The better halftime adjustments win a lot of games in the National Football League. The Chargers made some very good adjustments Monday night. After sleepwalking through the first half in Arizona the Chargers came out firing in the 3rd quarter and were well on their way to defeating the Cardinals until their numerous mistakes and drops finally did them in. So for the 2nd consecutive season opener, the Bolts blow a double digit 4th quarter lead while failing to score in the final period. 19-18 Cardinals prevail.
Had the Chargers hung on to win this game we'd be talking about the switch to up-tempo in the 3rd quarter and riding the no-huddle offense to touchdowns on the first two possessions of the 2nd half. Had the defense not collapsed late, we'd be talking about the excellent play of top draft pics Jason Verrette and Jerry Attaochu. Had the defense not dropped two sure interceptions we'd be talking about how they held the Cardinals to just one touchdown all night long, instead of two including the game winner with less than three minutes to play.
Instead, we have to shake our heads over at least five dropped passes and a botched snap that pulled the Chargers out of field goal range late in the 4th that could have put the game out of reach. And how will we ever understand how Cardinals' QB Carson Palmer could possibly beat the Chargers with his legs, running for a first down on the final drive on 3rd and 10 while casting a shadow in his own end zone?
SMH is twitter lingo for shaking my head. And there was an awful lot of SMH'ing going on in San Diego as the clock in Arizona ticked down to zero.
What did you think of the game? Chime in with YOUR take in the comments section below or Tweet Kyle -
