Do you know what blinders are?

No, not blinds. And not binders, like the things you put papers into when you're still in school. Blinders like horses wear.

Riders put these blinders on horses, specifically racing horses, to keep them focused. You see, horses are both bigger and dumber than (most) humans. 

Although today, I am going to subjugate myself to blinders. I will be ignoring the season-altering season-ending injury to Joe Alt. I will also be ignoring just how close the Los Angeles Chargers came to losing on Sunday to a terrible Tennessee Titans.

Instead, I will be focusing on the one play in the game where the Chargers did something well, and probably saved the game from getting away from them in the process.

After falling behind 14-7 in the first quarter, the Chargers' collective back was against the wall. It was time to get stops and score to tie things up, which they did! They scored twice, allowing another Titans field goal in the process, and knotted things up at 17-17 with a few minutes left in the first half. 

The Chargers were even able to run a successful Two Minute Drill at the end of the half to take a 20-17 lead before heading into the locker room, ready to receive the second half kickoff and take over the game.

After forcing a three-and-out to start the third quarter, the Titans got the ball back and proceeded to drive 71 yards all the way down to the Chargers' 1-yard line. A field goal would tie the game, a touchdown takes the lead, and Mike McCoy decided that he was going for the win.

After a Tony Pollard run on 3rd & Goal from the 1-yard line was stopped for no gain, the Titans called it again and the Chargers were ready for it.

This is what's called a "Jumbo set". You can see all 11 Titans offensive players (and 10 of the Chargers' 11 players) in this screenshot and they're all saying the same thing: We're gonna run.

Now, you can run a pretty fun and effective play-action out of a Jumbo set, especially this close to the goal line, but I think Mike McCoy is smart enough to not trust rookie QB Cam Ward to pull that off flawlessly on 4th down.

As the ball is snapped, Titans TE David Martin-Robinson goes in motion and you see the 11th Chargers player (Elijah Molden) drop into the box. He'll be important in a minute.

22 guys within a yard or two of the ball is already some old-school football, but here is where I notice that backup Center Corey Levin appears to be in at the fullback position. I doubt he has hands or speed to get to the outside, so that's a pretty good sign that this is going to be another Tony Pollard run up the middle.

Okay, this is already a bit of a mess. Levin is doing his best to block two Titans defenders. David Martin-Robinson can't find anyone to block and Peter Skoronski looks to be falling over at the line of scrimmage. (The other Titans offensive lineman that is laying under Scott Matlock is there because he threw a cut block, which I'm pretty sure is still illegal in the NFL.)

First things first, an important rule about the Jumbo set is "a hat on every man". That is simply not happening here. I count three unblocked Chargers defenders, no disengaged blockers for Pollard to follow, and Matlock ready to grab someone's ankle from the ground.

Pollard is a pro's pro and finds the tiny window between Matlock (on the ground) and Justin Eboigbe (the 2nd guy being kinda-blocked by Levin). There might be just enough daylight there for him to get the ball past the line and into the end zone.

That's a good push. That should bowl over anyone of similar size to Tony Pollard. It also gets him past Eboigbe and Matlock easily.

And, just like that, a brick wall forms along the goal line and wraps its arms around Pollard while pushing him backwards. I think I need another view of this to fully understand, at the very least, who pulled this off (if not how).

Now we're above the defense and back to the snap. Naquan Jones has immediately beaten his blocker, sending the guy face-first into the turf and setting his sites on the fullback (Levin).

This is worse than it looked like on the other angle. There are three DBs and Denzel Perryman roaming free in the end zone and ready to meet Pollard in the lane. Even if Levin can hold off Jones, rookie Jamaree Caldwell looks like he's going to come free right behind him.

Okay, that's a lot of traffic in front of Pollard but it's mostly on the ground. This is where a jump/dive into the end zone would seem to be the best option.

In the NFL, every big play is made in milliseconds. This is one of those. A moment ago, Pollard's back foot was on the 5 yard line and Elijah Molden was 2 yards into the end zone. Pollard has since moved 2 yards forward and Molden has moved at least 3 yards towards him. Please consult your textbooks for an Physics lesson on momentum.

And here is Molden eating Tony Pollard alive, as much as he can. Lucky for Molden, Perryman is right behind him and the strength of two men is usually more than one.

Perryman launches himself into the Molden-Pollard sandwich and hope for the Titans scoring on this drive drops down to almost nothing. A second effort from Pollard can't come fast enough before a few other Chargers defenders pile on.

At the end of the third quarter, the score was still 20-17. Over the next 9 minutes of game time, the Los Angeles Chargers offense drove 99 yards and finished with Justin Herbert sliding into the end zone for a touchdown to take a 27-17 lead in the fourth quarter.