Once upon a time, the Chargers struck fear in the hearts of the teams they played. Big strike capabilities on offense, with quarterback Philip Rivers playing bombs away from anywhere on the field. Mayhem on defense, sacking quarterbacks, taking the ball away, and blistering their ways to win.

Norv Turner inherited an elite team five years ago, when the club fired Marty Schottenheimer. The Bolts were elite and top shelf. Now they have become mediocre and a middle-of-the-pack franchise. Look no further than this loss in Kansas City, where they struggled all night, and lost in overtime. Yes, a Kansas Chiefs team that has lost four of its top players. When it was done, San Diego left it all out on the field, but left the stadium with a (23-20) loss.

They played hard, they went up and down the field all night long, but they made enough mistakes to die of a thousand paper cuts. The big money players did not get it done. A bunch of bottom roster guys nearly rescued them, but on this night, like so many other recent games, Turner's team let another get away.

Rivers, the superstar quarterback threw two horrid interceptions early, then fumbled when blasted on a sack, and finally put the finishing touch on a night of self destruction, dropping a snap in at the 15-yard line late in the final quarter, when San Diego was ready to claim a victory with a last second field goal.

Pro Bowl left tackle Marcus McNeill, playing with a neck brace because of a stinger, had the worst night of an otherwise stellar career. Four false start calls in all the noise at Arrowhead, plus holding calls too.

Ailing Antonio Gates got open early, but was non-existent late, as the Chiefs took him out of the game with a variety of coverage. Big money receiver Vincent Jackson was bracketed up the sidelines and hardly caught any balls.

Former first round pick Ryan Mathews, ran hard, but fumbled, and blew a blitz blocking assignment that got Rivers killed. Then he left with another nagging injury, this a groin, as fans revolted thinking San Diego drafted a piece of china running back rather than a chunk of steel.

This year's second round pick Marcus Gilchrist will forever be known as "Toast" after giving up nine big pass completions. And that did not include two open receivers who dropped passes as they blew by him.

The Chargers red-zone offense now resembles something akin to Raiders football. Nine times, San Diego got inside the Chiefs 34, and scored just 1 touchdown, settling for four field goals instead. There were two offensive pass interference penalties, something you hardly see. A ton of penalties marred whatever flow the Chargers had hoped to build against a weaker Chiefs roster. In fact, San Diego had 12 flags on Monday night, added to 13 the week before. Too many. Too sloppy.

The defense went blitz happy and disrupted KC's offense, at one point giving up just one score in seven possessions. But you cannot expect that to go on all night. It did not, as Matt Cassel finally drove his team for two long scoring drives late in the game.

Credit a few people for trying to haul San Diego out of the abyss. Nick Novak kicked 4-field goals. Free agent running back Curtis Brinkley dazzled in the fourth quarter, running hard, leaping piles, catching a huge 21-yard pass, then diving for a TD, and catching a 2 point conversion. Veteran receiver Patrick Crayton provided a jolt of electricity catching 12-18-19 yard passes. Malcom Floyd on the other side, hauled in five balls including catches of 20-20 and 37 yards. But for every big play, there was a setback, a sack, a drop, or a flag. They killed four drives with turnovers and missed a field goal.

Kansas City did not necessarily win this game They seemed dysfunctional, getting plays called in from the sidelines. So-called smart guy coach Todd Haley misused the clock, burning off 1:42 in time late in the lst half, when he had timeouts in his pocket. A touchdown there and that game would have been over. He did it again with a minute to go in the 4th quarter, running the ball, not using his timeouts, and refraining from going down the field for what likely would have been a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation.

His roster has been decimated by terrible injuries, but his team kept scrapping and they have won four in a row, somehow, someway. Haley, who has not shaved since his team climbed out of an (0-3) start to the year, seems to be running a rag-tag scruffy offense, to match his personal features. It was not pretty, but it was a win.

This is really hard to believe. They lost to Kansas City. To quote the Super Bowl coach Bill Parcells, "no medals for trying." The Chargers fought the screaming mob that was 72,000 fans wearing Chiefs red jerseys. They survived some shaky officiating calls. They slugged it out for nearly five quarters of football. But they lost.

Instead of launching into a tirade over another loss with Norv Turner as coach, maybe we should instead lament, what Chargers football has become: a mid-level team. Owner Dean Spanos likes his GM AJ Smith, who has put this roster together. He likes his coach Norv Turner. As the Chargers grumble about the negative media in San Diego, and the criticism they are getting from the national beat-writers, you wonder how much hotter the front burner on the stove will get after this.

And to add insult to injury, there in the owners box in Kansas City sat Marty Schottenheimer, saluted into the Chiefs "Ring of Honor" before the game. You know Marty, the coach who got fired despite going (14-2) in San Diego. Marty, the one wearing a Chiefs warm-up jacket sitting next to owner Clark Hunt. Who do you think he was rooting for?

San Diego, you did not, did you? You did. You lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a Monday Night Mess.

GIF source: Mocksession via Reddit