The Chargers are close to being finished and the once dominant team is now only fading memory. (US Presswire)

The Chargers (4-5) 34-24 loss to the Buccaneers (5-4) on Sunday puts San Diego on the verge of being irrelevant. The Bolts were once a dominant force that teams feared. Those days are now just sweet memories of the not so distant past.

Worse yet, apathy is replacing outrage. Fans are growing tired of calling for the dismissal of general manager A.J. Smith and coach Norv Turner because they believe those cries fall on deaf ears. Meanwhile, post mortem press conferences are shorter by the week as reporters grow frustrated their questions are answered only with spin.

Offense: C

QB Philip Rivers put up gaudy numbers, but poor decisions wiped clean a strong performance. Rivers completed 29 of 37 passes for 337 yards and three TDs. Rivers, however, also threw two interceptions including a pick that was returned 83 yards for a TD to give the Bucs’ a 10 point lead early in the fourth quarter. If Rivers had simply thrown the ball away, K Nick Novak would have been given a chance to kick a 41-yard field goal to tie the game. Rivers followed up this poor play with another interception; this time on an underthrown pass that secured the win for Tampa Bay. These types of mental mistakes have now become common place for Rivers. With 12 interceptions on the season, Rivers is now on pace to throw 21 picks; one more than his career high of 20 that he threw last season. Previous game’s grade: B+

Defense: C

The defense did enough to win, but they could have done more. Take away a blocked punt for a touchdown and a pick of Rivers for another TD, the Chargers may have won 24-20. You can’t take away those plays, however, and when they happen the defense needs to do more on their part to win. The defense failed to record one turnover. Bucs’ QB Josh Freeman was only sacked once for a five yard loss and hit just one other time. This lack of production is completely unacceptable for a defense that was designed to get pressure on the QB. Previous game’s grade: A-

Special Teams: D

The Chargers controlled the ball for 20:12 in the first half, but only took a 21-17 lead into the break because Mike Scifres had a punt block and returned for a touchdown. Scifres was not at fault for the block; LB Dekoda Watson was unimpeded and got a clean shot at the ball. Scifres injured his ankle on the play and limped off the field after being down for several minutes. The special teams avoid an F because Scifres gutted it out and returned to the game and K Nick Novak made the only field goal (34 yards) he attempted. Previous game’s grade: B+

Coaching: D

In the Chargers five losses this season, San Diego outscored their opponents 65-58 in the 1st half and then were outscored 76-16 in the 2nd half. This demonstrates a consistent inability to finish games which falls on the coaching staff in their inability to prepare players and implement the proper halftime adjustments. It would be easy to once again give Turner an F for this loss. However, Turner deserves credit for his decision to start newly signed WR Danario Alexander over the struggling WR Robert Meachem. Alexander had five receptions for 134 yards including an 80-yard catch and run TD for the Chargers first score. Previous game’s grade: C

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