Sad-sack Turner, Chargers choke season away

A late touchdown pass by Philip Rivers was completely meaningless, and it was symbolic of the San Diego Chargers' season. It was a comically frustrating trip down a dead-end road.

At the point of implosion, on a cold Sunday in Cincinnati against a pitiful opponent, the Chargers were blown out and knocked out of playoff contention with a 34-20 loss to the Bengals.

It was a 21-point game before Rivers' futile touchdown pass with 1:27 to go. Time had already run out on the Chargers, and it should expire on coach Norv Turner, too.

San Diego (8-7) won't get the chance to choke in the postseason this time. The AFC West title belongs to Kansas City.

"Obviously, the Chargers are the most underachieving team in the league," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "If you look up and down the roster, you would think they would be one of the elite teams in the NFL.

"They had one of the weakest schedules in the league. To miss the playoffs is embarrassing. There's just no excuse for it."

Injuries are a lame excuse. Every team deals with injuries. The Chargers, who continually self-destructed on special teams, got swept by the Raiders and humiliated by the Bengals (4-11).

In a game that meant something only to the team that lost, Kornegay said San Diego "seemed very disinterested." That's another indictment of the lifeless Turner.

It was an important game to bettors and the sports books. On a day when favorites covered eight of 12 games, the collapse by the Chargers, who closed as 8-point favorites, provided a parachute for bookmakers.

"That was the only decision that really went the way we needed it with the Bengals blowing up teasers and money-line parlays," said Todd Fuhrman, sports book analyst for Caesars Entertainment.

NFL wagering was slow on a Christmas weekend, with the handle dipping approximately 25 percent.

"It was pretty much a break-even day. It was kind of uneventful," Kornegay said. "The handle was considerably lower than other weekends, which was expected. The numbers weren't really moving too much with the public play because the volume wasn't there. We won our biggest decision, which was the Bengals."

The first half of the season was all about the dominance of the underdogs. But favorites have closed the gap. With two games remaining in Week 16, underdogs are 117-110-8 against the spread, with three pick'em games.

Denver, Detroit and Washington were outright underdog winners in addition to Cincinnati on Sunday. The Broncos' 24-23 comeback victory over Houston "stopped a little bit of the favorite barrage" and helped the books, according to Fuhrman.

If the Chargers are an enigma, the Texans are a riddle wrapped inside one. Houston blew a 17-0 halftime lead against Denver, which got 308 passing yards from Tim Tebow.

The Lions, 3½-point underdogs, upended the Dolphins, 34-27. Amazingly, Miami is a league-worst 1-7 at home but 7-8 overall. And amazingly, after losing 26 consecutive road games, the Lions have won two in a row on the road.

"We had public money come in on the Lions, which was about the first time all season," Fuhrman said.

There was strong two-way action on the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers game. The Packers, 3-point favorites, won a one-sided laugher 45-17 as Aaron Rodgers passed for 404 yards and four touchdowns.

The Chicago Bears, who attracted the money and closed as 2½- to 3-point favorites, outshot the New York Jets, 38-34. The total was 36, and it would be wise to pay attention to the trend of high-scoring games. Nine of 14 games have gone over the total in Week 16.

Heavy snow forced the Minnesota-Philadelphia game to be moved to Tuesday, after Atlanta hosts New Orleans Saints today. Then it's on to the handicapping challenge that is Week 17.

Peyton Manning has the Indianapolis Colts primed to return to the playoffs.

But the Chargers, No. 1 in the league in total defense and No. 2 in total offense, have been put out of their misery.

The San Francisco 49ers fired coach Mike Singletary on Sunday night. In San Diego, it's time to put a blindfold on Turner and tell him to stand against a wall.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.