Oh, Norv -- How the Chargers-Steelers Game Decided My Fantasy Match-Ups

During the course of the season, many NFL games will feature a couple players on your Fantasy team going against a couple players on your opponent’s team. These games will usually be on Sunday afternoon, early in your Fantasy match-up when little has been settled.

Then there is the rare gem like Sunday night’s Chargers-Steelers game. This contest featured an inordinate number of regular Fantasy starters and top backups -- by my count, each team’s tight end, kicker, No. 1 receiver and quarterback. In the season’s first bye week, Steelers tailback Rashard Mendenall and No. 2 receiver Hines Ward; and Chargers tailbacks Darren Sproles and LaDainian Tomlinson also were common starters.

The game of course was played on national TV, the only game on Sunday night -- with many Fantasy match-ups now shaping up. This made it one of the most prime NFL games with Fantasy implications that I can remember in some time. The only way it could have been better was if it were played Monday night.

Like many of you, I had a lot at stake in Pittsburgh Sunday night. Unlike most of you, I assume, I had A LOT at stake. I play in two leagues. At the kickoff, I led my game in one league by two points. I had started Sproles and Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding; I was facing Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, tight end Antonio Gates, the Chargers defense and Steelers kicker Jeff Reed. In my other league I trailed by 45 points -- but had Sproles and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger going. I was facing Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson and the Steelers defense.

This would make for an interesting evening. I canceled my plans to sit on the couch and nurse a headache, arranging to meet a Chargers fan and another friend at a local watering hole (as if the game was not motivation enough, the bar offered $4 Firefly vodka specials). Here is how the rest of the night unfolded:

--On the way to the bar, I missed the first drive of the game. When I arrived, I was happy to hear that Roethlisberger had already thrown for 65 yards and the Steelers had scored a touchdown, on a Mendenhall run. Take that, Chargers D.

--The Chargers go three-and-out and punt. Nothing from Sproles. No damage to the Steelers D. This was a bad development. Or was it? Shouldn’t I be happy that Jackson, Rivers and Gates did nothing? I’m beginning to get confused. It doesn’t take much.

--The Steelers march down the field again. This time Roethlisberger caps the drive by tossing a touchdown pass. He throws for 49 yards on the drive altogether. This drive is clear-cut: I’m the big winner!...For a minute, at least. Then Reed kicks the extra point. Really, Fantasy Gods -- the Chargers couldn’t block it? I saw at least two extra points blocked earlier Sunday. Don’t good things come in threes?

--The Chargers manage 19 yards before punting again. Like every Norv Turner team that is above .500 and playing a tough opponent on the road, the Chargers seem content just to show up and not embarrass themselves. In a decade or so when we look back at the Chargers of the 2000’s, we will marvel at the talent and wonder how they never won a title. Then we will recall who coached them.

--After both teams punt, the Steelers move 79 yards to go up 21-0 on a Mendenhall run. Roethlisberger throws for 54 yards on the drive. This is going great so far. I just need another Roethlisberger touchdown, one Sproles score and we can end the game there. C’mon, the Chargers have already given up anyways.

--We have a Sproles sighting! The Lightning Bug emerges long enough to catch a 16-yard pass. Then he disappears from the Chargers offense again, this time seemingly forever. Because in the mind of Norv Turner, why go with something that has been working (Sproles) when you can go with a banged-up has-been (Tomlinson) who runs to the sideline for a band-aid every time he scrapes his knee.

--Halftime. It’s still 21-0 Pittsburgh. Jackson, Gates and Rivers have done virtually nothing. So have Sproles and Kaeding, true, but Roethlisberger is carrying me and the Chargers D is getting gashed. In short, it’s looking good in both leagues right now. If only I had an iPhone to track the scores live. But I can’t afford one, because I’m a professional writer.

--The Chargers punt on their first possession of the second half and the Steelers promptly move 81 yards for another score. Roehtlisberger throws for 61 yards on this drive, including a touchdown pass to tight end Heath Miller. God I love the Chargers D!

After the game Roethlisberger was asked by an NBC reporter about the Steelers being so aggressive on offense with a big lead in the second half. “We’re not the Steelers of the 1970’s,” he replied...No s---, Ben! The Steelers of the 70’s actually tackled opponents’ tight ends.

--I bring that up because, trailing 28-0, the Chargers fear getting embarrassed and decide to show up at last. Rivers leads them on a 74-yard march culminating in a 3-yard scoring toss to Gates. Rivers and Gates combine on five completions for 62 yards on the drive. Uh-oh...I mean, yes? The Steelers D just took a hit, no?

--After a Steelers punt, the Chargers punt too. Steelers return man Stefan Logan is then stripped while fighting for extra yardage and the Chargers run it in for a touchdown. Seriously? The Chargers D gets points for that? Logan’s knee may not have touched the ground, but his forward progress was halted so long ago he started this return with the 70’s Steelers. This is not looking good...

--Protecting a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, the Steelers are aggressive. Roethlisberger completes three passes for 29 yards on the drive, which moves inside the Chargers 10. On first-and-goal the Steelers call for another pass -- a halfback pass. I mean, why let your excellent quarterback throw the ball? Mendenhall of course completes the pass for a touchdown.

--At this point the only way I can win is if Sproles has a big fourth quarter while Jackson and Gates do not. Seeing as how the Chargers trail by 21 with just over seven minutes left, I feel a bit confident. The Steelers for sure will take away Gates and Jackson, forcing the Chargers to run clock with short passes. And who better to catch check-downs than Sproles? Ah, but as that sage Roethlisberger would later tell us, these are not the 70’s Steelers. Hell, without Troy Polamalu, they’re not even the 2008 Steelers.

--Rivers leads a four-play, 67-yard drive for a touchdown, the Chargers recover the onside kick and Rivers leads a 54-yard drive ending in a touchdown. On those two marches Rivers throws for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Gates accounts for 47 yards and a score, Jackson 29 yards.

--The two drives take all of 2 minutes, 47 seconds off the clock. In the time it took me to get home, Rivers has gone from a poor Fantasy day to a very good day (254 yards, three touchdowns, no picks) and Gates from an average day to a big day (124 yards, two scores). I suppose it’s good that the Steelers D has taken a huge hit, but I know the points Rivers and Gates have earned in the last 2:47 far exceed the points the Steelers D has lost. It’s over.

--But wait, is that...Are the Steelers throwing again? Yes they are. Nursing a seven-point lead with four minutes to play, the Steelers mix two Roethlisberger passes with seven clock-eating runs. Barry Foster and Bam Morris are spinning in their graves. The drive of course dies at the Chargers 28, setting up a Reed field goal (the stake into my heart) and leaving Roethlisberger with excellent numbers (333 yards, two touchdowns, no picks) that do not actually reflect how good he was. He was so dominant and completed so many passes (26), you expect more than 25 Fantasy points.

But that’s all he got. And even a Rivers lost fumble on the next play from scrimmage cannot save me. It’s over in one league (a 15-point deficit with nobody going Monday night) and I’m facing a 45-point deficit in the other league. It was a margin so large, not even Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson and Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers could close it Monday night.

But they were very close. Which just made me think, ‘Damn you Norv Turner.’