What was the last team to miss the NFL playoffs as good as SD?

[Matt Williams]

If they are so good, why are they losing games? I can see losing 1 or 2 games to inferior teams, but 5?

[SammyKid11]

[ QUOTE ]
If they are so good, why are they losing games? I can see losing 1 or 2 games to inferior teams, but 5?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're seriously underestimating the variance involved each week in football...and things that can be inferred from margin of victory/defeat. The Chargers have lost 5 games (which is not, you know, too bad...they're playing almost .660 football). Those games are:
28-24 to Dallas (a team in the playoff hunt)
20-17 at Denver (a team that's squarely in the playoffs)
24-22 to Pittsburgh (a team in the playoff hunt)
20-17 at Philadelphia (when TO was still there and before Donovan got so hurt that he required surgery...ie- when they played Philly, they were a playoff-bound team -- AND they lost on a fluke)
23-21 to Miami (and this is SINCE the Dolphins have been playing well)

So, five losses, ALL by 4 points or less, against five teams who are either in the playoffs, in the playoff hunt, or at the time of their game PLAYING like a playoff team. That doesn't exactly scream "bad team" to me -- maybe you can say "not clutch"...but not untalented. And since this thread is about if there's ever been a team as GOOD as the Chargers to miss the playoffs...this distinction is warranted.

Now, the nine wins:
45-23 vs. NYG (demolishing a virtual lock playoff team)
41-17 at New England (demolishing a playoff team, defending champs, on the road)
27-14 at Oakland (lackluster, yet comfortable win on the road over a mediocre-to-bad team
28-20 vs. KC (solid win vs. division rival and a team in the playoff hunt)
31-26 at NYJ (maybe their only decidedly unimpressive win)
48-10 vs. Buffalo (sure, the Bills are bad...but you beat an NFL team by 38 and you're doing something right)
23-17 at Washington (good road win vs. playoff contender)
34-10 vs. Oakland (waxing the floor with bad team at home)
26-17 at Indianapolis (probably the most impressive, gutsy win by any team this season over the super-dominant, previously-undefeated, undisputed best team in the NFL at their place)

That examination of their schedule ought to tell you all you need to know. First of all, their record is not at all bad. Second of all, when you factor in margin of victory/defeat, it's easy to see that this is a very good team.

Moreover, there's the strength of schedule. Jeff Sagarin has San Diego playing THE toughest schedule in the NFL. Compare that to the teams they're in direct competition with for the playoffs:
Pittsburgh (playing the 5th-toughest)
Denver (playing the 12th-toughest)
Jacksonville (playing the 16th-toughest)

Or even more of the lock AFC playoff teams:
Indianapolis (playing the 27th-toughest)
Cincinatti (playing the 19th-toughest)
New England (playing the 14th-toughest)

These things, when viewed from the standpoint of trying to assess a team's true talent level, have a major impact. You might see it as a simple matter of "if they're so good, why have they lost 5 games," but I'm sorry - that's a very sophomoric look at the Chargers' true worthiness of being involved in the playoffs. I'm glad it's about record in the NFL instead of BS stuff like power ratings, polls, and schedule strength...but in this isolated case, it'd be somehow wrong if a team of San Diego's caliber failed to get in.

Just as a sidenote...I don't, nor have I ever, even so much as lived in California. This isn't a homer-based view...I'm a Texans fan. While I appreciate the Chargers, I have nothing more tied to them than any other NFL team save Houston.

[McGahee]

I like the Chargers a lot and hope they get in, but if they don't, well I stopped feeling sorry for them after they lost to Miami at home. What evidence is there that Miami is "playing well" if you take away the Chargers game? The weeks before & after that game they barely escaped the Bills & Jets at home. They're 2 plays away from getting swept by those God awful teams.

[Wes ManTooth]

[ QUOTE ]
23-21 to Miami (and this is SINCE the Dolphins have been playing well)


[/ QUOTE ]

the same Miami team that just almost lost to the Jets, and managed to beat the Bills by one point.

ok the Chargers are a fairly solid team, but ESPN and the rest of the world should stop hyping them up like they are gods gift to football. If they don't make the playoffs this year that is fine, it makes up for last year when they got in because their schedule that year was a joke.

[Momo]

[ QUOTE ]
it makes up for last year when they got in because their schedule that year was a joke.

[/ QUOTE ]

1 Sun, Sep 12 at Houston W 27-20
2 Sun, Sep 19 NY Jets L 28-34
3 Sun, Sep 26 at Denver L 13-23
4 Sun, Oct 3 Tennessee W 38-17
5 Sun, Oct 10 Jacksonville W 34-21
6 Sun, Oct 17 at Atlanta L 20-21
7 Sun, Oct 24 at Carolina W 17-6
8 Sun, Oct 31 Oakland W 42-14
9 Sun, Nov 7 New Orleans W 43-17
10 BYE WEEK
11 Sun, Nov 21 at Oakland W 23-17
12 Sun, Nov 28 at Kansas City W 34-31

13 Sun, Dec 5 Denver W 20-17
14 Sun, Dec 12 Tampa Bay W 31-24
15 Sun, Dec 19 at Cleveland W 21-0
16 Sun, Dec 26 at Indianapolis L (OT) 31-34
17 Sun, Jan 2 Kansas City W 24-17

Mind showing me where the joke of a schedule is? Tenn, Oak, and No. Those games I guess you could call a joke. Cleveland, was away and in the snow, not easy when your a team used to 70 degree weather all year round.

One thing no one has pointed out is the way the chargers schedule was set up. They play 3 teams in a row to come off their bye weeks, and then the following week they played KC who get a couple extra days when they had to play Miami early cause of the hurricane that was coming. I look at the ones they gave up and the big one was Miami. The two wins that stand out above the rest are the NE and Indy games. Both on the road, both with "records" on the line. NE up until that point hadn't lost at home in like 22(?) straight games, and the chargers just dominated them. Indy, well we know how the Chargers D just manhandeled the colts. One other fact that you should know about the colts game. The only time Indy scored a TD was when they got the ball starting inside the 5 and on the like 22 i think it was. Unless they had an extremely short field they couldn't score a TD.

Yes I live in San Diego, and yes I am a Charger Homer.

[Tron]

Nevermind. Deleted.

[Jack of Arcades]

2005 has been very, very weird. We've got some of the luckiest and unluckiest teams in history, one of the worst I've ever seen (San Fran), two of the best 4-team divisions ever (NFC East, AFC West)... and two of the worst (AFC East, NFC West).

Why has SD lost 5 games? Luck doesn't care who you are.

[thatpfunk]

Sammy,
The Dallas loss also ocurred w/out Gates, one of their most important offensive weapons. In retrospect that is one of the worst management moves I can remember.