Hold the Popcorn, Terrell

THE UNSUNG HEROES OF THE DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

This year made me realize one thing. Philip Rivers is a whiny little girl.

After the victory Sunday against the Colts, Rivers wasn't seen running to congratulate his teammates or to give his coaches a hug. He immediately ran to a group of Colt fans behind the bench and began barking at them like an arrogant little punk.

I'm sure that these guys were heckling him the entire game, but it kinda comes with the territory. If your going to be a million dollar athlete, opposing fans will not like you.

Hell, earlier this year, we saw Rivers go off on his own fans when they booed the play calling of Charger coach Norv Turner. Rivers response? He promptly screamed 'SHUT UP' as he walked off the field, clearly showing that he has the maturity of a pissed-off third grader.

So, if I claimed that I was going to talk about the unsung heroes, why did I mention anything of Rivers. True, he threw for 14 of 19 with three touchdowns and one pick, but I seem to remember a different ending than most would expect.

At the end of the third quarter, Phillips hurt his left leg that had been giving him some problems. Ironically, this happened right as he threw for his third touchdown and there was only one quarter left to play.

In comes a man that half of America probably doesn't remember - Billy Volek.

Volek had a few good games when he played for the Tennessee Titans, but then in a controversial moment, Jeff Fisher sent him off, with another entirely exciting story that I'm not even going to touch (due to length).

But Sunday, Volek held his own, completing 3 of 4 passes for 48 yards and pushing the offense on to milk time off the clock and running in the winning touchdown himself.

The man had not played all year and scores his first TD of the year in a game he probably thought he'd never play. Not bad, a backup comes in and successfully holds off a defense that had become one of the ten best year.

But of course, a team like the Chargers can survive without Rivers as long as LT is tearing it up. Well kids, gather round and listen as I tell you something you're not going to believe - Ladanian was hurt before the game ended and a young man named Michael Turner came in and ran for almost 80 yards on 17 carries, including a 56 yard TD reception from Mr. Rivers, the very play that the quarterback left with an injury.

So even before Rivers made the backup a hero, the runningback was already making his own mark. Oh and did I mention that Turner only had about 71 total yards in receiving in his first four years in the league? Wow, who knew that a backup from Northern Illinois could tear it up so well (Garrett Wolfe, Chicago Bears)?

Then, GASP, the punters! True, the men I am going to mention are not backups, but they are also part of today's unsung heroes. Mike Scifres, the punter for the Chargers, only punted once, but he made it count.

Scifres punted a BEAUTY, 66 yards to pin the Colts on their own twenty-two with about a minute and a half to go. But wait, the NFL only counts yards on punts from the line of scrimmage and on. So, the extra 10-15 yards or so that punters put between them and the line of scrimmage is not counted.

Scifres punt could have been considered an almost 80 yarder! And, did we forget that he punted out of his own endzone? So, own endzone, team only winning by 4, sending it to one of the greatest offenses in the league, less than two minutes remaining (Manning's specialty, or so I've heard), inside a domed stadium that is designed to amplify sound to a ridiculous level when the home crowd gets going, you think he knew just how much that punt counted?

I'm sure there was a little pressure, but he came through.

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