One of the all-time greatest NFL teams didn't even make the playoffs | Dorktown

Even the greatest teams are only a handful of disastrous plays away from missing the playoffs entirely. We’ll prove it. In fact, the 2010 San Diego Chargers already did.
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[@derekgless1266]

Jon: Special teams are my least favorite part of football Also Jon: **makes 55 minute long video about punting**

[@0Clewi0]

That I have watched multiple times

[@dominic64tblightning24]

0Clewi0 i’ve watched it probably 20 times now rofl

[@jacktm9916]

And how much he hates it

[@unbornvii]

@@dominic64tblightning24 it's a masterpiece of a video tbh

[@thrownstair]

He spent that entire video saying that punting is for cowards and wimps.

[@Barrie96]

The same season, Seahawks won the division at 7-9. Had a 28th ranked offense and a 27th ranked defense. Also the point differential was -97

[@noname8710]

And they won a playoff game!

[@nateeskenazi8280]

*Don’t let this distract you from the fact that the 2010 Seahawks made the playoffs at 7-9*

[@gabeera352]

The Lob was just forming and mid season trade for marshawn. Real bad back and rib injuries to hasselbeck at qb resulted in 7 wins. We shoulda had less.

[@patrick-xu1go]

Don’t let THAT distract you from the fact that the 2020 NFC East champion will make the playoffs at 6-10

[@marvinuhilarious]

Wait til you find out about the 2020 NFC East

[@khairiisa7275]

@@patrick-xu1go More like 6-9-1. That is a true definition of insanity plus Tank Division.

[@patrick-xu1go]

@@khairiisa7275 *5-11 Hopefully the Eagles lose out, and no one else finishes better than 4-12 so we can have a 4-12 playoff team

[@utubesgreat7777]

This video is living rent free in my head as I watch one of the best Packers teams in the Rodgers era make one atrocious mistake after another on special teams

[@Dustomatic]

Getting the 1 seed is not the same as missing the playoffs…

[@SexyPotato3]

:(

[@16ktsgamma]

You need to look at the 49ers game alone for that. I mean the 49ers didn't score an Offensive TD or Defensive TD in the game.

[@AEMoreira81]

That should get its own Dorktown series!

[@iliketurtles7782]

@@16ktsgamma neither did the so called mvp

[@rjemann5554]

This is one of the most mind blowing videos I've ever watched. 9 plays ruined the season of the best team ever. Wow.

[@TimCarter]

That and not executing in the red zone.

[@michaelscott-joynt3215]

You missed the part about punt returns (not sure about kickoff returns). Even though their defense wasn't giving up yards, their special teams was allowing huge returns (almost 19 yards), which gave their opponents shorter fields to work with. So if their defense doesn't allow big yards, it doesn't matter when their opponents have good position.

[@mcmosfet2856]

@ 5 minutes into the video and I had the same gut reaction, had to look up their full stats. They only beat 2 teams over .500 all season, and most of their yards came in junk time against squads like Jacksonville. Severely misleading vid, although I do love me some Dorktown, they missed the mark this time.

[@TheNerdForAllSeasons]

"Best team ever" Not even remotely close.

[@John-tr6of]

@@mcmosfet2856 Except that when you blow teams out, you are afforded the luxury of "garbage time". As such, no matter, even in garbage time, you don't (as the video outlines) outgain teams like they did.

[@yourbedroompunk7601]

when you have a 4.0 gpa but get a 1080 on the sat...

[@josepharmstrong1531]

Or a 10 on the ACT

[@shchorss]

This is more like...4.50 GPA and you're the valedictorian of your high school, but you manage to get a 12 on the ACT.

[@ProcoreCupSeries]

4.16 gpa and 1290 on the psat

[@firstworst6858]

Bruh I'm 12 and I got 1130 😂😂😂

[@brianbethea3069]

​@@firstworst6858 I mean, he SAT is mostly middle school level material anyways.

[@thomastthompsonjr.7410]

RIP Vincent Jackson.

[@azucanika5720]

yup

[@kingofgrim4761]

Holy Fucj I forgot he died… rip

[@timtrottierii728]

Had we have kept him we would have gone all the way.

[@jpinon403]

Secret Base: "The San Diego Chargers had the worst special teams ever" 2020 Chargers: "Hold my blocked kick"

[@theduckman7579]

Yup, it's been a rough year for me and Charger fans. It seems everything they talked about happens every year for the bolts.

[@juanstepbehind]

Try being a Browns fan 😒 😭

[@vimic9507]

@@juanstepbehind ok it feels good tho

[@brentsta]

@@juanstepbehind lol try being a Bengals fan Y'all had it worse for a bit, but right now you browns fans should be happy lol

[@elijahechicagobearsboyd5734]

@@brentsta A bit?! The browns aren't even my number one team, but I am insulted by your underestimation of how many years the browns suffered while the Bengals at least made the freaking playoffs or had a decent record!

[@Durgenheim]

Special teams: "it doesn't deserve our time" Bill Belichick has left the chat.

[@E-Brightvoid]

Durgenheim I personally love Special Teams in football

[@cartergonzalez3769]

He also made a super long video about punting...

[@E-Brightvoid]

Harry Engel Literally, the 2008 bears squad with Hester.

[@dylanf3108]

John Harbaugh*

[@kennethbryant5819]

@Harry Engel Bill Belichick was a special teams assistant before he was anything else including d coordinator. He values his special teams.

[@ashypharaoh8407]

Offense wins games. Defense wins championships. Special teams miss the playoffs

[@coolguy02536]

It is vital to make your special team your specialty.

[@drefiv3375]

I guess they're called "special" teams for a reason

[@danielhaas20]

Offense brings fans defense wins games special teams win championships

[@jackcarraway4707]

"Stats are for losers. Final scores are for winners." Bill Belichick "You are what your record says you are." Bill Parcells

[@jfridy]

Special teams... is that what he calls his dirty tricks squad?

[@419buckeye7]

I heard he's flying drones over other teams practice

[@logicaldude3611]

"You play to win the game."

