It's been nearly a month since the Los Angeles Chargers' disheartening 16-3 defeat to the New England Patriots in the Wild Card Round, and Keenan Allen still hasn't gotten over it. The fact that the Pats are vying for the Lombardi Trophy in Sunday's Super Bowl 60 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks likely doesn't help, but that's beside the point.
Every loss hurts, of course, especially in the playoffs. And according to Kris Rhim, who covers the Bolts for ESPN's NFL Nation team, Allen "still has nightmares" about what went down in Foxborough back on January 11.
But it's not just the defeat itself that's keeping the six-time Pro Bowler awake at night, as there's also one specific play that continues to bother him.
Keenan Allen is still upset about a fourth-down pass he didn't catch in the first quarter of the Chargers' wild-card loss to the Patriots
After the two teams traded punts to open the game, the Chargers' defense made the first impactful play of the contest when Daiyan Henley intercepted Mac Jones off a Teair Tart tip on the second play of the Pats' second offensive drive, putting Los Angeles in a 1st-and-goal situation at New England's 10-yard line.
After three consecutive runs from Justin Herbert that collectively resulted in eight yards, Jim Harbaugh opted to go for it on fourth down from the 2-yard line.
Herbert took the fourth-down snap from the shotgun and was immediately forced to roll to his right, as three New England defenders were bearing down on him, which shouldn't shock anyone given the Chargers' offensive line issues.
As Herbert was rolling, Allen was attempting to break free from Patriots Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez, ultimately making his way toward the pylon on the goal line. Herbert fired the ball in his direction but threw it a touch too high, obviously resulting in an incompletion and a turnover on downs.
According to Rhim, Allen believes "he felt he could have leaped or jumped to get that pass," and that the play still "haunts" him.
Now, if you go back and look at the play, even if Allen jumped, it would have been extremely difficult for him to catch the ball, given the angle and velocity of the pass. It's possible, of course, but the likelihood would still be quite low.
Nevertheless, the fact that Allen is still upset just goes to show how competitive he still is after all these years. And he's apparently not done being competitive, as Rhim also stated in his report that Allen told him that he hoped that wasn't his last game in a Chargers uniform. The 33-year-old is one of nearly 30 Los Angeles players set to enter some sort of free agency, but he's clearly ready to run it back with the Bolts for at least one more season.