Sproles, Scifres prove Chargers are dangerous from all angles

SAN DIEGO -- No one is as lucky to be in the playoffs as the San Diego Chargers, and now few are more dangerous.

With their 23-17 overtime defeat of Indianapolis, the Chargers move on to the divisional round of the playoffs where they meet Pittsburgh or Tennessee, and I'm not sure it matters which.

They can beat either.

I know, I know, they wouldn't be here if Denver hadn't folded, or Kansas City simply recovered a last-minute on-side kick, but follow me on this one. The Chargers could have -- OK, should have -- beaten the Steelers earlier this year but dropped an 11-10 decision when Philip Rivers took a safety, threw a horrible interception and the offense fizzled. They beat Tennessee twice last year, including once in Nashville, where Rivers overcame a knee injury.

So, hard as it might seem, their next step could be easier than their last.

I mean it. Yeah, I think the Steelers are the best team in the AFC -- and maybe the NFL -- but that's provided Ben Roethlisberger is OK, and I don't know that he is. Tennessee worries me because I don't really trust Kerry Collins despite everything he did this season, and I wonder if the Titans might not have peaked too soon.

So that leaves us with the San Diego Chargers, and they just got our attention by snapping the Colts' nine-game winning streak with a backup running back and a punter taking curtain calls. You heard me. It wasn't Rivers or LaDainian Tomlinson who won this one -- it was Darren Sproles and Mike Scifres and, yeah, that's why I'd beware the Bolts.

They just beat Peyton Manning with two guys you barely know.

Sproles and the Chargers are peaking at the right time. (Getty Images)

Sproles took over for the injured Tomlinson at halftime and proceeded to produce 328 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score in OT. But neither he nor the Chargers would have made it to overtime were it not for Scifres, who averaged a staggering 51.7 yards in net average, pinned the Colts inside their 10 with four of his six punts and landed all six of his punts inside the Indy 20 -- a San Diego record.

None was better than the last, a 52-yarder that bounced out of bounds at the 1. There were just under three minutes left then, and the Chargers trailed by three. They needed something big to happen, and Sproles lit the match.

"We have the best punter in the league," coach Norv Turner said. "The guy is incredible. He truly is the best I've ever been around. He showed it tonight."

And never more than with his last kick. Then the defense pitched in to stop Indy, and Sproles took over. Simple as that.

But let's get back to why an 8-8 team that played a half without Tomlinson and isn't sure what to make of tight end Antonio Gates' ankle injury can go deep into the playoffs: Because finally, finally, finally the Bolts are the team they were supposed to be.