[@sneersh9107]

Whether you like Belichick or not he's got a point here, stats don't mean anything if you can't win games

[@paysonfox88]

Wilt Chamberlain put a video game numbers, and lost in the finals almost every year. Dan Marino put a massive numbers, and he lost every year. Bill belichick has a good point.

[@flyhighlow3]

As a Chargers fan, I felt completely empty inside watching this

[@IloveKadariousToney22]

Lmao I didn't know you guys existed anymore

[@GenerationIcarus]

How original.

[@TdogAlicious]

Probably even more empty after they blew a 27 point lead to my team in the playoffs

[@GenerationIcarus]

@@TdogAlicious we're used to it.

[@AlexanderJordan-sv7nm]

That’s beautiful

[@karlphilipemanuelcook4322]

I thought you’d forgotten about us, Jon. Don’t leave me again

[@amyipdev]

I ruined the 69 sry

[@sofiarune3124]

I gave it back

[@Karmy.]

Yes

[@TheBigDean18]

Didn't expect to see you on a youtube video lmao. How've you been?

[@sofiarune3124]

@@TheBigDean18 no solicitation pls

[@awful_sniper]

"The perfectly spherical Mike Tolbert."

[@tylerjewell2399]

Cam Malthaner facts.

[@dingers5days]

t h i c c

[@heyandy889]

As all Mike Tolberts should be

[@KingAlanI]

As a Bills fan I know Tolbert from 2017. Lots of other fans were busting his balls. Some of it was on coaching, he was good at short yardage situations but that's not always the plays he was used in

[@averagecoasterenjoyer]

I feel sad for Phillip Rivers, guy deserved a Super Bowl, a prime example of a possible GOAT without a GOAT team

[@civichoo6017]

100%.

[@Afrayd]

It’s not even the team for most of the time. It’s the coaches who screw upped their winning chances

[@fortynights1513]

@@AmirKhan-rh6jjIf you put a Super Bowl title on his resume, Rivers might get in. But those who knock quarterbacks for a lack of playoff success are unlikely to consider him.

[@kendallevans4079]

I liked him too. He never dodged the hard (dumb) media Q&A after a loss, seemed to be an honest and upstanding guy. He did seem to toss picks at the worst possible times, often in the red zone

[@TdogAlicious]

Justin Herbert will have the same treatment

[@BeazerProductions]

On the importance of special teams: When I was a kid, I asked my dad why it was called "football" if you mostly used your hands, and he told me that it was because kicking could make all the difference; you could lose the game if you missed the extra point after a touchdown. In hindsight it's clear he was just guessing and he either didn't know or didn't want to explain the evolution of gridiron football from rugby and the other old English games called "football", but his explanation has stuck with me all these years. Whenever I see a kicker miss the extra point, I think, "YOU FOOL! YOU'RE INEVITABLY GOING TO LOSE NOW!"

[@Aerowind]

It's called football because it's played on foot. As opposed to on horseback (i.e. Polo).

[@countof3everybodyOD]

They fell victim to one of the classic blunders

[@sjshane1834]

As one of the 15 Chargers fans, this makes me sad

[@IntegridOW]

Being another of the 15 chargers fans left, this makes me hella sad too

[@johnward3732]

That's what you and the other 14 deserve for still being Chargers fans.

[@kyokyo718]

Hey! We do exist! There are dozens of us! DOZENS!

[@jdonovan74]

We have a chance now!

[@LintEastwood21]

More than 15. We in SD are healing and still reppin

[@oj436]

Everybody talking bout how the chargers are back, but I’m talking about how Jon is back

[@thomasc9123]

O J literally everyone is talking about Jon...

[@smokesletsgo8180]

Are you going to kill jon bois O J?

[@callsignoutlaw]

"The BIOtch is back" Elton JON

[@fegismcclaren1632]

O J the Chargers are not back

[@user-gx8dl1dt2y]

Existence as a Chargers fan is the embodiment of pain.

[@Tytoalba777]

Try being a Vikings fan for a year

[@a64aquarian]

Lions fans say hello

[@saac0937]

@@Tytoalba777 exactly

[@jacobwood9783]

What is crazy to me is that the Giants missed the playoffs with the second best yardage differential and the same turnover rate as the chargers. Which means the two two teams with the best yardage differentials missed the playoffs. That seems crazy to me!

[@AWWYEAHHHHHH]

Interesting that this wasn't even mentioned in the video. I wonder if they had similar special team woes

[@elijahechicagobearsboyd5734]

@@AWWYEAHHHHHH Well, the Giants season kind of ended when they had a 28-point collapse to the rival eagles that culminated in Matt Dodge ignoring Tom coughlin's orders to punt the ball away from the Desean Jackson...

[@theleftuprightatsoldierfield]

Meanwhile, the team with the 3rd WORST yardage differential that year, the Seahawks, not only made the playoffs but beat the defending SB champion Saints in the 1st round

[@logicaldude3611]

"You play to win the game."

[@nicolasbernardini3413]

They probably have a similar link, which is field position. If you constantly have bad field position you are going to lose games. But you're also going to gain more yardage by having more "green area" (open field at midfield before the endzone condenses the field leading teams to stall out) by having poor field position you artificially boost your stats by giving yourself more open field to pick up easy yardage

[@SFforlife]

The 2010 Seahawks won their division with a losing record of 7-9. A LOSING RECORD OF 7-9. They won a division title AND got to HOST a playoff game. But the Chargers didn't even make the playoffs. Let that sink in.

[@TripleOGBlue]

🗣 GO HAWKS! 😂

[@JonathanGonzalez-to9gt]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@therealjaystone2344]

Worst than the 1981 mlb split season when Cardinals & Reds has the best record in their division yet fail to make the playoffs

[@ericrakestraw664]

The 2010 NFL season was weird.

[@matthewdaley746]

@@ericrakestraw664 Likely the only Super Bowl for Aaron Rodgers, but, he beat Ben Roethlisberger, so I'm happy.

[@thunderbolts2438]

Thanks for the dramatic video of our patheticness.

[@nathanrobinson1099]

It’s torture watching this.

