Darren Sproles: Player of the Game (Chargers vs. Colts)

The NFL’s Saturday Wild Card games have just concluded with the San Diego Chargers edging out the Indianapolis Colts in overtime. The final score was ran in by Darren Sproles, providing the Chargers with the 23-17 victory. Total in the game, Sproles had 105 yards rushing, 45 yards receiving, and 2 touchdowns. He also added 178 yards off 7 total returns. For this effort, John Madden gave Darren Sproles the player of the game, along with Mike Scifres, the Chargers’ punter who had a few key kicks.

Even more than the player of the game award, Sproles is now in line for one big payout. After the postseason, Darren becomes a free agent and gets the chance to move beyond the shadow of LaDainian Tomlinson. In spare playing time as Tomlinson’s backup, Sproles had 672 total offensive yards on 90 touches. His last game of the season against the Denver Broncos consisted of 132 of these yards. These regular season stats may not seem like much, especially against the porous Broncos’ defense.

Compare these stats, however, to Michael Turner last year, when he was the backup for Tomlinson. Turner had 332 yards on 75 touches. Come the end of the season, Sproles will be looking for a contract similar to Turner’s 6 year, $34.5 million. And with how it worked out for the Atlanta Falcons, Darren will probably be bringing it in.