PARIS: Why stay on this course?

It was like that black cloud San Diego couldn't shake last week. It was nearly all anyone talked about.

But the Chargers prefer to yap about Sunday's Meaningless Bowl. The Broncos were cooked long ago, while the Chargers are new to this burning sensation. That said, they'll play to win the game.

"We signed up for 16 of them, and the phrase the game doesn't mean anything, bothers me more than anything because it means something to play in this league,'' quarterback Philip Rivers said. "There are teams that have been playing the last four, five, six weeks without the opportunity to make the playoffs, maybe longer than that. The game means something. If we had a pickup basketball game out here, it would mean something."

We get it, but come on. After supporting four straight AFC West championship teams, Chargers fans deserve better than a team aiming to avoid its second 8-8 showing in three years.

The Chargers have been surpassed by the Chiefs. The Chargers can feel the Raiders' bad breath breathing down their necks. The Broncos are a mess, but they can't get worse, can they? So the Chargers have seen their stranglehold on the division -- and maybe the city -- lapse. They need to win their final game to match San Diego State's victory total.

Betcha didn't think you would be saying that on Dec. 28, eh Chargers boosters?

"We understand the disappointment and understand the frustration," Rivers said. "We wish we could have got it done, but we didn't."