[@hittanomiss9702]

Our season is probably over

[@SeemsLogical]

I used to be able to say "At least we're not the Jets, at least we have a stadium to call our own" and then the move to LA happened... The Jets are just as old as the Chargers, don't even own their own stadium and have 1 more Super Bowl to their name than the Chargers do.

[@Cordman1221]

@@SeemsLogical I always liked how Nick Caneppa, a sportswriter for the UT put it after the now LA Chargers went on a 6 game losing streak out the gates, "The Rams should change the placard underneath the name of the stadium to read 'Home of the LA Rams, et cetera"

[@SeemsLogical]

@@Cordman1221 I don't got a problem with that. It would be speaking the truth. MetLife stadium is home to the New York (technically New Jersey) Giants. And the Jets just happen to play there sometimes. The Jets are the inferior franchise, that's for sure. And the Chargers are the most inferior team in comparison to all the Californian, or formerly Californian, teams: 49ers, Raiders and Rams. All of them.

[@dominicpancella3012]

It's fun coming back to this video after watching the Falcons doc, because there's a great little segment about Leon Washington where it's mentioned that he had 8 career return TDs. I didn't realize until now that two of them came in the same game, against this miserable opponent.

[@matt-xe5km]

28-3

[@Mr96POP]

2010 was my first full season of watching football, and the 2010 Chargers will always stand out as one of those strange anomalies we may never see again. I remember Leon Washington returning 2 kickoff TDs against them. They also had 2 of their punts blocked (for a safety and a TD) vs. the Raiders that ended a 13-game winning streak vs. Oakland. How the hell is your special teams so bad that having the #1 offense & defense can’t save you?

[@reinhardtwilhelm5415]

Huh, didn’t expect to see you here. Cool.

[@jesfel14]

Had the Chargers got a decent special teams and not so cursed/snakebit, they would have stayed in San Diego with a new stadium today.

[@robertd.7060]

@@jesfel14 No, they wouldn't ! They [ OWNERS ] wanted a New stadium to complete , is this what's it' like doing that after they leave to go back HOME to LA ? Have that NEW park & still are SH#T ? But , they [ OWNERS ] did spend this year , just most of it on ONE side of the ball . Still can't stop the run , 3rd year in a row . BUT, now can't score & with a SH#T OC , " Swing Pass Joe " calling Saint Plays ? That CLEARLY are NOT working here in 25 games by this week end CRS the [ FALCONS ] .Saints were BETTER in all ways , BUT , the QB spot & Justin still has a long way to go be a DREW BREES .

[@asdfoifhvjbkaos]

@@jesfel14 honestly i feel the chargers (and maybe browns) is the only team that's actually "broken". Like, teams will get good or bad over time, but the chargers are actually cursed. I think even if they win the superbowl or something, people will never respect them until they move back to SD.

[@TdogAlicious]

Leon Washington set the Seahawks franchise record for most kick off, returns by a single player and did it in that game lol

[@jandrearias]

Philip Rivers’ career stats: 10 kids 0 SuperBowls Edit: This comment is blowing up lmao

[@awildtaxidriver3372]

Thats pretty good

[@ManaDrain315]

As a Broncos fan, I like that stat line.

[@LeCarnage]

I have them winning the Super Bowl this year so we'll see.

[@runawaymakefriendswiththem8905]

LeCarnage Never have faith in the Chargers dude

[@LeCarnage]

@@runawaymakefriendswiththem8905 You can't stop me lol

[@cows543]

It’s about time we get some more quality jon bois on this goddamn channel

[@thealienarms]

this is his channel now

[@MrAtlantis098]

Amen.

[@closethockeyfan5284]

About time we got some more football on this channel too. Nowhere near enough of that--or basketball, for that matter.

[@ShjadeNexayre]

So is this a meme or what? Bois does good work, but the other folks on this channel do equally good work. So what's with the fixation?

[@GhOstKLuTcH1463]

Shjade to be completely honest I only watch SBNation when I see a Jon Bois video. I enjoyed rewind and the other interesting concept shows, but Jon is just a cut above.

[@Firebert]

"He's still got a few years left before age catches up to him, I'm sure." Yeah... about that.

[@karimC35]

Philip rivers is still great. He just had a bottom 3 oline in his last season with us. Giving him like 3 seconds to throw the ball. Pair that with losing in the final minutes of most games where he felt like he should just take a chance and air it out. = interceptions

[@Ant_Mann]

This proves how important and overlooked special teams really is. Special teams may not be the most exciting or most entertaining part of the game but it can definitely win and lose you games.

[@Mclarenboy100]

I'm a San Diego Chargers fan. Or was, before the move to LA. This hurts. *Physically* hurts.

[@tfd829]

Chiefs fan here. Yeah the Chargers should have won the division. They would have done better in the playoffs than the Chiefs did against the Ravens.

[@ChrisMillerNoFiller]

That little snippet of 2009 was rough too. Kaeding, jeez.

[@Vichewy]

I feel this in my soul, no matter how much I want to disassociate from the team now.

[@CrimsonKobaNakirigumi]

As a consolation prize, in this season the Raiders went undefeated in the division, they didn't make it either. 2010 was fucking weird.

[@GorillaRadio88]

Eagletotravel101 pretty accurate summary of the last decade and a half of being a charger fan. You could have even gone further back to the 2004 wild card round against the Jets. We may just have the Padres, but at least they figure to be a big deal for the next decade with Machado, Tatis Jr, Gore etc.

[@sson386]

This is why belichick shows so much love for special teams.

[@dailymeme6476]

Teach these kickers to at least attempt a proper tackle

[@BryenGraver]

And Seahawks. Makes sense now.

[@tylermcduffie2548]

@John Lee A lot of Rams fans do take pride in that sure we lost the SB but that was McVay trying to out do himself against the best coach of our generation. But the fact that defense held the Pats to 3 points in the SB until the 4th isn't something that just happens every other day. And honestly if you look at the Rams defense now you can argue that it's even better than it was last year especially in the secondary but the defensive line got some upgrades as well the two players to watch on that line this season is Greg Gaines and Dante Fowler if those two do what the Rams think that they'll do it's going to be a fun year on defense. If Aaron Donald says that Fowler say taken massive strides and is even keeping up with him that's a great complement. The one major weakness against the Rams are the LBs and it doesn't help that now one of the starters is out for the season although I feel comfortable seeing what Dakota Allen and Natez Patrick can do next to Cory Littleton who has proved to be a solid LB but if the Rams can improve on stoping the run that'll be great.

