My suicide watch extends another week. The Chargers are delivering on the predictions made on them in the preseason, taking down the defending Super Bowl champs on their way to a showdown with New England.

I can't recall a single talking head in the national media giving the Chargers a chance to win this game. And how even more miraculous the win seems to be with their top three offensive stars (Tomlinson, Gates, Rivers) on the sidelines for a good chunk of the game and the entire fourth quarter. At the end of the game the four guys running the CBS post-game show (James Brown, Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason) appeared as if they were presiding over a funeral. Either that or they just lost some serious money on the game.

Some things that I lived from the game:

• Philip Rivers is growing up as a player. Maybe not so much as a person as the jawing with the fans indicated, but it's now two weeks in a row that the opposing team has shut down the run, forcing Rivers to make plays and he has delivered.
• The Jackson and Chambers on the wideouts. Again.
• Winning with the scrubs. The game winning drive was won by these three last names -- Volek, Sproles, Nanee. Heard of them?

Two things I didn't like:

• We got beat up. LT went out early in the game with a bruised knee. Rivers injured his other knee (his left one being beat up already) and sat out the entire fourth quarter. Hopefully through the miracles of the best available health care on earth (and chemicals) they will be back on the field next week at full strength.
• Officiating. It always seems to happen against your team but, c'mon. A defensive holding play on a critical play when the defensive back barely touched the receiver, and another holding play when it probably should have been called on the other player -- also happening on a critical play, where Cromartie intercepts the Manning pass near the goal line at the end of the first half and returns it for a touchdown.

They've taken down the defending NFL champs, now they just need to take down NFL history to make it back to the big game.

Labels: chargers

Now here's something you like to see -- your favorite football team lining up in the victory formation (preferably with the lead) inside of the two minute mark.

After 13 years of frustration the Chargers have finally pulled off a playoff victory, allowing me to postpone the kvetching on their playoff sucktitude for at least a week.

Philip Rivers stepped up in this game with Tennessee stuffing the run game. He did some things that good quarterbacks do, finally -

• Footwork with the rush on. One one occasion he steps through the rush and fires downfield. Classic standing tall in the pocket quarterbacking. On other occasions he side-stepped away from the rush to buy a little more time before getting rid of the ball.
• Hard pass fakes before launching the ball in the other direction.
• Mixing his cadence and/or putting a hard count in at the snap. This drew their big nose tackle Albert Haystack offsides a couple times.

Those are classic trademarks of a quality QB. His decision making is still suspect but I think he's all of 25 years old or something like that. Hopefully it will come in time.

His mechanics still bug the ever-loving stuffing out of me, but it's 20 years too late to fix that.

Another thing he can work on is his play fake to the RB. Don't even waste your time on that unless you're going to really do it right. A good play fake freezes defensive backs and opens up some deep routes for your receivers.

One last thing that impressed me -- the combination of Chris Chambers and Vincent Jackson at the wideout positions. Both had over a hundred yards today, and I can't really remember the last time a couple WR's did that on a San Diego team. Chambers has been a godsend since they acquired him mid-season from Miami. The WR core looked like the keystone cops until he arrived. Not only has his play been solid since he arrived, but he's elevated the play of Jackson. This may be just-in-time as Antonio Gates look like he got hurt in the middle of game.

Nearing the end of the game I received phone calls from a former co-worker, my mom, my father-in-law, and a text message from my half-brother. It is true, I need to be talked down from the ledge this time of year.

Labels: chargers

  

On the left, Ryan Leaf, disgraced Chargers quarterback and the biggest draft bust of all time. On the right, Denise from the current season (I think it's #8?) of Survivor.

Labels: chargers, sab

Let's scan the post titles from the last half hour on the San Diego Chargers newsgroup, alt.sports.football.pro.sd-chargers:

Looking ahead to next season...
Rivers sucks
GMs with big egos
How Norv must have gotten this job
We are done
My biggest concern
24 unanswered points
Choke choke choke
Word of the Day: Sucks
more great coaching
Fire them now!
Well, this sucks.

One quarter of the season in the books, and this team has already lost more games than it did all of last season. Looks like the Norv Turner hiring was a great move.

Marty had to go, but you didn't have to scrape up the first head coach you could think of, Mr. Smith.

Labels: chargers

My life will continue to lack meaning.

The highest scoring offense in the NFL this year. A high ranked defense. The league's best player, MVP, multiple season record breaker, most rushing yards and touchdowns. The best record in the NFL, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

It's not enough. They went for it on fourth and eleven when in field goal range in the first quarter. They muffed a punt when they could have fallen on it. They committed a personal foul giving the other team 1st and 10 in near the red zone instead of 3rd and almost 20. They intercepted the ball and fumbled it back to the other team on fourth down. And to add to that gaffe, they disputed the call when there was nothing to dispute, costing them a timeout that they could have desperately used at the end of the game.

This was the best (regular season) Chargers team I have ever known, and I grew up during the Air Coryell era. The fact that they couldn't win on their own home turf with all the weapons available to them is shameful and a disgrace. We put the better team on the field but were determined to give the game to the other team. That, I am afraid, is the only thing the Chargers succeeded in yesterday.

Marty must go.

Labels: chargers