Top 5 Games of the Mike McCoy Era
Mike McCoy was by no means the worst head coach the Chargers could have hired in the 2013 off-season. Of the eight head coaches hired after the 2012 season, only Andy Reid and Bruce Arians are still employed. Candidates like Rob Chudzinski, Marc Trestman and Gus Bradley had some of the worst tenures in their respective franchises' history. Mike McCoy would make the playoffs his first season, even beating the AFC North Champion Cincinnati Bengals in the wild card round. The Chargers were one win away from another playoff berth in 2014, losing a do-or-die game in Kansas City in Week 17. We don't need to talk about what happened in Mike McCoy's final 2 years. With that said, here's a look at the top 5 games of Mike McCoy's tenure as the head man of the Chargers:
5. Week 2, Chargers 30, Seahawks 21
The Super Bowl Champion Seahawks came into Qualcomm having 11 days to prepare for the Chargers. They had also just dismantled the Green Bay Packers 36-16 in the NFL season opener on Thursday Night Football. They were not prepared for field conditions where the on-field temperature reached 110 degrees and a Mike McCoy game plan that forced their defense to stay on the field for 43 minutes. Philip Rivers was able to hit Antonio Gates for 3 TDs, while slicing the legion of boom for 284 yards and hitting 28 out of his 37 attempts.
4. Week 7, 2016: Chargers 33 - Falcons 30
The Chargers fell behind 27-10 in the first half of this one, only to come back and win in OT on the backs of Melvin Gordon and Tyrell Williams. This put the Chargers at a 3-4 record, having beaten the Broncos and Falcons in consecutive weeks. Little did we know of the darkness to come in the following weeks.
3. Week 15, 2013: Chargers 27 Broncos 20
The Chargers were the only team to beat the Broncos on their home field in Denver in 2013. Peyton Manning was on his torrid MVP pace, decimating everyone in sight, before a Chargers MASH unit went into Denver and stole a victory in a nationally televised Thursday Night Football game. Led by Ryan Mathews (29 carries, 127 yards and 1 TD) and a rookie Keenan Allen (2 catches for 29 yards and 2 TDs) the Chargers played a ball control offense that kept Peyton Manning on the sideline for over two thirds of the game. Philip Rivers then got to celebrate with the TNF TV crew with a bolo tie.
2. Week 16, 2013: Chargers 38 - 49ers 35
The Chargers have come back from a 21 point deficit three times in their history, and this late December 2014 game was one of them. The Chargers fell behind early with long runs by Colin Kaepernick and Frank Gore that seemed to all but eliminate the Bolts from playoff contention, but a furious second half come back lead by Philip Rivers (356 Yards and 4 TD) and Antonio Gates (92 yards and 2 TDs) gave the Chargers life. This game also officially eliminated the 49ers from the playoff hunt, and seemed to seal the deal of Jim Harbaugh's ousting from San Francisco. Of course the Chargers went on to lose the next week against the Chiefs in Kansas City in a do or die game, but ¯\_(?)_/¯, am I right?
1. 2013 Wildcard Playoffs: Chargers 27 - Bengals 10
The 2013 season was magical. The Chargers barely got into the playoffs in a fluky week 17 game against a Kansas City team that was resting virtually all of their starters. The Bolts went into Cincinnati essentially playing with house money, with no real expectations to win going against an 11-5 Bengals team that head beaten them just four weeks earlier at Qualcomm Stadium. A big play by Donald Butler late in the second quarter forced a Giovani Bernard fumble that stopped the Bengals from going up 14-7 into the half. A second half interception by Shareece Wright and a 58-yard touchdown run by Ronnie Brown sealed the deal for the best win of Mike McCoy's career as the Chargers head coach.