[@12jswilson]

Yep. There's 3 teams that consistently excel on special teams. Patriots, Ravens, and Chiefs. Chargers habitually are one of the teams that are always subpar on special teams and it costs then every year.

[@jameshaynes7062]

It's also why Belichick values points over yards, especially as a measure of defensive power. Therein lies one of the flaws in this video's premise. The 2010 Chargers allowed 319 points. Belichick's championship defenses in 2003 and 2004 each allowed only 260 points. His 2016 defense allowed even fewer. (Of course, giving up big return yards allows opposing teams to score more points on fewer yards. Special teams is of course partially culpable here, but who cares about a defense's total yardage allowance if it can't do its job in the red zone? Yeah, it sucks to begin a defensive stand in your own territory, but so what? Belichick's famous "bend but don't break" philosophy is a case in point.) The 2010 Chargers scored 441 points on offense-- which is of course very good. But this point total is in no way commensurate with the over 6,000 yards they gained. By comparison, Manning's 2013 Broncos scored 606 points on 7,013 yards-- a more efficient points to yards ratio. Brady's 2007 Patriots were even more efficient on offense: they scored 589 points on 6,580 yards. Without even looking at the tape, one can reasonably surmise that SD had too many drives stall in the red zone, and perhaps committed a few untimely turnovers (as the video acknowledges, the 2010 Chargers did have a turnover differential of minus 6). The 2010 Chargers' special teams unit was terrible, but not the only reason for their seemingly anomalous failure to make the playoffs.

[@peaceandwar771]

I remember this season and realizing how important special teams really is.

[@lydiai.3658]

16:33 the other red dots nearest to Rivers are: Vinny Testaverde: 214 starts, 75.0 rating Warren Moon: 203 starts, 80.9 rating Carson Palmer: 181 starts, 87.9 rating Tony Romo: 127 starts, 97.1 rating

[@DolFan316]

If you think this is bad, imagine being an NFL team who is undefeated going into the season finale, losing it, and missing the playoffs. Yes, this actually happened to the '67 Colts.

[@jamesmeuwissen7823]

How? Were there 3 games or something?

[@cstmollins]

@@jamesmeuwissen7823 it was when there was only 16 teams and only one team from each division made the playoffs and the other team that went 11 1 2 had the tiebreaker

[@michaelauberry1564]

That is a broken system.

[@DolFan316]

@@jamesmeuwissen7823 OKAY...now that there's been a couple of comments wondering how such a thing could happen I will explain. Before the '67 season the NFL decided to do something it literally never had before: split into four divisions. All the way up until that point it had been either just one big, disorganized lump of teams (20s to mid 30s) or two divisions/conferences. The winners of each division would be in the playoffs. Seems simple, right? Except that each division was...not created equal. The Browns' division, for example, was ludicrously and laughably weak. And somehow, despite being on opposite coasts, the Baltimore Colts and LA Rams were lumped into the same division. During the '67 season the Colts and Rams tied their first meeting. The Colts won every other game going into the finale against the Rams, while the Rams lost just once. This meant that if the Rams won, they would take the division via tiebreaker and the Colts would be out of the playoffs altogether since only division winners got in, despite literally never having been defeated before that point. And that's exactly what happened. Yes, the Rams won convincingly (34-10) but there was still something fundamentally wrong about the whole situation IMO, and a lot of fans back then probably felt the same way. At least the Colts used it as motivation to romp through the NFL the next season but ultimately it ended with the famous upset loss to the Jets in Super Bowl III.

[@selfishstockton6123]

Jr basically. The College Football Playoff is a joke

[@justnobody6064]

Player: Eh special teams doesn’t really matter, why practice it? Coach: Listen clearly, 2010, San Diego, Chargers.

[@jzl7965]

Just Nobody facts

[@DolFan316]

There are high school teams who practice it more than the Chargers do. Seriously.

[@ostrich6175]

Damn, this ages horribly "Phillip rivers still has a few years left" Damn

[@elirogers986]

Daniel Chain aged slightly less horribly now that Pat Mahomes won a super bowl though 🚫🧢

[@ostrich6175]

@@elirogers986 What does that have to do with what I said?

[@adub1300]

Even worse after they announced they're not re-signing him today

[@HandpickedHypixel]

@@ostrich6175 bois said rivers wouldnt have any more chances now that mahomes is on the chiefs, and mahomes won a super bowl, proving bois right

[@ostrich6175]

@@HandpickedHypixel Yes, but that still doesn't really have much to do with what I said.

[@mikeym1479]

My old coach used to always say "missed tackles kill dreams"

[@jjstraka1982]

This era of the Charges was perhaps the greatest collection of FANTASY football talent ever assembled. Never did anything in actuality but win alot of leagues for alot of people.

[@vontosmagicmurderbag2611]

Other than LT and Gates, which Chargers players were fantasy stars?

[@cincyfan19]

Vontos' Magic Murder Bag Phillip rivers, Vincent Jackson,

[@0Clewi0]

Don't forget the Saints, if you consider starting opposite offenses as well, I've heard horror stories about people sitting or playing againts 3li in his 6TD 0INT loss

[@AT-qm8gv]

Yeah my buddy won his season due to Rivers. He had Ryan Matthews too but traded him for Greg Jennings before the season started.

[@turbotaquitogoogle8095]

*a lot *a lot

[@The-Dom]

This is actually epic. A special teams SO bad, it ruined the greatest team of all time. wow.

[@Boredaff]

Amadis Demitrius special teams it the most important unit in football

[@SonOfBaldo]

If the GM and coaches would have employed people who excelled on STs, your offense or defense wouldnt have been so good. Nobody also mentions the fact that in most of the games they lost the offense barely cracked 20 points. Can't win when you're bare scoring outside of the teens. It wasnt all STs fault.

[@Atlantafan21]

Greatest team is a huge stretch, but a really good team nonetheless.

