It was San Diego’s first home playoff loss since 2006, but its second in seven seasons to the Jets. The Chargers were the only team with a first-round bye who couldn’t get out of the divisional round. With an explosive offense putting up huge numbers and the team riding an 11-game winning streak going into the playoffs, expectations were higher than ever. It figured then that the devastation was palpable.

For all the brilliance of Philip Rivers and  all the game-breaking running of Tomlinson and Darren Sproles, and for all the fierce defenders led by Shawne Merriman, the Chargers are just 3-5 in the playoffs over the last seven seasons.

They’ve made just one appearance in the AFC championship game with no Super Bowl appearances during the tenure of Tomlinson, who might have finished his storied career in San Diego with 24 yards on 12 carries — and just 4 yards in the second half.

Who deserved the blame for this one? The defense largely shut down the vaunted New York running game, not even yielding 100 yards until midway through the fourth quarter. The San Diego offense moved the ball fairly well, out gaining the Jets by 82 yards.On his last carry of the last game of what will surely be his last season with the San Diego Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson was stopped for a 1-yard gain and struck by the sound of unambiguous boos.

Chargers All-Pro kicker Nate Kaeding missed three field goals: a short try in the first quarter, a long one right before halftime, and a 40-yarder in the final minutes that would have trimmed the Jets’ lead to seven points.

The last time the Chargers went into the playoffs following a bye, they went out in a similar fashion. New England scored 10 points in the fourth quarter of a 24-21 loss.

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LT’s likely exit comes empty, sadly

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