A.J. Smith Defends Himself
Found a great article written by Jim Alexander for the Press-Enterprise detailing A.J. Smith’s feelings about the Chargers 1-2 start. Smith dealt with some extremely harsh criticism during an offseason in which he fired 14-2 head coach Marty Schottenheimer for losing to the New England Patriots in the first round of the playoffs. Marty was very well-liked and respected by his players and he got the most of out of them. Problematically, Marty and Smith never got along. When Smith fired Marty and hired Turner, people shook their heads and predicted basically exactly what has come to pass - a team that is ill-coached, ill-prepared, and underperforming.
In public, Smith claims that he feels he made the right decision, and that the Chargers are still well on their way to achieving their ultimate goal, which is to win the Super Bowl. However, Smith must privately know that almost anything less than a Lombardi Trophy at this point would spell the end of his career as the General Manager of the San Diego Chargers. It was Smith’s decision, and his alone, to fire Marty and replace him with Turner. Now the team looks like crap through three games. I’m sorry, but they just do. They look more like the Hawks than the Colts. And most importantly, they look like they are poorly coached. And that fact may be what finally ends A.J. Smith’s tenure in San Diego, fair or unfair as anyone may think that is.
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Fixing the Chargers
ESPN.com’s Gary Horton, of Scouts Inc, has written a detailed article answering the question, “What’s wrong with the San Diego Chargers?“ His diagnosis? Poor blocking up front. It’s no secret that the Chargers’ run game is off to an amazingly terrible start, especially considering when reigning league MVP and human touchdown machine LaDainian Tomlinson is the man to whom they hand the rock. However, Horton argues that the fault is not Tomlinson, but rather rests on the offensive line. The Chargers are simply not winning the battle in the trenches, and they are getting knocked around. You can’t win football games if you don’t play tough.
I’m going to just go ahead out on a limb here and say that this is all directly Norv Turner’s fault. This was a mean and nasty football team last year. Norv Turner simply does not do mean and nasty. It’s not his style. The problem here is that Turner may fit really well with A.J. Smith, the Chargers GM, but he doesn’t fit well with the players. Their last coach, Marty Schottenheimer, fit well with the players but not with Smith. Smith with most likely pay dearly for this costly mistake at the end of what is shaping up to be a colossal train wreck of a year for the Chargers, most likely with his job.
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Is Norv Too Nice
It’s a question that was posed in the off-season, and many San Diego fans laughed it off. Now, with the team staring at a 1-2 record after giving up 31 points to Green Bay, Charger fans may be more inclined to agree with ESPN.com contributor Mark Kreidler, who writes that perhaps Norv Turner lacks the emotional intensity to succeed as a head coach in the NFL. After watching the first three Chargers games, it would be nearly impossible to argue that the Chargers are not missing something thing. They lack a certain spark and intensity that a truly great team thrives on, need to win and to live.
The main knock on Marty Schottenheimer was that he was too fiery, too intense, too emotional. His practices were known for being knock-down drag-out affairs. Turner, while known as a very nice man and an amazing offensive coordinator, is simply not known as a motivator. The Marty Method won 14 games in the regular season but flamed out in the postseason (to a team you might have heard of, the New England Patriots). If the Norv the Nice Guy Method doesn’t start turning things around soon, the Chargers might not even make the playoffs. And then what are the Chargers supposed to do?
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LT and Rivers Still BFFs
According to a report out of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Phillip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson have buried the hatchet from their week 3 sideline argument. Both men downplayed the severity of their dispute, using many common phrases players use to describe these types of situations. According to the two players, it was just a miscommunication that was blown way out of proportion. Everyone who has ever heard a post-game player press conference after one of these sideline disputes has occurs knows the drill. During a game, things get heated, especially if you’re not winning. And lately, the Chargers have not been winning, in case you were unaware.
My favorite part about this is the emergence of my new favorite euphemism for an argument - competitive conversation. Big ups to LT for coming up with that one and giving it to the rest of us. Now when you have a debate about sports with your buddy and ends with both of you calling each other butt faces, you can claim later that it was simply a competitive conversation. When your wife says it’s time to mow the lawn and you say it’s time to watch college football, you’re not going to fight about it. It’s just a competitive conversation. The Chargers should focus less on winning sideline debates and more on winning football games. Just my two cents.
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Chargers Fall to 1-2
The San Diego Chargers lost their game at Green Bay on Sunday. Though the sky in San Diego is not falling, you wouldn’t know it to listen to the Chargers fans today. The Chargers look awful. There is really no other way to say it. After being crushed by the New England Patriots, the Chargers are now on a two game losing streak. LT has yet to have a breakout game, the defense seems to have issues, and overall the Chargers just don’t look remotely as dominant as they were last year. For Chargers fans, this is not just cause for alarm or concern, but for all out panic.
After seeing the game on Sunday, I honestly can’t blame Chargers fans for being upset. This team, for all intents and purposes, just looks like they are poorly coached. They lack fire and intensity, and they are just getting outplayed on every down. This is certainly not the same team from last year, which is troubling because in terms of personnel on the field, this is almost exactly the same team from last year. The Chargers need to do a lot to right the ship, and quickly, or some heads may roll even before the season ends.
