SB IX: '04-Chargers 23, '01-Rams 17

Cinderella just barely avoided having the clock strike midnight as the San Diego Chargers defeated the St. Louis Rams 23-17 in Super Bowl IX to win the Shapiro Trophy. The game started a little slow as both teams showed some opening jitters in the first quarter. The Chargers received the opening kickoff and quickly went three and out. The Rams did the same thing on their opening possession, but thanks to a nice punt return by Eric Parker, the Chargers were the winners in the field position battle. The Chargers started their second drive at the Rams 49. On third and six, Drew Brees found LaDainian Tomlinson out of the backfield and he raced to the Rams 26. The Chargers were unable to mount any more offense and Nate Kaeding came in and kicked a 41 yard field goal to give San Diego a 3-0 lead with 8:30 left in the opening quarter. Still showing some nerves both teams went three and out on their next possession, but this time it was Az-Zahir Hakim who found some space on a punt return and allowed the Rams to regain the better field position. Starting with 3:47 left in the quarter, Kurt Warner finally found his groove and directed the Rams down the field completing 5 out of 5 for all 65 yards and finishing the drive with an 8 yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt. At the end of the first quarter, St. Louis lead 7-3.

Drew Brees directed the Chargers into Rams territory at the start of the second quarter, but Leonard Little's third sack of the game knocked San Diego out of field goal range. Mike Scifres placed his punt perfectly and St. Louis was pinned back at their own 1 yard line. Marshall Faulk broke a nice run up the middle for the Rams but the tackle jarred the ball loose and Drayton Florence fell on it at the Rams 14 yard line. Brees found Tomlinson out of the backfield, but he came up a few yards short of a first down and Kaeding came in and hit a 24 yard field goal to cut the St. Louis lead to 7-6 with 9:20 left in the half. Kurt Warner did not allow the Chargers to gain momentum as he directed the Rams on a time consuming 81 yard drive that culminated with Marshall Faulk sweeping around end from 3 yards out to increase the St. Louis lead to 14-6 with 1:15 left in the half. Tim Dwight had a nice kickoff return that allowed the Chargers to start at their own 38. Drew Brees wasted little time and on the first play went for the home run to Antonio Gates. Gates beat his coverage and was pushed out of bounds at the Rams 21. Three plays later Brees caught the Rams in the wrong coverage and Keenan McCardell leaped into the end zone to cut the Rams advantage to 14-12. Coach Lowe decided to try and send the game to halftime all tied up, but Brees pass to McCardell on the two point conversion was incomplete. Kurt Warner took a knee to run out the final 27 seconds of the half.

The second half started much like the first half as both teams went three and out on their opening drives. The Rams seemed to gain momentum as Warner found Hakim all alone on a 19 yard play to get the Rams into Chargers territory. On the next play, Trung Canidate raced up the middle for 10 yards and the Rams were first and ten at the San Diego 36. Warner attempted a safe pass to Marshall Faulk out of the backfield, but Donnie Edwards stepped in front of the throw and grabbed the interception which he returned to the Chargers 47. The Chargers rode Tomlinson down the field to the Rams 20. On third and eight, Brees throw over the middle to Antonio Gates was intercepted by Aeneas Williams at the St. Louis 6. Warner drove the Rams just into Chargers territory at the 48, but the drive stalled and John Baker punted the ball down to the San Diego 7. Drew Brees ended the scoreless quarter with a 26 yard completion to Eric Parker to get San Diego out of the hole.

