San Diego, CA
Tom Krasovic: Predictable finish to Chargers’ season feels the same and yet somehow different
So now that Jim Harbaugh’s first season with the Chargers is in the books with Saturday’s defeat in a wild-card playoff game, it’s time to answer a big question.
Are the Chargers the same Chargers they’ve always been?
The answer is no.
And yes.
The first answer will be the longer one, because that’s where the 17-game season points.
Over those four months, they weren’t the same old Chargers.
One, they Chargered far less.
Instead of goofing up winnable games, a habit that introduced Chargering into NFL speech, they forced opponents to beat them. They finished among the leaders in fewest turnovers and fewest penalties. No team threw fewer interceptions. In field-goal percentage and net punting, the Chargers landed in the top half. This team didn’t beat itself very often.
Two, in establishing a reputation for physical play, the Chargers broke from the franchise’s norms over the years since Marty Schottenheimer was fired.
Physicality isn’t easily quantified, but in leading the NFL in fewest points allowed, Harbaugh’s defense asserted itself at all three levels.
It takes good tackling, setting the edge and displacing blockers to allow the fewest rushing touchdown, as L.A. did.
A high number of defensive holding penalties, reflecting greater physicality, was the cost of doing business for a unit that finished fourth in net yards allowed per pass attempt.
On offense, Harbaugh and coordinator Greg Roman emphasized slam-bam football — even if it could be tedious.
They often deployed either of two massive fullbacks/wingbacks/tight ends, each weighing close to 300 pounds. Sixteen percent of the offense’s snaps came with a tight end and two running backs, one of them a huge mauler; only three offenses went with that personnel grouping more often.
They weren’t the same old Chargers. They were the Harbaugh Chargers, resembling the coach’s physical, sound teams at Stanford, Michigan and with the San Francisco 49ers.
It wasn’t surprising that Harbaugh changed so much about the franchise’s identity.
He commanded more power than any coach hired in the Spanos era, which goes back almost four decades. He was able to hire his own general manager, breaking from Spanos tradition, and also brought in a pair of coordinators, several positional coaches and a much-praised strength coach.
A former NFL quarterback, Harbaugh took a hands-on approach with Justin Herbert.
The regular-season results took a big jump: from five victories to 11 victories. And Herbert set career marks in victories, passer rating and interception rate, while also assembling his second-best Total Quarterback Rating, an ESPN statistic that accounts for rushing.
The Chargers’ only playoff game under Harbaugh?
That was a different story.
That look was Same Ol’ Chargers.
Notwithstanding stretches of defensive dominance, Harbaugh’s Bolts echoed the Chargers’ futility of many other postseason defeats.
The names were different, but two key areas of underperformance were familiar: interceptions thrown and failed kicking attempts.
Recalling Chargers Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, Herbert threw four interceptions, exceeding his regular-season total by one. Fouts was more prone to interceptions in the playoffs than in the regular season. Sixteen of his passes were picked off in his seven playoff games. To be fair, interceptions then were common throughout the NFL, and Fouts led the Chargers to a few playoff wins with sparkling play. Still, his interception rate per passing attempt was 30% higher in the postseason than in the regular season.
Along with the offense’s poor game, the Chargers’ kicking game plummeted Saturday, too.
Fortunate that a deflected punt took a favorable bounce, the Chargers would later allow a blocked one-point attempt that the Texans returned for two points. A three-point swing, the sequence ballooned the fourth-quarter deficit to 13 points.
And it summoned the ghosts of Chargers kicking failures in Januarys past.
Several errant kicks by Nate Kaeding contributed to San Diego Chargers playoff defeats. An 86.2% kicker on field goals for his career in the regular season, Kaeding made just 8 of 15 field goals in the postseason, a rate of 53.3%.
It was just one game, but Saturday’s playoff defeat punctured some of Harbaugh’s mystique he’d built up in the regular-season run to the first wild card.
The sheer bizarreness of the three-point blunder made for vintage Chargering.
After his kick was blocked sky-high, Cameron Dicker, who a had bright season, camped under it and tried to bat it down instead of catching the live ball. Dicker got clobbered for his effort. Unfortunately for him, points weren’t given for comic relief. “OMG Chargers kicker! hahahahaha,” former Chiefs All-Pro tackle Mitchell Schwartz posted on social media.
The outing in total wasn’t a full-on Chargering performance. The Texans’ defense, which has stars at all three levels, was simply too good on several plays. The Chargers were favored by three points, but as the game unfolded, Houston coach DeMeco Ryans’ defense — better than almost every unit the Chargers had faced — showed how limited their offensive personnel was.
