In Week 7 of the 2013 season the San Diego Chargers prepared to face-off against the Jacksonville Jaguars.





I woke up on that Sunday morning refreshed and supercharged for the 10am PT east coast start in Florida.





Actually that's untrue. I barely slept as I pulled guard duty on the youngest child who had a severe case of the barfs. Can anyone ever be truly fresh after the scent of vomit has permeated the atmosphere of a home? Obviously a rhetorical question.





Once Josh Scobee boomed the opening kickoff into the end zone I began the process of rejuvenation.





This intestinal renaissance was aided by the able arm of Philip Rivers. Philip came out firing, completing his first 6 passes to an array of receivers: Antonio Gates (3), Vincent Brown, John Phillips, and Ladarius Green.





Runs by Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead helped contribute to a 7:30 minute drive which ended with a touchdown run by the aforementioned Woodhead.





The first quarter was not without disappointment however. The Chargers saw King Dunlap leave the game after suffering another concussion and his back-up, Mike Remmers left with an ankle issue.

The Chargers got the ball back and continued another sustained drive utilizing runs by Mathews and Woodhead and passes to Keenan Allen and Eddie Royal (twice), who scored on a 27 yard pass from Philip Rivers. 14-0.





The Chargers defense gave up a Scobee field goal on the next Jaguars possession but hey, no touchdown. No touchdown again. Again!





When the Chargers got the ball back they would hold it for the final 4:50 of the half. Philip continued a succession of completed passes and then hit Keenan Allen for a 36 yard gain.





It looked like Allen was down by contact and that the play would likely be overturned . . .





But McCoy and Rivers cleverly got the boys to the line of scrimmage and called the next play before a review could take place.





The Chargers struggled inside the Jaguars 10 yard line and it looked like they might have to settle for a field goal.





But Mike McCoy showed some stones and decided the time had come to steal this road game from right beneath the Jags.





With 0:07 left in the half and no timeouts Philip Rivers scrambled (athletically) for the end zone only to be stopped at the 1 yard line.





Gahhhhhhhhh!!!! No score!





Oh well. The Chargers took a 14-3 lead into the locker room on the road, and that isn't too bad.

The third quarter was a mostly uneventful affair with the Chargers and Jaguars exchanging FGs to bring the score to 17-6. When the Chargers scored their FG at the 6:52 mark of the third quarter it was not without excitement. Prior to Nick Novak's field goal Antonio Gates had fumbled the ball on the 2 yard line.

Inexplicably, Gates was ruled down, and the Chargers (after dodging a big bullet) held on to the ball.





But then Mike McCoy wrongly threw the red challenge flag, incurring the wrath of Philip Rivers, who tried to cover up the red flag with his feet before giving it a couple of kicks so the refs wouldn't see the rookie coach's miscue.





Philip's actions couldn't hide the play though and the Chargers were charged a timeout for the indiscretion.

Outside of this bit of action, the third quarter was the perfect opportunity to take care of the ample laundry created by a vomiting child.

[Parenting Pro-Tip: Bring hand sanitizer to the new branch of the downtown public library. Also tie your child's hands behind his or her back. While a completely cool piece of inner-city infrastructure, the new library is rife with microscopic nastiness].





The fourth quarter began with the Chargers completing a drive that saw Eddie Royal fumble a 29 yard reception into the end zone.

Luckily he was ruled down by contact and on the next play Philip Rivers handed the ball to Ryan Mathews . . .





. . . who scored his first touchdown in like 8 years or something crazy like that.





Holding a 24-6 lead the Chargers kept the Jaguars scoreless for the remainder of the game and now enter the bye week with a promising 4-3 record.





After seeing the way the Chargers blew their first game of the year against Houston I was skeptical that they could even win 6 games - yet here they are above .500 heading into the bye week despite the obstacle of constant injuries. It's refreshing.





See ya next week and enjoy your well deserved bye.





H/T to the clever guys over at Hogs Haven for the bit of inspiration.

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@AvengingJM contributes regularly during the season and relies heavily on humor as a coping mechanism. Bront Bird completes him.