A few thoughts on the Charger game yesterday:
- Norv Turner should not be faulted for sticking with Philip Rivers instead of Billy Volek. Volek captained one scoring drive last week and suddenly he’s ready to take on the Patriots? Sorry. Ain’t buying it. Rivers was game and outside of a couple of horrible passes, he played very well. By the logic employed by some Charger fans we’ve heard, Brady should’ve been yanked as well in favor of Matt Cassell because Tom Terrific threw 3 picks!
- Would LT have made a difference? There is no way we’ll ever know but one has to think that instead of all those field goals, LT would have been able to find his way into the end zone at least once, no? And Charger fans, again, being who they are have questioned LT’s courage for not “gutting it out” with his bum knee. Honest to g#d, these people are pathetic. There has been nothing this man has ever done on or off the field as a Charger that would suggest that he would not give up years off his life to be out on that field yesterday.
- Ironically enough, it was the Charger’s run defense that really let them down. Too many missed tackles in the 2nd half, allowing Maroney to rush for 122 yards was really the story of the game.
- The defensive game plan template was set last week against the Colts. As predicted, Def. Coordinator Ted Cottrell was going to sit back in the cover-2 zone, make the Pats work their way downfield and pray for turnovers. He got some timely turnovers but unfortunately Brady was able to take advantage of the soft-spot in this particular scheme which is out in the flats. The Charger linebackers were unable to get outside quickly enough to cover the Pat wideouts on the quick-hitters and screens which were defacto running plays. And when they did, they overran the play which allowed for clear sailing upfield for first downs.
- We almost went with it in our keys to the game yesterday but declined because it seemed too, well… it seemed too “gimmicky” but in a conversation with B-Daddy after the game, he said that if there was ever a game situation for which to run a gadget play, this would’ve been it. Concur. And outside of any trick plays even, the lack of creativeness in the Chargers offensive scheming is very disappointing.
- In the end, the Chargers have nothing to be ashamed of. They played tough under daunting circumstances and outside of the physical mistakes (missed tackles), they played with tremendous poise, not letting the emotion of the game draw them into mental mistakes – a marked contrast from last year’s playoff loss to the Patriots. Could it be that these Chargers are at long last growing up?
If anyone questions why the NFL is the most popular sport in America it is because of this: Its 1000 PST on the day after and we’re nearly done licking our wounds and are ready to sit down with the roster, assess the teams needs and start getting prepared for the Senior Bowl at the end of the month, the Combine at the end of February and of course, the Draft in June.
- Norv Turner should not be faulted for sticking with Philip Rivers instead of Billy Volek. Volek captained one scoring drive last week and suddenly he’s ready to take on the Patriots? Sorry. Ain’t buying it. Rivers was game and outside of a couple of horrible passes, he played very well. By the logic employed by some Charger fans we’ve heard, Brady should’ve been yanked as well in favor of Matt Cassell because Tom Terrific threw 3 picks!
- Would LT have made a difference? There is no way we’ll ever know but one has to think that instead of all those field goals, LT would have been able to find his way into the end zone at least once, no? And Charger fans, again, being who they are have questioned LT’s courage for not “gutting it out” with his bum knee. Honest to g#d, these people are pathetic. There has been nothing this man has ever done on or off the field as a Charger that would suggest that he would not give up years off his life to be out on that field yesterday.
- Ironically enough, it was the Charger’s run defense that really let them down. Too many missed tackles in the 2nd half, allowing Maroney to rush for 122 yards was really the story of the game.
- The defensive game plan template was set last week against the Colts. As predicted, Def. Coordinator Ted Cottrell was going to sit back in the cover-2 zone, make the Pats work their way downfield and pray for turnovers. He got some timely turnovers but unfortunately Brady was able to take advantage of the soft-spot in this particular scheme which is out in the flats. The Charger linebackers were unable to get outside quickly enough to cover the Pat wideouts on the quick-hitters and screens which were defacto running plays. And when they did, they overran the play which allowed for clear sailing upfield for first downs.
- We almost went with it in our keys to the game yesterday but declined because it seemed too, well… it seemed too “gimmicky” but in a conversation with B-Daddy after the game, he said that if there was ever a game situation for which to run a gadget play, this would’ve been it. Concur. And outside of any trick plays even, the lack of creativeness in the Chargers offensive scheming is very disappointing.
- In the end, the Chargers have nothing to be ashamed of. They played tough under daunting circumstances and outside of the physical mistakes (missed tackles), they played with tremendous poise, not letting the emotion of the game draw them into mental mistakes – a marked contrast from last year’s playoff loss to the Patriots. Could it be that these Chargers are at long last growing up?
If anyone questions why the NFL is the most popular sport in America it is because of this: Its 1000 PST on the day after and we’re nearly done licking our wounds and are ready to sit down with the roster, assess the teams needs and start getting prepared for the Senior Bowl at the end of the month, the Combine at the end of February and of course, the Draft in June.
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2 comments:
The REAL question is, If LT had put up a fight, would it help the Aztecs chances at BYU on Wednesday?
- Mongo
I was disappointed in the run defense at the end, but I think they played a great game. Having Philip Rivers practically in a walker was a pretty tough thing to overcome.
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