Kansas City trudged off thefield and the Chargers exited with cartwheels

This game started off with a battle for fieldposition, and for the first half of the first quarter, the Chiefs enjoyed agreat advantage in that category, having backed San Diego up to the goal line ona couple of punt exchanges. Then, ineptitude found its first seat on Kansas Cityquarterback Matt Cassal's shoulder, as he dropped back to pass and rifled theball right onto the top of the helmet of Chargers lineman Ogembidon't-ask-me-to-pronounce-it-I-can-barely-type-it Nuagbuo from a distance ofabout four feet. The ball caromed into the air with great energy, as if tryingto attainescape velocity, but eventually it had to come down, and when it did,San Diego's own Quentin Jammer was waiting for it and the Chargers were inbusiness at the 39 yard line. Rivers wasted no time in capitalizing on theturnover, driving down the field on passes mostly to Antonio Gates, who was thestar on this day, and who received an 18-yard touchdown pass to finish thedrive. Kansas City, not to be outdone, and determined tobolster their newfound feistiness and stay in this game, matched the Chargerswith a drive of their own of 8 plays covering 91 yards to score their owntouchdown and tie the game at 7.

Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they had nowexhausted their weekly supply of competitiveness and competence, and they gavethe ball back to San Diego on fumbles three of the next four times they had theball The fourth time they got off easy; they punted. By halftime the game wasessentially over, as our Chargers sauntered into the locker room carrying ahappy 28-7 lead with them while the Chiefs tried to decide how they could bestspeed up the clock and go home to strong drinks and sympathetic (if they'resmart) families. On TWO separate occasions their center just snapped the ball rightover poor Cassel's head. When was the last time you saw THAT happen twice in onegame San Diego continued to roll in this game andfinally the foregone conclusion was reached: 43-17. Kansas City trudged off thefield and the Chargers exited with cartwheels.

LaDanian Tomlinson passed MarcusAllen and Edgerrin James to make the top ten list of yardage leaders in thehistory of the NFL, and while much has been made these past couple of weeks ofLaDainian's touchdown runs, the fact is that if the Chargers running game hasstopped being suspect, it's only because it has now been tried and convicted.These guys still cannot run the ball. They have not been able to run the ballall year against anybody, no matter how pathetic the opponent, and I saw nothingin this game that would bring me hope that is going to change any time soon. Ofcourse, Phillip Rivers has only been sacked five times in the 172 times he hasdropped back to pass over the last six games, and as long as THAT continues,they'll be fine. His highlight on this day was a play where he dropped back to pass,stepped up, and launched that ball downfield It left his hand, spinning like abullet from a gun. It flew down the field far into the sky, and when it camedown into Malcom Floyd's outstretched hands some 60 yards later, it did so withthe precision of a laser guided missile A fabulous thing of beauty. Rivers's 138.5 passer rating on the day is, for theuninitiated, is a FABULOUS passer rating, and watching Phillip Rivers carveopposing defenses up like Christmas hams is a pure-dee pleasure. Of course, onMonday night I happened to tune in to watch the giant showdown between thePatriots and Tom Brady and the Saints and our own ex, Drew Brees.

It's hard notto root for the Saints and Drew, as he was an all-pro when we dumped him likelast year's prom date, and he has been butchering everybody he goes up againstthis year. Brees was absolutely flawless in his 38-17demolishing of the Patriots, throwing five touchdowns to five differentreceivers and finishing the game with a perfect passer rating of 158.3; only thethird time in Monday Night Football history that has been accomplished. But Isense some confusion in my blessed readers about this passer rating that I keepreferring to, so I'm going to clear it up for you right now. I know that nobodyhas really explained this to you coherently before, so now I'm going to tell youhow these passer ratings are figured so from now on, if you want to, you canjust work out your favorite passer's game rating for yourself. How cool is THATOkay, ready Here's how you do it: In order to establish a maximum value for an NFL player's passer rating, aseparate calculation needs to be completed involving each of the following fourcategories: Completion Percentage, Average Yards Per Attempt, Percentage ofTouchdown Passes, and Percentage of Interceptions.