Manning, Colts not best foe for team dealing with injury woes

Manning, Colts not best foe for team dealing with injury woes
January 3
San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan
"The Chargers' injury report is terse and troubling.

LaDainian Tomlinson's groin pull renders the running back officially "questionable" for Saturday night's playoff bash with the Indianapolis Colts, and LT's weekly practice log is a tale of whoa:

"Wednesday: Did Not Participate.

Thursday: Did Not Participate.

Friday: Did Not Participate."

Same thing with tight end Antonio Gates and his high ankle sprain: DNP. DNP. DNP.

That's two Hall of Fame talents and two ominous outlooks, an eerie reprise of the Chargers' health problems preceding last year's AFC Championship Game, and a particularly worrisome position for a team about to do battle with Peyton Manning.

It's hard to win a shootout when your best weapons are low on ammunition and harder still to imagine the Chargers' 31st-ranked pass defense stopping the NFL's quintessential quarterback. For all of the giddy enthusiasm engendered by the Bolts' improbable run to the playoffs, harsh reality has returned following a four-week hiatus.

The Chargers are certainly capable of beating the Colts - and did so, short-handed, in last season's divisional playoffs in Indianapolis - but this year's team is not last year's team and can't be so long as Shawne Merriman is a spectator.

Last year at this time, cornerback Antonio Cromartie was the toast of the town. Today, he's more often associated with another kind of toast. For the sake of simplicity, call it cause and effect.

This is what happens when a frenetic pass rush is reduced to a slow saunter by the absence of its most effective player. Weaknesses get exposed. Mistakes get magnified. Seams become holes. Pro Bowlers become targets.

Six weeks ago, Manning completed a season-high 32 passes against the Chargers - the first of six straight games in which he completed at least 71 percent of his attempts. Friday, Manning was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. Saturday, he will strap on his shoulder pads with his team on a nine-game winning streak and his timing worthy of an atomic clock.

"I think he is probably the epitome of (quarterbacks)," said Ron Rivera, the Chargers' defensive coordinator. "He's a student of the game. ... Got all the intangibles. He will go down as one of the all-time greats."

It's worth noting that Manning's postseason record is just 7-7, including some fairly pedestrian performances, and that Colts fans are almost as apprehensive about the decline of their team's running game as are Chargers fans about the state of their team's secondary. One of the dangers in evaluating a team you watch on a weekly basis is that you tend to see more of their warts than those of their opponents.

That said, pass defense is the wrong wart to have against the Indianapolis Colts, particularly when it is paired with injuries to quasi-indispensable offensive players.

"I was thinking going into the Denver game, 'Hey, this is as healthy as we've been g
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