As Good As It Gets

And by "As Good As It Gets," we mean: Enjoy it while it lasts, Charger fans, the victory celebrations end here.

Only one team will be celebrating after next Sunday's AFC championship game, and it ain't gonna be the Bolts.

Sunday's 28-24 playoff victory over the Colts was amazing on several levels, not the least of which was that the Chargers won despite a series of highly questionable calls by the officials that had conspiracy theorists salivating.

So if the Colts were beneficiaries of some head-scratching gifts by the officiating crew, what do you think the refs are going to do when Tom Brady and the Patriots line up against the Bolts? Seriously, why even bother playing this thing?

But getting back to the Colts for a second ... are these guys the most overrated frauds in recent memory? We were going to call this the Chargers' only legitimate victory of the season over a quality opponent, but we're not sure Indy qualifies. The Colts somehow managed to look just like all those putrid AFC West teams the Chargers beat up on this season. 

As for the Patriots, there's one simple reason the Chargers cannot win this game -- Bill Belichick. There's no way Bill Belichick will allow his resume′ to be stained by an AFC championship loss to Norv Freakin' Turner. 

And at this point, there's no chance of the Patriots taking the Chargers lightly. Belichick, the man who invented fleece outerwear, will have his players believing Billy Volek is John Elway before the week is over.

This AFC championship game also will provide an interesting gathering of convicted cheaters. Perhaps Bill Belichick* and Shawne Merriman* can get together before the game and compare asterisks. Perhaps Joey Greco can perform the ceremonial coin flip.