LT All Washed Up?

I don't think so. And neither does Kevin Acee, the uber-tan beat Chargers beat reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

But Michael Silver (the former Cal alum and current columnist for the Yahoo! sports) posed the question of whether or not the years of wear and tear has caught up with LaDainian Tomlinson.

Acee seemed to take offense to the question, spitting off stats that show how awesome LT still is.

Let's just say that I agree with both, on some level. First, on Silver's (I guess) overarching point, LT is getting old. And at 29 years of age, Tomlinson is getting to the point when you trade in that old car for a newer hybrid. He's been getting nicked up, he's sat out games and whenever I watch the Chargers, I'm always afraid that the amazing LT run I just saw might be his last.

But, as Acee noted, Tomlinson is still amazing. Adrian Peterson may be ready to take the mantle of "NFL's current best running back" but I still give that trophy to Tomlinson. There's no other back in the League that I'd like to have when the game is on the line.

He is the NFL's most prolific touchdown scorer and he still has that ability to hit paydirt anytime he touches the ball.

But, I think Silver's main point, was that San Diego doesn't need LT to be Superman to win anymore. There was a time when the Chargers needed a healthy Tomlinson to win. They needed him to touch the ball 35-40 times just to stay competitive.

Not anymore. After last year's AFC title game loss, this is now Philip Rivers' team. The way Rivers plays is how the Chargers will fare the rest of the year.

It's not to say that the Chargers don't need LT altogether. Yeah, Darren Sproles can serve as a pretty legit backup. But at the end, the team will both need Rivers and Tomlinson to play well in order to get to the Super Bowl.

San Diego stay with then-undefeated New England in the bitter cold of the AFC title game with LT on the bench. Tomlinson isn't a necessity to stay competitive anymore.

Just think of what would have happened if a healthy Tomlinson was in the game.

The Chargers don't need LT to stay in games. But they need him to win, because he's still as amazing as he was a few years ago.