Brees was incomplete on his first three throws of the fourth quarter and Scifres was again called on to punt. Scifres hit another beauty which backed the Rams up to their own 16 yard line. On third and eight, Warner tried to force a ball into Ricky Proehl, but Jerry Wilson intercepted the pass and ran it back to the Rams 22. Brees directed the Chargers down to the 4 yard line, but an illtimed false start helped to stall out the drive. Nate Kaeding was called on for the third time in the game and his 26 yard field goal allowed San Diego to regain the lead 15-14 with 10:13 left in the quarter. Kaeding's short kickoff allowed the Rams good field position and Warner started at his own 42. The Chargers appeared to have stopped the drive quickly as a Randall Godfrey sack had the Rams facing third and sixteen at their own 36. When Warner couldn't find an open receiver, he took off and was able to rumble for the 16 yards he needed and a first down at the Chargers 48. Three plays later, the Chargers once again appeared to stop the drive as Steve Foley intercepted another Warner pass, but the penalty for pass interference came out and the Rams drive continued. The Rams faced third and 6 at the San Diego 21, but Coach Marcucci didn't want to risk another interception and Canidate's run came up a couple of yards short. On fourth down, Jeff Wilkins kicked a 34 yard field goal and St. Louis regained the lead 17-15 with 4:30 left in the game. Tim Dwight got loose on the kickoff return and Brees started his final drive at the San Diego 44. Following completions to Parker, McCardell and Gates, the Chargers had moved quickly to the Rams 23. A Tomlinson run and a Brees scramble yielded nothing, and the Chargers were facing a third and ten at the two minute warning. Instead of making the safe play, Coach Lowe elected to have Brees try the exact same pass to Antonio Gates that had allowed Aeneas Williams to stop an earlier Chargers drive. This time it was Gates who won the matchup and the throw was on the money. Gates crashed into the end zone and the Chargers lead 21-17. Coach Lowe decided once again to go for the 2 point conversion to try and give the Chargers a 6 point lead. This time, Brees's pass to McCardell was complete and San Diego lead 23-17 with 1:53 left in the game. Kaeding kicked the ball deep and Canidate returned it to the Rams 26. Warner faced 74 yards with 1:45 and no time outs. The Chargers had a chance to end the drive quickly, but on fourth down with 1:08 left in the game Warner connected with Hakim on a 22 yard pass to the San Diego 47. On third and six at the 43, Warner found Proehl alone on the sideline and the Rams were at the Charger's 23 yard line with 29 seconds left. The Rams faced third and four at the San Diego 17 with 14 ticks on the clock, and they surprised the Chargers with a draw play to Marshall Faulk. Faulk broke loose for the first down to the 9, but it appeared the game was going to end. Warner was able to spike the ball with 1 second remaining to give the Rams one last play. Warner threw the ball into the end zone towards Tory Holt, but the ball was trapped and ruled incomplete to allow the Chargers to escape with the win. The Chargers became the first 4 seed to ever win the Shapiro Trophy. They defeated three division champions in their drive to the title despite only finishing third in their own division. St. Louis won the yardage battle 336-258, but it was Drew Brees who made the plays when it counted and the defense came up big like they had throughout the playoffs. Brees was selected the game's Most Valuable Player completing 18 of 34 for 231 yards and 2 touchdowns.

TURNING POINT: Drew Brees 23 yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gates on third and ten on the first play after the two minute warning for the winning score.

MVP: Drew Brees

--submitted by John Lowe--

Congrats to John Lowe and the 2004 SD Chargers

In one of the tightest CFL Super Bowls ever, John Lowe guided his Bolts over Greg/Mop's Rams to a tight victory that was in doubt up until the final play. John will be sending us a full write-up of the game, but I just wanted to extend our congrats to him and let you all know the our SB MVP was the same guy (Drew Brees) as last night's SB MVP. Only difference is that we crowned ours 6 hours earlier and our game took about half the time (Greg actually played fast).

Amazing how this game came down to one final play where Greg needed a TD and John needed a stop. Looks like John had the right coverage too !

Super Bowl IX - Preview

Competing for the coveted Shapiro Trophy are: 2001 St. Louis Rams (Greg/Mop) vs 2004 San Diego Chargers (John Lowe). Both teams got to the big dance in different ways. The Rams were the #1 seed in the NFC, but had an OT scare in the opening round. They beat the Bears with a great 4th quarter where they pulled away late. SD upset the #1 favorite 2004 Colts and dominated the 2004 Patriots in the conference championship.
Greg has offered up 2pm today as a possible game time.

