I mean that could and should be the headline each and every week. Obviously, a lot has gone on since the Denver game. Aaron and I made the trip to Foxboro and saw the playoff clincher in person. This week, I was so elated that I put together what I believe to be the complete list of games I have attended in person. This was the third time I have seen them clinch a playoff berth from the stands. You can see, FAITHFUL READER, that there was a big drop off games from 2005-2012
At NYG 9/14/86, L 20-7
At NYJ 12/3/89. L 20-17
At NYJ 10/14/90, W 39-3
At CLE 11/15/92, W 14-13
At NE 11/20/94, L 23-17
At NYJ, 12/18/94, W 21-6
At PIT, 1/15/95, W 17-13
SB XXIX, 1/29/95, L 49-26
At PHI, 9/17/95, W 27-21
At NYG 12/23/95, W 27-17
Vs DET 11/11/96, W 27-21
At NE 8/31/97, L 41-7
Vs BUF 9/6/18, W 16-14
At WAS 12/6/98, L 24-20
At DET 10/10/99, W 20-10
Vs CLE 12/5/99, W 23-10
At BUF 10/15/00, W 27-24
At BAL 12/10/00, L 24-3
At NE 10/14/01, L 29-26
At PHI 12/9/01, L 24-14
Vs SEA 12/30/01, L 25-22
At BUF 12/15/02, L 20-13
At CLE 12/19/04, W 21-0
At NE, 10/02/05, W 41-17
At WAS 11/27/05, W 23-17 (OT)
Vs MIA 12/11/05, L 23-21
At MIA, 10/5/08, L 17-10
At NYG 11/8/09. W 21-20
At NYJ 12/23/12, W 27-17
At WAS, 11/3/13, L 30-24 (OT)
At BUF 9/21/14, W 22-10
At NYJ,12/24/17, W 14-7
At BUF 9/16/18, W 30-21
At MIA 9/29/19, W 30-10
At WAS 9/12/21, W 20-16
Vs CLE 10/10/21, W 47-42
At GB 11/19/23, L 23-20
At NE 12/28/24, W 40-7
22 Wins, 15 Losses
The last time I was in Foxboro was actually 2005. My dad was kind enough to make the trip from Brookfield, CT with me and it was the first time I purchased tickets from the team. We were in the friends and family section and it was so cool to be in a weird Charger fan embassy inside the stadium. Of course, we blew the Patriots out which made it even sweeter. My previous trip was the 2001 game where Tom Brady basically became Tom Brady.
My good friend Ross "Bam Bam" Edmond was there that day as I had to take a train back to the city pissed off and drunk. This was, of course, barely a month after 9/11. Sam and I had tickets to go to Dallas in September, but ended up selling them after the attack.
On a lighter note, Bam Bam graciously returned to Foxboro (and drove) even as a Pats fan. He graciously agreed to root for the Bolts since the Pats aren't going anywhere this year. As of this writing, they have the #1 pick in the draft so you could argue we did them a huge favor.
Yes, Aaron's was beer. My good friend Jamie pointed out it was very Rusty Griswold in Vacation.
There's us with Bam Bam from the seats. Using a bit of advanced sleuthing, a term he'd definitely appreciate, I circled where we were. Unless a more high-resolution version of the Chargers "Mini-Movie" from the game comes out, this will have to do. We were in the end zone where Davis caught that TD.
Needless to say, it was a great game and awesome trip overall. Thanks to the Die Hard Bolt Club of Boston for being so nice to us. It's almost two hours until the Charger kick off in Vegas so I feel like talking about last week seems dated. Obviously, the Chargers need to win to get the #5 seed. Is there a part of me that worries that since the Steelers lost last night we could somehow get upset and go into the playoffs with no momentum as opposed to them winning and us resting guys in a meaningless game? Yes, but this is the reason Harbaugh was hired.
So far, the Chargers have "taken care of business" against lesser teams. If they had beaten the Steelers, you could say that they wouldn't need today. But seasons are like plots and one thing leads to another. If we hadn't been in the situation we were after the first half against Denver, who knows if we'd be playing as well as we are now.
And we are playing well. The reality is that this IS the playoffs. The Raiders aren't a playoff team, but this is like a first round game. We have to win, even though Molden is done for the year. It was strange to see him get hurt and then come back in for the play that he ended up breaking his fibula on. Harbaugh has made the right calls pretty much all year so I won't doubt the decision. Gilman was kinda shitty before he pulled his hamstring on the TD he surrendered against Baltimore.
Perryman is out and we'll see if he can go next week. He's basically played one half since the Ravens game and I am sure it was a goal for him to go that week since the game was so crucial.
I've got the Raiders voodoo doll ready, but I think Harbaugh will have them prepared as well. That's all we can ask for. The last time they were in Vegas, we had to root for a loss to clean house. When I went to the Sphere on 8/9 for Dead and Company, I met fans who said they went to the game and wanted to win. I guess if you live in Las Vegas and your team comes to town once a a year...fuck that. I've shown with my above-referenced list that I would travel outside my immediate location for games and that I would NEVER root against our best interests, even if it meant the 63-21 game.
So let's put our faith in The New Regime and see where it all ends.
Until next week,
Let's take the cheese.
Bolt the fuck up.
Justice is coming.
RLW
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