[@CoolioXXX52]

This is not the greatest team of all time

[@buckfuttler2877]

lol, you said "greatest team of all time"...HAHAHA!

[@Therecreep]

This is the best application of the saying "But.. Here's the kicker" ever.

[@lightninglucci]

The music here sounds like a prime-time TV news murder investigation. Because this was. The special teams murdered their season. Unless I missed it, here's another special teams nugget that year: The Chargers were onto their FIFTH long snapper after starting 2-3. First three went to IR, fourth had performance problems.

[@tiny_toilet]

Loss & Chargers: Special Teams Unit

[@CommanderTK9091]

Another crazy stat is the Raiders were 6-0 against the AFC west that season and only won 2 games outside the division.

[@thedude98989]

But that was the special teams fault too I'm sure.

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

Same with the ‘98 Cowboys. They were 8-0 against the NFC East (back when there were 5 teams in a division) and yet they were 2-6 outside the NFC East. It came back to bite them in the playoffs when they got embarrassed at home by a Cardinals team with a negative -53 point differential that probably didn’t deserve to make the playoffs in the first place

[@TCHAINZzz]

Chiefs won the afc west that with Matt casserole. That even more crazy

[@pp3k3jamail]

@@marcusmcgraw3519 same with the 2008 Arizona Cardinals they were 6-0 vs NFC west and just 3-7 vs everyone outside on the division.

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

MICOLE WHYTE #Oneplus6T#LG,G6 the craziest part about that season is that the Cards beat the 49ers 29-24 in Week 10 by stopping them on the 1 yard line on back to back plays as time expired. If the Niners had punched the ball in and gone on to win that game instead, this would have created a situation at the end of the season where the Niners would have won the division based on the fact that both teams would have been tied at 8-8 and the Niners would have swept the Cardinals to earn the tiebreaker The butterfly effect that would have resulted from this would have changed so much. Would Kurt Warner still be a hall of famer without his super bowl run in Arizona? Also would another SB appearance potentially put Donovan mcnabb in the HOF conversation, especially if he had been able to pull it off against Pittsburgh?

[@Troyza27]

I don’t even follow the NFL but boys support bois

[@calumrf0211]

Bois support bois

[@kozcs2]

Boys support Bois

[@dolphinsfan31]

Boys support bois!!!

[@trenpire]

y not the nfl is great

[@sinicalypse]

#BoysSupportBois

[@Lol25Playz]

Watching this after the 2021 Packers lost to the 49ers because of special teams.

[@nicolesgaming8917]

Same.... Lost 10 points, on special teams....

[@ToofKilla]

We like to joke that Philip met an old gypsy woman and traded his super bowl chances for fertility and a large, happy family.

[@mse2130]

Which is probably more important anyway.

[@MrMitchbow]

Jakop Kragslay some say Philip refused to carry the pig up the hill to drink the water on the very last day and madam zeroni cursed him and his family forever

[@millicentchuyin6763]

I thought you were going to say large happy penis for some reason

[@ToofKilla]

@@MrMitchbow nice reference

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

Considering the divorce rate of stars post-retirement, I hope his family life really is happy.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

The Raiders somehow swept the entire AFC West (6-0) and failed to make the playoffs.

[@TheFrostFilesPodcast]

The raiders are another tragedy team of the modern era

[@KagedStorm]

That was crazy when I first saw the final division standings that year.

[@cali2approv3d]

Manu Ginobilis Bald Spot how?

[@criminalurges4695]

@@cali2approv3d Didn't win enough games overall obviously.

[@TimCarter]

Yep, they swept the division and went 1-9 against everyone else.

[@akish302]

2021 Green Bay Packers: “hold my beer”

[@GabeSweeney]

Welp. Seems like the 2009 Chargers and the 2021 Packers have a lot in common. 13-3 and lost to a field goal in the first playoff game.

[@nintendoentersoft]

Blocked field goal, blocked punt returned for a TD...yeah... I think it's safe to say the Packers well and truly did the most Chargers thing to have never actually happened to the Chargers.

[@wafflesthewookiee4716]

BOIS BOYS WHERE YOU AT?

[@ToofKilla]

17776

[@calumrf0211]

Rise Up!!!

[@coletrickle1775]

I'm at work. Watching this anyway.

[@sinicalypse]

You forgot the #BoisBoys

[@JSwole]

THATS ME IM A BOIS BOY

[@lucasborja3797]

YES JON AND THAT OTHER KINDA COOL GUY ARE BACK TOGETHER

[@DavidCaddock]

Brutal.

[@Steelmage99]

Alex was the writer and lead researcher on his one. Jon was just there.

[@metaloenformol]

@@Steelmage99 Which is enough to give him 90% of the credit

[@sir0nion]

You mean Jon and that other pretty good guy

[@ChannelyChannel]

@@Steelmage99 I mean video seems to in Jon's style though

[@Evan_Rodgers]

All time classic Chargers season. The perfect encapsulation of the franchise.

[@rbb2984]

This team is the best reason to have Special Teams in the game. It's a wonderful aspect of the game because it does things like this. Watching that season was just incredible to see what the Chargers did. The NFL needs stuff like this to happen.

[@thek3289]

I read some articles about Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. They historically emphasize special teams. Might also be the reason Belichick endorsed John Harbaugh for the Ravens job in 2008.

[@Sleelan]

Jon: Kickoffs are stupid and never lead to important plays. Also Jon: San Diego lost due to kickoff returns.

[@jacktm9916]

They never lead to touchdowns. He never said they don’t lead to good field position. Just especially boring most of the time

[@criminalurges4695]

I think his point was that special teams unfairly fucks it up for the rest of the team, the real football players.

[@josemary2106]

All special teams plays are enormous, and often decide who wins.

[@0Clewi0]

wasn't it punt returns?

[@ichigo449]

@@jacktm9916 Devin Hester says hi.

[@sirfredrickeggenhauser2795]

“What kind of charts should we use for this video?” “Yes”

[@jfridy]

This is Jon Bois, the man who brought us Chart Party in the past. He even created Scorigami. He truly knows his chart fu.

