NFL San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers’ Newest Potential Pro Bowlers A Painful Reminder of What Could Have Been

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Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

With some recent injury related pullouts by NFL Pro Bowl players, both Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates look to be added to the roster slated to play in a week in Arizona. Rivers has been given an invitation already, but with his own injury concerns, he still needs to decide if he will play, and Gates is the next player to go if Rob Gronkowski opts out of the game, and he will if the New England Patriots win Sunday.

While most San Diego Chargers fans are happy to hear the news and excited to potentially see more of their players in the NFL All-Star game, it has to be bittersweet in the sense that it is more evidence that the Chargers had a pretty good team and should have probably been in the playoffs. There are many reasons why they didn’t make it, and depending on who you talk to, the excuses could range from too many injuries over the season, to too tough of a schedule to overcome near  season’s end. But a team that made it as a Wild Card in 2013 looked so much better to start 2014, and had many experts picking them early to be a title contender.

Back towards the start of Week 7, the Chargers were 5-1 and picked as the No. 2 team in most power rankings by NFL experts. They looked poised to challenge the Denver Broncos for not only AFC West supremacy, but AFC supremacy. Rivers was a MVP candidate and looked to be having the best season of his career, and Gates was revitalized by playing injury free for the first time in years. Fast forward to the end of the year, and the Bolts were a shell of their former early season selves. They were on their fifth center, and injuries at other key positions were slowing down their offense, and had done irreparable damage to their defense and special teams units as well. That, combined with playing one playoff contender after the other through the last six weeks, and the Chargers looked awful when the final seconds of their 16th game ticked off the clock. Ironically, their last play on the field offensively was a season-sealing interception in Kansas City.

The 2015 year looks to be an exciting time for the Bolts, as they expect many of their injury riddled players to make a full recovery and can be aggressive in free agency, as they look to have approximately $20 million plus in cap space. But with the conference championship games being played this weekend, most Bolt fans are left holding the infamous “Wait till next year!” signs, while wondering what could have been in 2014.

Jonathan George is an NFL writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonageorge. “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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