But, this was eerie: the Chargers’ most consequential errors recalled the franchise’s first playoff game of the Super Bowl era — a 17-14 loss in December 1979.
On that afternoon at sunny San Diego Stadium, where thousands of San Diegans wore gold “Charger Power” T-shirts, Fouts threw five interceptions against a franchise from Houston, the Oilers.
Cue up the spooky music, while pondering another parallel tidbit: Chargers kicker Mike Wood’s 26-yard field goal try in the second quarter was blocked, and Houston returned it 56 yards. That led to a short field goal for Houston, making it a six-point swing. Four more interceptions by Fouts would follow, and the Chargers, eight-point favorites, walked into the afternoon shadow with a stunning defeat.
Harbaugh’s team, in contrast, was playing with house money. Defense aside, it got exposed at several positions.
On to the offseason.
Originally Published:
The U.S. military identified a Minnesota Marine stationed in Southern California who went missing off San Diego last week, and confirmed his death.
Lance Cpl. Armando Ortiz Canseco was declared deceased Saturday. It is believed he was lost at sea after a training exercise.
“On behalf of the Marines and sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Lance Cpl. Ortiz Canseco,” Col. Richard Alvarez, the commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in a statement.
Ortiz Canseco was reported missing from the amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage early Thursday morning. His disappearance resulted in an extensive search and rescue operation, with efforts beginning around 1:20 a.m. Thursday.
The search spanned roughly 2,400 square miles and involved officials from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force who used three surface ships and 12 aircraft, according to the military.
The Marine went missing during a training operation involving the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.
After nearly two full days of searching, the Navy transitioned to recovery operations.
“He earned the title of United States Marine and served his country with honor and commitment,” Alvarez said. “We mourn alongside his family, and we remain committed to bringing him home.”
This incident marks the second time in recent weeks that the U.S. military has searched for missing service members.
The remains of two Army soldiers who went missing while off duty from military exercises in Morocco were recovered in May, according to the Army.
Officials did not initially identify Ortiz Canseco on Thursday or disclose the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, saying his family needed to be notified first.
His death continues to be under investigation.
Ortiz Canseco enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 2023 and reported for training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
His individual awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Times staff writer Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.
Blink, and you might miss it.
Adobe Falls isn’t Niagara Falls — or anything close — but after winter rains, a seasonal waterfall briefly appears in a narrow Del Cerro canyon, hidden beneath streets, homes, and San Diego State University property.
The waterfall forms along Alvarado Creek, which drains parts of eastern San Diego, including the SDSU area and surrounding neighborhoods. In wet months, runoff moves through a steep canyon and drops over a short rock ledge known locally as Adobe Falls. In dry periods, the flow often fades to a trickle or disappears entirely, leaving exposed sandstone and a shaded canyon bed.
What makes the site stand out is its setting. Above the canyon are Del Cerro residential streets and university property tied to San Diego State. Below it, Alvarado Creek continues west as part of the Mission Valley watershed, eventually feeding into the San Diego River system. Like many urban drainages in San Diego, its flow is shaped by stormwater runoff, paved surfaces, and altered drainage patterns tied to development.
Access is restricted. The canyon sits on a mix of SDSU and city-managed land and has long been closed to the public due to safety concerns, including steep terrain, erosion, and unstable footing after rain. Although widely referenced in maps and online posts, it is not an official trail or recreation site.
The canyon itself pre-dates modern development in Del Cerro. It is part of a broader network of inland waterways and canyon corridors used for thousands of years by the Kumeyaay, whose presence shaped movement and settlement patterns across the region.
In the mid-20th century, as Del Cerro developed, homes and roads were built along canyon rims rather than through them, leaving Alvarado Creek intact as a drainage system. Adobe Falls remained within that corridor even as surrounding hillsides filled with residential and institutional development.
Today, Adobe Falls remains a small but persistent reminder that San Diego’s natural drainage systems still function within a heavily built environment — appearing briefly after storms, then receding back into the canyon until the next rain.
Read more history stories here, and do you have a story to tell? Send an email to DebbieSklar@cox.net.
Sources:
City of San Diego – Stormwater & Watershed Division (Alvarado Creek / Mission Valley watershed)
San Diego State University – planning and environmental impact documentation for adjacent canyon areas
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – San Diego County watershed and hydrology mapping (Alvarado Creek / San Diego River system context)
San Diego History Center – Kumeyaay regional land use and inland canyon corridor history
City of San Diego Planning Department – land use records and access restrictions for Adobe Falls area
California State Historic Landmark files – Adobe Falls (Landmark No. 80)
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