Week 13 Recap: San Diego Chargers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Credit: AP Photo
Yesterday afternoon the San Diego Chargers were fighting for their season.
A win would have kept their playoff hopes alive, a loss assured their season was all but over.
The game started rather well for the Chargers as they drove the length of the field to score a touchdown on their first possession.
Tampa Bay seemed to be on its heels on defense early in the game. On the Bucs’ first drive, Casey Hayward picked off Jameis Winston at midfield and it looked like it was going to be a great day for the Bolts.
The Chargers got a couple of first downs, but after a sack on 3rd down, Josh Lambo missed a 53-yard FG on probably one of the worse kicks you will see from the young man. That gave Tampa great field position and they took advantage of it, going down the field for the game-tying touchdown.
In the second quarter, Melvin Gordon found the end zone to put the Chargers on top 14-7. This would be the score at half-time.
After the half-time break, Tampa Bay managed to get a field goal on their opening drive. When the Chargers got the ball back, an unfortunate play happened. Rivers tried to hit Tyrell Williams on a slant, but Vernon Hargreaves deflected the ball and Lavonte David came up with the interception and ran it back for a TD. This put the chargers down 17-14 and was a huge momentum shift in the game.
On their next drive, the Chargers gave the ball to Melvin Gordon, and he put them on the Bucs’ 40 yard line. With the Bucs crowding the line of scrimmage, Philip Rivers found Tyrell Williams with a beautiful throw in the end zone to give the Chargers the lead 21-17.
This Bucs team wouldn’t go away though, as they kicked a FG to put them within a point. After a Chargers punt, Jameis Winston drove the Buccaneers down to the SD 12 yard line and found TE Cameron Brats for the go-ahead score. Tampa went for two after the TD and Winston completed the pass to put the game 28-21.
The Chargers got the ball back and had a great chance to tie the game. However, with 3:04 remaining in the game and from the Bucs’ 31 yard line, Philip Rivers decided to go for the tie instead of hitting Melvin Gordon for an easy first down. He severely underthrew Dontrelle Inman, and Keith Tandy came down with the ball, giving the Bucs the win.
This was a tough loss for many reasons. The best player for the Chargers was Melvin Gordon, but for some reason he only got 17 carries on the day. Tampa seemed relieved whenever the Chargers passed the ball, but Coach McCoy chose to thrown more often than not. This loss effectively ends the Chargers season, as they fall to 5-7, and each of their division rivals won on Sunday.
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