CBS Sports’ higher-ups proved me wrong Friday, I’m pleased to report.
Uncoupling San Diego from Los Angeles, the network smartly has chosen not to air the last-place Los Angeles Chargers’ game on San Diego KFMB Channel 8 this Sunday.
Instead, an interesting game between the Packers and Bears will appear in the 1:25 p.m. slot on Channel 8, a longtime home of Chargers telecasts.
The previous week’s decision by CBS’ big thinkers to have KFMB air an exhibition-like Bolts-Broncos game instead of a star-laden Bengals-Chiefs game loaded with playoff implications, had led me to write that no Chargers contest would be stinko enough for CBS to bench the Bolts in San Diego, the franchise’s home for 56 years.
But that time has now arrived — with an undeniable assist from Dean and John Spanos.
The Chargers (5-11) are miles out of the playoff race, despite the NFL having provided an extra wild card three years ago and despite the team having Justin Herbert for the first 13-plus games. Three AFC clubs deprived of their QB for longer than Herbert’s hiatus boast winning records. Eleven NFL seasons since Dean promoted son John into the Chargers’ football braintrust, the Spanoses have hired and fired three head coaches, earning neither an AFC West title or a home playoff game in that span. The beaten-down club’s dismal showing last month at Las Vegas, where it fell behind 42-0 in the first half, left smooth broadcaster Al Michaels grasping for descriptions and zapped uber-wealthy NFL media rights partner Amazon Prime.
As for the Chargers’ opponent Sunday, the Chiefs (10-6) have locked up their eighth straight West title under Andy Reid and will hold out Patrick Mahomes and several other stars to prepare for the playoffs.
Chargers diehards notwithstanding, the Packers-Bears game from sold-out Lambeau Field will throw off more electricity than backups from Chargers and Chiefs performing on fake grass in L.A.’s sunken Kroenke Dome.
A victory puts Green Bay (8-8) in the playoffs, a year after a loss to rival Detroit in the finale denied it a berth.
Chicago (7-9) has reason to pull out the stops. Because the Bears hold Carolina’s top pick, winning wouldn’t deprive them of the NFL’s top draft slot.
“I know their fans are going to be loud, because there’s not much to do in Green Bay except watch football,” quipped Bears QB Justin Fields.
San Diegans who watch Chargers games on DirecTV were probably already out of luck due to the satellite provider’s dispute with Tegna, which owns several dozen s across all the major networks.
San Diego’s Chargers diehards who count on seeing their team on KFMB will get a better NFL option on the channel than local non-Chargers diehards had the previous week, as both the Packers and Bears will be playing their best available players — including both starting quarterbacks.
As for the schadenfreude crowd in San Diego that enjoys seeing the Chargers lose, a defeat to the Chiefs would actually help the Chargers’ draft position.
CBS got this one right. Some perfect storms are merciful, and this is one of them.