[@mctheplaywright]

I spent most of my HS football days on special teams. I was slightly undersized for the work up on the line I fought for, yet oversized for the cut speed necessary for more precision positions. Found myself as the second option at a few positions on both sides of the ball, but perfectly suited for all special teams units. It was an absolutely thankless job. Very few flashy moments, a few crucial stuffed extra points, onside kick recoveries, and long runs on mid-range kicks. Aside from that, invisible. This video shows the worth of all that work more than anything else, it’s weirdly healing.

[@michaelnovakovich8910]

Anyone else here after the Chargers gave up a 27 point lead to Jacksonville in the playoffs?

[@rolandkimbrough5120]

As a diehard Chargers fan, this is painful to relive. The Chargers had a few teams capable of winning it all, but always found a way to blow it

[@therealjaystone2344]

100% cursed

[@callsignoutlaw]

Roland Kimbrough Thanks for sharing!

[@danielortiz3713]

I feel like it was our managing or coaching sometimes, I like Lynn though

[@KM-ed9gk]

We always somehow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Thanks marlon mcree

[@matthewdaley746]

@@KM-ed9gk Since the Colts later won, it's been mostly forgotten.

[@Yognaughto]

I’m a bois boi and you can’t stop me

[@jhonlewis5758]

Jon Bois: “Special teams are my least favorite part of football” *Pat Mcafee has joined the chat*

[@samcalven12]

1-20-2021 I was watching Undisputed , talking about Philip Rivers retirement. Someone in the comments mentioned that 2010 Chargers team had the best offense and defense but went 8-8, so I had to check it out for myself.

[@MarkyMark154]

An Espn analyst came up with a new statistic for this team. ""Special Team Disasters" or "STDs."

[@doublebraincell6458]

Poor choice of abbreviations

[@Ramboost007]

@@doublebraincell6458 *GREAT choice of abbreviation

[@aant429]

Dang it my team has stds

[@mdoherty9188]

You forgot in the Patriots game they missed a 50 yard field goal with :27 left after a false start.

[@Handles.are.stupid]

It’s honestly unbelievable how this unfolded

[@serraramayfield9230]

yeah really

[@joeford5181]

2021 Packers Specials Team: Hold my beer

[@Gabrielm624]

Next time on SB nation: Beef history, Phillip Rivers vs Nate Kaeding

[@TheLocalLt]

Hell Drew Brees vs Nate kaeding. If not for kaeding missing against the Jets in the 04 playoffs, Brees might still be a Charger, who’s to say that don’t give him an extension and trade the highly touted rivers if he wins that game

[@elijahechicagobearsboyd5734]

@@TheLocalLt All I know is, the truth of the matter, Nate kaeding is the most overrated kicker of all time and the chargers are absolute fools for not getting rid of him before the 2006 season and are still fools for handicapping their team years on end, till it was too late to win a title...

[@TheLocalLt]

@@elijahechicagobearsboyd5734 Spanos and his minions like AJ Smith kept Kaeding for years yet dumped Marty S. to the curb what a shame RIP And of eventually chased off the fans and ran the team out of town.

[@holstorrsceadus1990]

The ad before this started with a healthy and hearty Tom Brady "Let's go" which I think is a perfect intro for a video about the Chargers blowing it.

[@alexharris2221]

Watching this in 2021 and it just so happens to be the day Philip Rivers announces his retirement, still never having played in a Super Bowl.

[@douglasmcfarland9040]

Love your passion, critical data evaluation, and matter of fact delivery. My 2nd favorite video behind your Mariners series.

[@Noraaxu]

Jon: "A bad defense can besmirch a great offense, you can ask saints fans about that."\ Me:*Dies eternally*

[@DavidCaddock]

HE SAVED ALL THAT SPACE FOR A GIANT PHOTO OF SMILING MAHOMES Dunk on them haters, Bois.

[@detroitquinn81]

HE’S POINTING AT AN L TOO

[@gosseschukken2018]

#MVPat

[@matrixphijr]

"Sorry suckers."

[@Lkease]

Pretty sure the boxes were supposed to make a giant L

[@paul_warner]

Perfect example of "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link"

[@MrGNugget]

This is why American football is such an amazing sport, it’s the definition of a team game. Everyone in every aspect has to work together to win, star power doesn’t matter. A team with the best offense and defense didn’t even make the playoffs because of special teams!

[@degromfan]

Lol. They should have been 14-2. Instead they were 9-7

[@TheoneandonlyEETFUK]

yup, one win better than the year before

[@erikmunoz55]

Honestly, I felt like a 12-4 season but still definitely a contender nevertheless. This season gives me more headaches than the 2006 season

[@stevenlockhart9255]

But what matters is they were 9-7... Also known as: not good enough to make the playoffs that year.

[@CoachellaAngel]

As a Chargers fan I’ve always hated special teams until this day. Chargers have a team like 2010 coming up and hate to see it wasted by special teams again.

[@andres-_-6195]

Thry got a good kicker. (Hope so). Only problem is donny jones. Hes not a good punter imo

[@MilesKubicki]

Who’s here after the Packers game 🥲

[@nicolesgaming8917]

Sadly... :(

[@lilhayden9984]

“The perfectly spherical Mike Tolbert” lol

[@robfinney9289]

Poor Phillip Rivers. I feel sorry for him now. I never realized how good a QB he really is. I would give him a vote for the HOF.

[@matthewdaley746]

That franchise has the only current Hall-of-Fame quarterback to play in neither a Super Bowl, nor, an NFL Championship Game. All signs point to it having a second member of that very-exclusive club one day.

[@Jsalcedo23]

you and a whole lot of people lol. I'm a rams fan, but I'm a stats guy and Rivers has always had insane advanced stats especially that passer rating is nuts.

[@coolguy02536]

That's what happens when legions of irrational dullards fail to look past Eli's blatantly miraculous rings won for him by his team.

[@onebuffalo5402]

@@Jsalcedo23 dont matter how many yards youw throw for or give up. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is ppg. If you give up 500 yards and only 14ppg v 250 yards and 23 ppg it doesnt matter than your defense was "better".