NFC Championship Game: Rams 24, Bears 13

Down 10-3 at the half the Rams offense was starting to doubt themselves. The Bear defense had stymied them for a full 30 minutes. When the 3rd quarter started it looked to be more of the same. When great offenses meet up with great defenses in the post season games are tight and one key pivotal play sometimes is needed to jump start things. That play occurred with 5:13 left to play in the 3rd, when Dexter McCleon jumped a route on his own 19 for what would become an 81 yard pick 6. Just like that the game went from the Bears looking to go up by 2 scores to the Rams tying it. When you give Kurt Warner and company life they take yours. Warner hit Tory Holt from 4 yards out to cap off a 12 play 74 yard drive to give the Rams their first lead of the day.

The Bears now had to play catchup and went on a long drive of their own, which netted a Paul Edinger 38 yard FG and made the score 17-13 with just over 5 minutes to play. Tension began to mount with the margin for error being just 4 points. The Rams took over possession at the 2:14 mark looking to run out the clock. They did better than that when Marshall Faulk took the ball to the house with a 46 yard TD run to put the Rams up by 11 and send them to New Orleans for a date with destiny vs the Chargers. On a day where both QB's were overly generous: Miller 4 pics / Warner 3 pics, Marshall Faulk (21-121-td) outplayed his counterpart Anthony Thomas (14-30) to win the NFC Championship MVP.

Chargers 37, Patriots 16...SD goes to Super Bowl as AFC representative

For the second straight week, the Chargers won the toss and elected to receive. Instead of the 3 and out they experienced in Indy, this time Drew Brees directed a 62 yard drive culminating with a 3rd down 8 yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gates to give the Chargers an early 7-0 lead. After Kaeding's kickoff bounced through the end zone, Tom Brady started at his own 20. He directed the Patriots down to the Chargers 15, but on 3rd and 3 his scrambling run for a first down came up short and Adam Vinatieri was called on to kick a 32 yard field goal to cut the San Diego lead to 7-3. The Chargers offense didn't get a chance to expand the lead because for the second straight week the San Diego kickoff return team took one to the house. Last week it was Jesse Chatman's key 83 yard touchdown return of a Colt squib kick that lead San Diego to the road win. This week, it was Tim Dwight's turn and he ran 90 yards to give San Diego a 13-3 lead after Kaeding's extra point attempt was deflected at the line of scrimmage. The teams exchanged punts to end the first quarter.

The Patriots started the second quarter backed up at their own 8 yard line and were soon forced to punt the ball. San Diego began their opening drive of the quarter at their own 41 yard line. Drew Brees found LaDainian Tomlinson open out of the backfield and he rambled down to the New England 4 yard line. On the next play, fullback Lorenzo Neal crashed into the end zone and the Chargers lead 20-3. Tom Brady started the next Patriots drive at his own 25 and lead the team down to the San Diego 20. But his third down pass for David Graham was incomplete and Adam Vinatieri was called on to kick his second field goal which trimmed the Chargers lead to 20-6. Three plays later Drew Brees overthrew Reche Caldwell and Rodney Harrison returned it to the San Diego 30. Four plays later, Cedric Cobbs ran in from 2 yards out and the Patriots closed the half with some momentum after cutting the San Diego lead to 20-13.

The Patriots opened the third quarter with the ball and were hoping to tie up the game. Brady lead New England to midfield, but his pass for Troy Brown was intercepted by Drayton Florence at the San Diego 36 to stop their momentum. Drew Brees did his part to help the Chargers regain momentum when he lead them down the field on a 64 yard drive which ended with his 10 yard pass to Keenan McCardell to give San Diego a 27-13 lead with 8:55 left in the quarter. Brady directed the Patriots back down the field, but the drive stalled at the San Diego 34. Vinatieri was called on to kick his third field goal and it was good from 51 yards out to cut the Chargers lead to 27-16. Drew Brees just wouldn't let the Patriots regain any momentum as he lead the Chargers right back down the field where Nate Kaeding kicked a 39 yard field goal to give San Diego a 30-16 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Following a Patriots punt, San Diego started at their own 4 yard line with the wind at their backs and the clock as their friend. Drew Brees looked the part of a real field general as he willed his team down the field and finished the 13 play, 8:28 drive with a 3rd and goal 7 yard pass to Eric Parker to get the Charger fans celebrating with a 37-16 lead. Tom Brady had one more chance, but his final drive stalled out at the New England 42. Drew Brees drove down the field and ran out the clock by taking a knee at the Patriots 1 yard line on the final play of the game. Brees finished 19-30 for 249 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win. Unlike last week against Indianapolis, this time the Chargers dominated on offense outgaining the Patriots 416-282 and controlled the clock for over 36 minutes. The Chargers may have only been the third best team in their division, but when it counted, they ended up being the best team in the conference with two huge road wins over both of the division champions.

