ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Bill Williamson

The San Diego Chargers' window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl is closing.

	Kyle Terada/US Presswire
	LaDainian Tomlinson and the Chargers are 3-5 after another slow start to the season.

As the Chargers begin their bye week, they have been an absolute disappointment in 2008 and are arguably the biggest disappointment in the league. The Chargers are 3-5 and have shown zero consistency. The Chargers entered the season with one of the best rosters in the league. Yet, at the halfway mark, San Diego is two games under .500 and has shown no signs of being a team ready to make a real run.

At this point, the Chargers look far from being a Super Bowl contender. Still, is San Diego's window of opportunity closing? Let's say for 2008 it is. But this team can still win in the future.
I still believe in the Chargers. I still believe, especially because they play in the awful AFC West, they can make some noise in the playoffs. But that's all it is -- belief. The Chargers haven't shown anything tangible this season to support that.

As November approaches, to say the San Diego Chargers are a legitimate Super Bowl contender this season would be silly. Yes, the Chargers might have slammed the Super Bowl door on their fingers for this season.

And that's stunning. All offseason, this team focused on advancing to the Super Bowl. The Chargers have gone 25-7 in the last two regular seasons and advanced to the AFC Championship Game last season. The Super Bowl seems like a natural next step.

I spoke this summer with San Diego standout linebacker Shawne Merriman. He was one of several San Diego players whom I asked if they were worried if the window was closing and if there was an urgency to win it all now. Merriman said there wasn't an urgency on his part but he did say 2008 was San Diego's "best opportunity" to win a Super Bowl.

I took it to mean 2008 was the year the Chargers were supposed to get over the hump. Of course, one reason San Diego has a losing record is that Merriman has missed all but one game with a knee injury and won't be ready until next season. Merriman will be back and that's one reason it's premature to close the book on this team.

LaDainian Tomlinson is 29 and Antonio Gates may never be a superstar again after his toe surgery in the offseason. But there are some good, young players on this roster and quarterback Philip Rivers is only 26. He is getting better each year. San Diego general manager A.J. Smith is one of the most aggressive front-office people in the league.

Smith is known for signing his better players to long-term deals, and much of San Diego's core is signed for the long term. In the spring, he talked about his mission for the team and that is to make sure the Chargers are competitive every year. It may not be working this year, and why it isn't is a mystery.

Don't expect this team to lie down and go away because it isn't working out in 2008. The Chargers will be a factor again, even though they somehow have managed to bungle what may have been their best opportunity.