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LT Optimistic
According to an article from the San Diego Union-Tribune, LaDainian Tomlinson has yet to push the panic button over his team’s 1-1 start, despite having only 68 yards rushing over two games. Chargers fans, as has been documented in this blog, are already in full blown “bring back Marty” mode after two games. What Chargers fans have failed to realize is that their team has quite a few extremely winnable games coming up. The Chargers are poised to rattle off tons of wins in the middle of the season. Yes, they looked like they’ve perhaps lacked some intensity early, but some of that is by design. The rest is simply acclimation to a new coaching staff.
What Chargers fans have to realize is that another 14-2 season is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is the Super Bowl. While getting beaten by the Patriots at home is a definite blow the the Chargers’ home field advantage hopes, it does not spell the end of the world for the Chargers. 14-2 meant exactly squat for the Chargers last year, except that they got a much later first round pick than they could have by limping into the playoffs and losing in the first round. This team is being primed to play its best football late in the season, not early. LT isn’t concerned. You shouldn’t be either.
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San Diego Freaking Out
Page 2’s Mary Buckhelt is running a great story on the fact that San Diego is flipping out over the embarrassing loss the Chargers suffered to the Patriots in week 2. You would seriously think that the Chargers just went 14-2 and then lost in the first round of the playoffs- sorry Too soon?
Hilariously, people in San Diego are already calling for Norv Turner’s head. Yes, the Chargers are 1-1 in their first two games. Yes, it seems as though the Chargers offense has gone missing. Yes, LT hasn’t started breaking off huge numbers yet. But here’s the deal, Chargers fans - The worst of it is over. You came out of a hellish first two games 1-1, and you defended your home turf against the NFC Champs. The fact is, you’re not backing a bad team. You’re just going to need to actually work for your wins.
The Chargers should rattle off at least nine wins in their next 10 games. The Chargers offense should start clicking in a new system soon. And the Chargers should be playing their best ball come playoff time. If those things aren’t true at the end of the season, then yes, you can start freaking out and calling for people to be fired. However, after game 2 is no time to start freaking out. The weather is too nice to be unhappy. Leave the freaking out for fans who live in crappy places where it’s about to get cold.
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Chargers Regrouping After Tough Loss
The San Diego Union-Tribune is running an article detailing the fallout out from the Chargers’ embarrassing loss to the New England Patriots last weekend. The Chargers have not looked like a Super Bowl team in their first two games, turning the ball over frequently and failing to score early, thus putting themselves behind the eight ball early in games. Though the Chargers were able to scrape by the Chicago Bears (who have plenty of offensive problems of their own), they didn’t look like they belonged in the same sentence as the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
Everyone seems scared to say it, so I’ll say it. The Chargers look like crap. They lack a certain spark on both sides of the ball and have yet to match the intensity they played with last year. While you can say what you want and make excuses, the fact is, this team is basically fully intact from last year to this season, and there is no excuse for the way the Chargers have played so far, especially on offense. The Chargers need to find their intensity - and fast - because they are extremely lucky to be out of their first two games 1-1. If they don’t beat Green Bay this weekend, it may be time to push the panic button in San Diego.
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Chargers Fall in Power Rankings
ESPN.com has released its weekly power rankings, and the San Diego Chargers have fallen a spot to number four. After an unconvincing win in week one and an extremely embarrassing loss to New England on the road in week 2, people are starting to ask questions of the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers defense was absolutely schooled by the Patriots in a game that wasn’t remotely close from the opening kick off to the end of the fourth quarter. The Chargers looked like they simply did not even belong on the same field as the three-time Super Bowl champs.
It’s not yet time to panic in San Diego, however. The Chargers will now get into the “not insanely difficult” portion of their schedule, where they should start rattling off dominant performances and some serious wins at a breakneck pace. Now, if the Chargers fail to defeat the Green Bay Packers this upcoming weekend, then you can start expecting the calls for Norv Turner’s head to come from the peanut gallery. They will be especially loud if LT doesn’t have a breakout game, because the people of San Diego will put up with a lot, but they will not put up with a new coach who can’t figure out how to use the most deadly and versatile offensive weapon in the NFL to his advantage.
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Chargers Fall Hard to Patriots
The San Diego Chargers sustained a tough loss on the road in week 2 against the New England Patriots. The Chargers seemed outclassed at every level. New England’s defense shut down the San Diego offense. The Patriots’ offense had its way with the Chargers’ highly-touted defense. Most importantly, the Patriots capitalized on nearly every mistake the Chargers made, while the Chargers failed to cash in on the opportunities presented to them by the Pats. As for those Pats, they made a huge statement by demolishing a team that was supposed to be one of the best in the AFC. On Sunday, the Chargers didn’t look like they even belonged on the same field as the Pats.
This should not be huge cause for panic or even concern among Chargers fans. Coming out your first two games 1-1 is basically the best you could have hoped for. Your team is built for the long haul, and will be a much better squad come playoff time. The Chargers have a ton of garbage games in the middle of the season that they should win and win convincingly, so you have that to look forward to. The game you have coming up with Indy in a few weeks should be a clearer indication of how far you have to go. If after that game in a few weeks, you still look like you don’t belong in the same category as the AFC’s elite, then perhaps panic can begin to set in. Until then, just relax and enjoy the fun. At least you get KC at home in two weeks. That’ll be a blast.
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