TURNING POINT: Drayton Florence's interception on the second play of the second half when New England was trying to drive for the tying touchdown after trailing by 17 points in the second quarter.

--submitted by John Lowe--

Chargers upset Colts 38-35 to advance to Conf Finals

The San Diego Chargers outlasted the Indianapolis Colts 38-35 in one of the biggest upsets in CFL history. The Colts entered the game riding a 9 game win streak courtesy of quarterback Peyton Manning's CFL record 57 touchdown passes. He threw 4 more in the divisional playoff game, but it wasn't enough to bring the Colts all the way back.

The Chargers won the toss and elected to receive. Gramatica's opening kickoff went out of bounds and the Chargers started with the ball on their own 40 yard line. Three plays later, they had advanced 3 feet and were forced to punt. The Colts started at their own 28 and drove down the field. The Chargers appeared to stop the Colts at the San Diego 39 when Manning's third down pass to Marvin Harrison was overthrown. However Coach Weiss elected to go for it and Manning found an open Brandon Stokley for 17 yards and a first down. Two plays later Manning finished off the drive with another 17 yard pass, this time to Harrison and the Colts lead early 7-0. Following a nice Tim Dwight kickoff return followed by a 15 yard roughing penalty the Colts, the Chargers again had good field position at their own 46 to start their second drive. Drew Brees directed them down to the Colts 3 where they faced a 4th and goal. Coach Lowe also decided to go for it, and Brees found Antonio Gates in the end zone and the game was tied at 7. On the ensuing kickoff Dominic Rhodes broke off a 68 yard return and the Colts were in business at the San Diego 26. Four plays later, the Colts faced a 4th and 1 at the San Diego 1. For the second time in the game, Coach Weiss gambled and again he came up big as Edgerrin James crashed in for the touchdown to give the Colts a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Chargers next drive stalled at the Colts 31. Facing 4th and 5, Coach Lowe sent the normally reliable Nate Kaeding into the game to cut into the Colts lead. However, the 48 yard field goal attempt was wide and the Colts had good field position again starting at their own 38 yard line. The Colts drove down to the Chargers 20 yard line, and looked like they were going to take a 2 score lead, but Manning's pass to Harrison was intercepted by Jerry Wilson at the 9 to stop the drive. The Chargers wasted little time tying up the game on a 4 play, 91 yard drive culminated with Brees 8 yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Floyd. Rhodes broke another long kickoff return to the Colts 45, and 2 plays later Manning had the Colts at the Chargers 35. But, for the second straight drive, his pass attempt to Marvin Harrison was intercepted, this time by Drayton Florence and the Chargers again took over inside their own 20 yard line. Drew Brees directed San Diego down the field and completed the 81 yard drive with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Eric Parker to give San Diego their first lead at 21-14. Peyton Manning was intercepted for the third straight drive when his pass directed towards Brandon Stokley was grabbed by Donnie Edwards who returned the ball to midfield with 1:44 left in the half. Three plays later, LaDainian Tomlinson sprinted in from 6 yards out and the Chargers lead 28-14 at the half.

The punters battled for field position most of the third quarter as both team were forced to punt on their first 2 possessions. Manning drove the Colts down to the Chargers 24, but on 2nd and 7 his pass towards Dallas Clark was intercepted by Terrence Kiel at the Chargers 5 yard line. The Chargers were forced to punt for the third time in the quarter and Indianapolis got the ball back at their own 16 with 2 seconds left in the quarter. On the quarter's final play, Manning found Brandon Stokley all alone and he rambled down to the San Diego 10 on a 74 yard play to bring the third to a close.

