Antonio Gates made watching Chargers fun, even when playoff flameouts brought agony
Attempting to collect his thoughts, Antonio Gates exhaled as he stood outside the old stadium in Mission Valley.
Gates had deferred a postgame chat so he could compose himself by walking out of the Chargers’ cramped locker room and up a stadium tunnel.
Outdoors now, the tight end angled away from the New York Jets team bus, set his bag down and pivoted near a cluster of pine trees.
The longtime Chargers star was trying to make sense of the offense’s poor performance that January afternoon 15 years ago. It seemed too soon for him to process another exasperating playoff defeat.
Playcaller Norv Turner’s offense had scored only half its season average and its fewest points that year, leading to the 17-14 Divisional Round loss. The Chargers were favored by nine points, which still stands as a franchise-high entering a playoff defeat in the Super Bowl era.
Philip Rivers, following a decent first half, looked uncomfortable against coach Rex Ryan’s cagey Jets defense that Tom Brady would rank among the best he faced. On the day, Rivers was intercepted twice — once more than Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, a rookie.
LaDainian Tomlinson never heated up, nor did his blockers.
The Jets held the Canton-bound running back to 24 yards on 12 carries and no yards on three catches. As the game wore on, Tomlinson appeared dejected, even defeated, while standing on the sideline.
An All-Pro kicker that season, Nate Kaeding missed two field goal tries of less than 41 yards.
Gates, standing outside the stadium afterward, said he had no good answers for why things had gone as they had.
“That wasn’t the San Diego Chargers that you saw out there,” said the tight end, who had eight catches for 83 yards.
There wasn’t much else to say. It was Deja Blue — powder or navy.
The defeat was San Diego’s third in six years as a betting-line playoff favorite in Mission Valley, recalling losses to the New England Patriots and Jets. For old-timers, the gloom resurfaced memories of the Air Coryell Chargers falling as home favorites in consecutive Januarys.
