not going to go into the end sequence of the game, though I did watch the last half hour, my mouth hanging open, flies building their fly-nests in between my teeth.  If you saw it, you’ll understand why.  Honestly, I can’t even be happy about the win—it took a cheat code for Wacky Miracle Mode for the Bolts to beat the Chiefs, and that ain’t right, even if it does keep the slimmest of playoff hopes alive.

4. The Chargers have now beaten the accursed Chefs twice this season by a combined two points.  Pipes points out that close games show you who’s got the better coach, and that Norv has lost every close game we’ve been in except these two, because nobody’s a worse coach than Herm Edwards.  JJ counters by pointing out that by that logic, Norv was the second best coach in the AFC last season.  I throw in that nobody cares about that argument, and that I hate Norv Turner.  We’re all right.

5. LT had 15 carries for 39 yards, with his longest run going for seven yards.  All I want for Christmas is for someone to develop a bionic big toe during the offseason.

6. Rivers was who he has been for all of the second season—at times on point, poised, and efficient, and at others missing easy throws by several yards.  It’s felt like a regression—I hope he’s just preparing to take three steps forward.

7. Those playoff hopes I mentioned—we need the Broncos to lose to the Bills at home next weekend, while we beat the Bucs on the road, and then we need to beat the Broncos in the final week of the season.  Don’t count on it—no matter who you are or what you want from them, the Bills will always fail you.

8. We’re back to no sacks again.  Don’t buy that Ron Rivera stock just yet.

9. I can’t believe I’m rooting for the Bills next week.  That’s not even like kissing your cousin, it’s like kissing your New York cabbie.