Following a sack by Randall Godfrey, the Colts faced a 3rd and goal at the San Diego 14. Peyton Manning was intercepted for the 5th time in the game when his pass towards Harrison was grabbed by Shaun Phillips in the back of the end zone to keep the Chargers up by two touchdowns. On the Chargers drive, it was time for Drew Brees to thrown an interception and Jason David returned it to the San Diego 34. Two plays later, Manning found Dallas Clark in the end zone and the San Diego lead was cut to 28-21 with 11:15 remaining in the game. Tim Dwight took the ensuing kickoff and rambled to the Colts 20 to give San Diego great field position. On second down, Brees was intercepted by Von Hutchins at the Colts 9 to end a great opportunity to regain a 2 score lead. Peyton Manning directed the Colts quickly down the field and finished the drive with a 1 yard touchdown pass to Edgerrin James to tie the score up at 28 with 6:45 left in the game. Coach Weiss had learned his lesson after watching Tim Dwight's returns and elected to have Martin Gramatica squib kick the ball. However, he caught too much of the ball and Jesse Chatman grabbed it at his 17 yard line and weaved back and forth across the field for 16 seconds before falling into the end zone allowing San Diego to regain the lead 35-28. The Colts situation went from bad to worse when an illegal block pushed them back to their own 4 to start their next drive. Manning drove them out to their 46, but he underthrew Brandon Stokley on a crossing pattern and was intercepted for the sixth time in the game, this time by Steve Foley.

The Chargers had the ball at the Colts 46 with 4:51 left and a 7 point lead. Three plays netted 7 yards and facing 4th and 3 at the Colts 39, Coach Lowe had a decision to make. Despite Kaeding's miss from 48 earlier in the game, Coach Lowe showed faith in his kicker and sent him out to try a 56 yard field goal. If he missed, the Colts would have great field position trailing by a touchdown. However, Coach Lowe's faith was rewarded and Nate Kaeding's 56 yard field goal was good to increase the Charger lead to 38-28. Manning started the next drive at his own 12 with 3:07 on the clock. He quickly drove the Colts down the field and they finished the 6 play drive with a 7 yard pass to Dallas Clark to cut the lead to 38-35 with 2:04 left in the game. With 2 timeouts left, Coach Weiss had a decision to make. He passed up an onside kick and had Gramatica kick it deep. This ended up being the wrong decision as Tomlinson powered for 2 first downs on the ground, and when the Colts could no longer stop the clock, Brees took a knee to end the game. The Chargers knocked off the top seed Colts 38-35 despite 492 yard passing by Manning. Brandon Stokley finished the game with 228 yards on 9 receptions to lead the Colts. The Chargers were out gained 571-392 and only survived because their opportunistic defense grabbed 6 interceptions. When added to the 7 they had grabbed in the regular season finale against the 49ers, the Chargers had a total of 13 interceptions in 2 games. San Diego advanced to the conference championship where they get to return to the scene of the Boston Massacre from two weeks before when the Patriots wiped out the Chargers 32-7.

TURNING POINT: Jesse Chatman's 83 yard kickoff return for a touchdown after the Colts had batted back to tie it up at 28 with 6 and a half minutes left in the game.

--submitted by John Lowe--

Bears blow out boys from Bay Area

It was a tough day at the office for Jeff Garcia and the San Francisco 49ers, as they lined up to play the Chicago Bears in the CFL playoffs. Garcia threw 5 interceptions and the 49ers fumbled 5 times and lost 3. It was a sloppy game for both teams as Chicago turned the ball over 4 times themselves. 17 penalties in the game for 138 yards for both teams made it even sloppier.

The 1st quarter was a feeling out by each team. Each tried different things to move the ball, but neither found the endzone.

In the 2nd quarter,a 9 play,61 yard drive by the Bears lead to the first score. San Francisco drove close at the end of the half, but had to settle for a 29 yard Cortez field goal and it was 7-3, Chicago at the half.

The 3rd saw the Bears put some distance between themselves and the 49ers as they took a 16-6 lead on a 19 yard interception return by Traylor for a score. The Bears, Brian Urlacher stuffed Garrison Hearst in the endzone for a Bears safety and it was 16-6 at the end of the 3rd.

The 4th didn't fare much better for the 49ers. They did add another Cortez field goal. The Bears added 2 meaningless TDs late in the game for the final score of 30-6. --submitted by Jim Walden (subbing for Bill Vogt)--