[@Jsalcedo23]

@@matthewdaley746 Actually that's not true. The Chargers were in the AFC Championship during the 2007-2008 season vs the Patriots.

[@SanFranFan30]

The perfectly Spherical Mike Tolbert

[@6dmiller]

That cracked me up too

[@TheLocalLt]

One of his nicknames was “the bowling ball” which for a fullback is a compliment lol, his other nickname “the vulture” came from the tv show the league

[@-linusthegoat-4825]

2021 Packers Special Teams: Allow me to introduce myself

[@nicolesgaming8917]

The 2021 Packers could've learned a lesson from the 2010 Chargers.

[@ghosttoast8610]

Could’ve scored more then 10 points too

[@jarodarmstrong]

“Pretty good chance for a fairytale ending for these Chargers”... the entire city of San Diego begs to differ.

[@TheFrostFilesPodcast]

Fuck San Diego

[@TylerMerritt12345]

They're not even in San Diego anymore... I live in San Diego and was always a huge Chargers fan growing up. I watched every game they played, live, from the 2005-2006 season (I was 7 years old then) up until Dean Spanos (who inherited Chargers GM from his father, Alex Spanos) basically said, "Fund a new stadium for us, or we dip". Now I'm a Philip Rivers fan, not a Chargers fan. P.S. The worst part was that he wanted to raise the hotel tax in San Diego, a city that relies on tourism for funding, from 12.5% to 16.5%, or just have taxpayers cover a large chunk the cost. It wasn't even a reasonable request, and he threw away what his father worked for in San Diego due to greed.

[@GooseGumlizzard]

"the perfectly spherical Mike Tolbert" lmao

[@malrulesall9669]

Wow thats crazy 😳😳😳it shows that all aspects of the game is important offense, defense, and SPECIAL TEAMS 👏🤝💯

[@williamdeutsch1446]

“There still could be a fairy tail ending for Philip Rivers.” That quote aged badly.

[@eugenepoon]

Not to get all chicken and egg here but: You could argue that their inept special teams are the CAUSE of their highly favourable yardage differentials (especially the defensive yardage conceded statistics). It's neither your own defenses's credit nor the opposing offense's fault that they just don't need that many yards to get into the redzone or FG range, since they have such favourable field positions. So naturally your D is already at a head start since they have less yards to even concede than all the other defenses, so it's not really a level playing field. On top of that, if a kick/punt is returned for a TD then it just means there is a whole potential 100 yards less the defense can concede and that is one ENTIRE POSSESSION that the defense misses out on. If the SD 2010 special teams were really that bad (which it sure seems they are) then you should really validate the data by normalising their defensive yards by volume like yards conceded per play, pressure RATE and sack RATE or something to really take that into account. I can't be bothered but those stats would really show that whether they were the #1 defense.

[@SecretBaseSBN]

On a per-snap basis (thus rendering starting field position irrelevant), their defense allowed just 4.63 yards per play -- no one but the Steelers and Jets was even under 5 ... also, their offense was #1 in yards per play (hence the bit at 14:05)

[@eugenepoon]

@@SecretBaseSBN Hey SBN thanks for the reply :) Fair enough on the 4.63 stat. That's still quite impressive I see and I would agree that it renders starting field position mostly irrelevant but not wholly irrelevant. - Firstly, it still doesn't take into account the potential yards that are up for grabs to be conceded by the defense. However far you are from the endzone, that is the maximum yards you can make per play so it really means regardless of how good the defense is, bigger plays are just more nullified due to a smaller field. - Secondly, not every yard is equal in terms of difficulty across the field (more so in the passing than the running game). The closer you get to the redzone, the tighter and more crowded everything gets. All other things being equal, making a 5 yard completion in the redzone is harder than making a 5 yard completion from your own 25. And with regards to the offensive yards per play, yea I wasn't debating or doubting that aha. Still pretty awesome find and analysis though.

[@TheHoodedWonder]

This was a point I and some other chargers fans brought up during that season on forums when all the hyperbole was really flying about them being the best team of all time. Like SB nation said though they statistically had per snap stats that were great but I still felt like it's hard to quantify how out of whack the numbers might have been because of the special teams mess ups. How drives might have ended up a lot different for opposing teams for better or worse. Then you also have to consider those mistakes on special teams weren't only costly from a points or field position standpoint but also from a mental one. It must have been very emotionally draining for that team, it certainly was for us fans. It became the number one discussion during media sessions, everyone had to talk about how they were going to fix it. If my memory serves right veteran players that normally didn't play on special teams started jumping in which was probably around the time they started winning a bunch. Regardless they were still a really good team on both sides of the ball, that previous year they were 13-3. Smart money would have been on them to take the division again as they'd down for most of that era. Only major complaint fans had was about Norv but Ron Rivera was a great D cord. Those special teams screw ups really did kill that season for them.

[@danielboggan2479]

SB Nation that’s going to still be inflated because their aren’t as many chances to go deep on a team that’s already playing on a compressed field

[@freddyt55555]

@@danielboggan2479 Get off this "compressed field" nonsense. There are few big plays throughout the NFL that go for more than 40 yards on any given week. Not having the opportunity to give up one or two 70-yarders for the entire season is not going to skew the average yards per play even 2/10th of a yard when you're talking about almost 1000 plays throughout the season.

[@trobin]

we are back ladies and gentlemen its a return of a great era god bless

[@miracleofo2704]

One might even say it’s pretty good...

[@bobbywinston116]

People forget how great the chargers were for much of the 2000s, it was a given, for the chargers to be a playoff team/legit threat entering every season, the same way people expected NE, IND, or PITT to. From '04 - '10... SD made the playoffs 5/6 seasons: 12-4, 14-2, 11-5, 13-3, & 8-8(altho being .500, they were tough, going on an improbable run to finish the season & starting their playoffs early, since they had to play denver for the final game of season to see who'd be the divisional champions, & awarding the victor the last playoff birth, the #4 playoff spot to be exact. SD killed DEN by scoring +50 points in a blowout win. Then they won a playoff game vs the heavily favored 12-4 colts in OT.)

[@kurtomac2386]

Not a 2000’s team- but the 1992 Chargers are the only team to start 0-4 and still make the playoffs.

