P-Rez25

INDIANAPOLIS – He got choked up during his Saturday night speech, punctuating some of his more passionate statements with fist-pumps, and the San Diego Chargers felt inspired by their head coach's emotion. "I believe in you," he told them, and they believed him, and it meant something more than they had dreamt it could have back in the uncertain days of autumn.

This was a different Norv Turner than the man some of them doubted earlier this season, a driven leader who strode confidently and defiantly into the den of the defending champions intent on irrevocably changing the way he and his team are perceived. He shed the dead-fish exterior and took command of the sidelines, railing at officials and at one point venturing a good 10 yards onto the playing field to throw a replay-challenge flag. He looked like he would fight somebody – a ref, a row of fans, Peyton Manning, whomever – to get what he wanted.

Through it all, Turner kept his poise. There were smart calls at ideal times as he got into one of those sublime play-calling rhythms which made him such a hot coaching prospect in the first place. And for the first time as a head coach in a truly big game, he walked off a winner, his face showing no trace of surprise.

Meanwhile, virtually everyone else looked at the final score – Chargers 28, Indianapolis Colts 24 – and wondered if the football world had spun off its axis. San Diego, a team known for playoff flameouts, had just taken out the one team thought to have a realistic shot at stopping the New England Patriots' merciless assault on an undefeated season. Instead, it'll be the Chargers who show up at Gillette Stadium next Sunday to play Tom Brady and the Pats for the AFC Championship, while Manning sits home and digests a can't-win-the-big-one flashback to which Turner can unfortunately relate.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

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