[@maxazzopardi7446]

@@kurtomac2386 I remember watching that 1992 Chargers team w/ my papa. Every Sunday we sat in the living room. The first four weeks were hard for me but my papa always told me to have faith. We kept our faith and they made the playoffs. This has inspired my father and I to dedicate our lives to faithfully hoping and praying the Chargers win that coveted Super Bowl. Every Sunday we sit in that same living room watching the games and after the games are over we sit in bedrooms, all day, keeping the faith. We only leave to watch Charger games or when we run out of food. We have toilets in the rooms. The offseasons are incredibly difficult, sitting in that room from January all the way until September, just to leave for 3 hours to watch the game. What does a woman's breast feel like?

[@mcray0309]

RIP Vincent Jackson

[@leevilduck]

2021/2022 Packers moment

[@nathanwong6010]

I was 8 when this season happened. I had forgotten all my memories about this season, until about halfway through the video where the charger’s schedule was shown. Seeing the bengals loss opened the floodgates again. I remember watching that bengals game at a Best Buy. I saw the final minutes, and watched as the chargers were eliminated from the playoffs. I cried because of that loss. I hate this season so much. Thanks for sharing this video, though Jon. At least the San Diego Chargers were finally featured on this channel.

[@criminalurges4695]

The 2010 Bengals were complete ass too as Carson Palmer got injured for the year in Week 5 I think and Ryan Fitzpatrick was the QB the rest of the way. How that Chargers lost to a 4-12 Bengals team is weird and sad at the same time. How?! Just how!!?

[@ryanduffy6089]

Remember when we went to the playoffs and gates and tomlinson and Phil all got injured?

[@millicentchuyin6763]

The media gave a lot of shit to Tomlinson for not playing injured like Rivers as if he were heartless and ignored this guy gave away turkey to homeless people and orphans every year on thanksgiving

[@AzureKite]

Remember when Phillip Rivers played in a AFC Championship Game with a goddamn torn ACL? The Chargers are the most snake-bitten team in the NFL

[@vladimirlenin3068]

Azure Kite that was the same year

[@GJLCreativeStudios]

@@vladimirlenin3068 2006 best chargers team ever talent wise

[@vladimirlenin3068]

GJL Creative Studios I agree. It had to be the fucking patriots

[@kyndread71]

Jon Bois: ".....except now we have Patrick Mahomes, sorry Chargers!" Andy Reid, Week 7: "Let's try a QB sneak...."

[@greatghan]

About that..

[@kyndread71]

@@greatghan Aged like milk, didn't it?

[@RM---]

I remember following the chargers faithfully from 2004 until their departure from SD to LA. I couldn't take that kind of betrayal to the fan base. Many years the chargers were primed for a super bowl run. Every year ended in disappointment. Such a sad franchise

[@tedfudgie]

Me: oh cool a dork town video, I love the graphics that they use Jon every time: this is 6.8 million plays inside of this box

[@auston781]

Man I’m huge chargers fan in 10 I was telling everyone who would listen special teams is why we lost

[@callsignoutlaw]

auston wiley It's ten years later and you still are. Thanks for sharing!

[@giovannitrejo3518]

I had blocked out this season and now i have PTSD

[@auston781]

Lol it seems I feel that way every time we see the pats

[@foxsdream]

This explains the constant pain we fans felt. It's a summary of almost the entire history. They always found a way to choke, hence we always called our beloved team in San Diego the San Diego Chokers. We said it as a way to deal with the pain. But now when they choke, it brings joy.

[@rockaway0beach]

Now wait, just as a parenthesis, the full ground-plunging break and 360° shove off that Arenas does at 5:57 is amazing

[@cetrusbr]

Man, this visualizations are great! Not to mention the storytelling... Great work!

[@angelrobles7201]

Whenever someone says that special teams don't have any influence over a season, show him/her this masterpiece of a video. Also, our boy Jon Bois seems like a child in a candy store with Pat Mahomes in his team. (OK, who wouldn't?)

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

Note how many of those losses were by a full touchdown. If the team was as good as billed here, shouldn't some of those losses have been narrow wins regardless of a 7 point special teams blunder? It's very dubious that they touted the offense based on yards gained rather than points scored, so I'm betting the red zone percentage didn't fit the desired conclusion and was omitted.

[@arachnofiend2859]

@@palaceofwisdom9448 The Chargers were 12th in red zone offense that year - not greatest of all time numbers but not so bad that missing the playoffs would be inevitable.

[@momalley81]

@@palaceofwisdom9448 They were actually 2nd in points scored. Bigger spread is their defense; yeah, first in yards allowed. But 10th in points against, and -6 as a team in turnovers (as they stated here) Which makes sense. Of course the defense isn't going to give up a whole lot of yards; special teams keeps giving their opponents a short field to work with. Which is why they missed the playoffs. This should be a good example of how stats can be made to lie; on paper based on just yards for/against they are an amazing team. But dig deeper and they're a one dimensional team with a glaring weakness. Here's some other good ones- their "best defense" was 29th in scoring percentage. Which dovetails nicely with their opponent's average start on the 32-1/2 yard line (also 29th in the league) Pretty easy for the defense to not give up a lot of yards when the opposing offense can only gain a maximum of 70 yards against you. That vaulted defense, btw? 28th in the league in red zone percentage. So, looking at that, I'd say an amazing offense that could control the ball, and a below average defense that was constantly backed into a corner by inept special teams.

[@Nyarlathotep_]

Born and raised in SD; Brees was our QB from the time I could watch Ball and Rivers was our QB from the time I could understand it. Some of my earliest memories of Ball were of my mom howling things like “TACKLE HIM GOD DAMMIT” as she watched Super Bowl capable teams (LT, Neal, Rivers, Gates, Hardwick, Merriman, Jammer - in the same damn year) implode on blown play after blown play. After watching the Bolts self destruct against the Jags last week, nothing has changed. “Chargers football” isn’t a joke, it’s a sad reality

[@puffytacoxxv]

I love your videos! So much information and work must go into these. Way too much fun thinking of these anomalies. Thanks SB Nation