Is Sunday a “must win?” Absofuckinglutely. I thought that the last game was, so this one is even more so. I have learned from the last 3 seasons not to predict what will happen in the last two months of the regular season. Sadly, I have also been given a greater schooling in not to predict what will happen in January. Before the game in St. Louis, there was a lot of speculation that the Bolts were better than their 2-3 record. We, The Legion of The Lightning Bolt, questioned that characterization. Now, there is a lot being written that the Chargers are exactly what their record indicates. The U-T article with Tim Sullivan and Nick Canepa was very interesting. It essentially represented the same conflict that I have been dealing with for the last 3 seasons. Is this team underacheiving or just not that good? It’s probably a combination of the two, I know. Read the rest of this entry »
I was reading my posts when the Chargers were 4-8 in 2008 this morning after losing at home to Atlanta while Denver beat the Jets in NJ.
I saw this forum post I reprinted back then:
Ijustwantawin
November 24, 2008 at 4:09 a.m.
Dear Chargers,
I read these message boards all the time. I read the Kevin Acee mailbag religiously and every Tim Sullivan column that pops up I read as well. I am a pretty laid back young man and have been a Charger fan since I was 10 years old. I currently reside in Boise, Idaho and I still haven’t missed a game in a good 6 years plus I’m to broke to afford DirecTv. That means every game that I go to watch involves me buying overpriced pitchers just so I can sit there and watch you guys blow it.
I respect the horrible calls, because believe me when those calls happen I get even more upset than you do. I yell and scream at the TV trying to correct the poor officiating even though my yelling is wasted. I guess that’s because I have so much faith in you guys. I don’t mean faith as in preseason hype, or even Ron Rivera mid season hype, I mean faith in a collective of men who can pull together and do better than this. To me it seems silly to put so much faith in a group of men who will just let me down, but I do it. I don’t know why, but for some reason to me the San Diego Chargers have always been that consistent in my life. I went through the losing, the losing and the losing… and now, at least over the last few years the winning, which is nice, but now it has finally faded away, this years games have become a consistent a reminder of what use to be and that is beyond disappointing.
I’ve finally reached the horrible peak of football fandom, I’m stuck being a fan of a team that is soft. I don’t want point fingers. It’s silly, so and so didn’t make this tackle, Phillip Rivers fumbled, blah, blah, blah. All I know is that when John Madden, the oldest, fattest man in sports commentating history, calls out your team for seeming “lethargic” then you have a real, live, problem. Personally I’m surprised that “Old Man River Madden” can still throw around words like “lethargic,” but maybe he just saved it for my Chargers, and maybe he was right. I guess he had to sit through this game too.
“Hey fire Norv! Fire Norv!” “Get AJ out of there!” Really? I don’t necessarily disagree with that, you can call out coaching all you want and I do as well. At the same time, LT had some holes tonight and some tackles that he needed to break. If he is going to whine and complain all week that the lack of running game is the thing on the offensive side of the ball that is causing the Chargers to lose than you better prove yourself right. That means that you break those ankle tackles and finish runs. You told us that toe was good now…prove it. As much as I hate to admit it, Philip Rivers has played very well this year with no running game. His pick total is low and could be a lot lower if any other defense respected our running game. LT, you are going to the hall of fame, and that is amazing, and if you ever win a Super Bowl that will be amazing as well. But I’m tired of making excuses for you and your new found need to discuss your future retirement. I won’t say you lost a step, because I’ve seen the great things that you have brought to this franchise and I refuse to lose belief in you. The only problem is that watching you makes me feel like you have lost belief in your own team. I know the press plays up your apparent “not being a big fan of Philip Rivers,” and I hope that’s not true. That the whole thing of you guys arguing on and off the field last year is something that is just publicized so desperate beat writers have something to write about. Nonethless, Mr. Tomlinson, when you went to London and we had sit through that awful loss, never once did you come out and defend your own quarterback. You blatantly told everyone how great Drew Brees was, but, and maybe I might have missed it, but I don’t remember at any time during that trip a quote that stated, “Hey Philip is great, were glad to have him here.” Maybe you miss Drew, and in all actuality there is nothing wrong with that. Yet, real Charger fans that miss Drew should be slapped in the mouth. Drew Brees was the king of the pick in comeback time and it’s amazing how quickly fans forget that. Drew Brees might break passing records this year and still might not make the playoffs. He’s good but he’s not great. And while he might be LT’s hero he would’ve never lead this team to a Super Bowl. At this point I don’t know if any quarterback ever can. San Diego’s too small a sports town for the national press to throw us any, “we’re cursed” love, so I guess were just stuck with each other.
First off, I apologize for this comment becoming way more than just a comment. But I hope you guys feel me. We are rooting for a soft team and it would appear that something in that locker room just plain isn’t coming together. Like my Mom used to say to me when I was kid. “I’m not mad I’m disappointed.”
I agree that Brees would never have won a SB in San Diego. LT claims “the smile says it all” when asked if he takes pleasure in the Chargers’ disatrous start. That’s nothing compared to what he’ll say if he wins it all. However, he was partly to blame for his frusrations with the Chargers. The people that are out in the cold are the Boltheads. This team is soft. I don’t know everyone should have expected the Rams to run when the game was on the line, but the one think Hank Bauer said early on is that guys don’t beat their man on the line. The Jets ran through the “heart” of the defense to seal a game in January and the Rams did it yesterday. St. Louis definitely got passive witht the lead, but we couldn’t make them pay. As I said, the fact that guys like Davis, Weddle, Hester and the rest of AJ’s draftees are good enough to make plays but not to make enough to win is fitting for this team. Again, LegoHead is the perfect kicker in that respect. I think that kick was getting blocked anyway. I actually watched it after I remembered that I wouldn’t look before his 3rd miss in January. Should he be gone? Ages ago? However, there is more wrong right now. Colby’s point that we don’t have the horses on the defense is a good one. Are the coaches getting the most out of them? I don’t think so. Cason looked like Cro and Strickland could go back to NY tomorrow and go back to being the disciplined defender that dislodged the ball from Floyd in January. That does fall on coaching. The look on Norv’s face when Buster got horse-collared in the end zone said it all. He looked like he had no hold on anything.
I obviously won’t be that guy that doesn’t watch the games, but the faith that was shattered in January is still gone. Whit was right that the Chargers way would be to get back into it (as they have in games) and then falter in the end. When I wrote “NY Attitude” next to “San Diego Football” on the site’s masthead I was suggesting a resiliency that the fans have but the team they root for does not.
We deserve better. I love the logo on the helmet, but hate the guys playing under it for the way they have disrespected it.
When asked about yet another 2-3 start, Philip Rivers told reporters that at least they could write their own stories this time since they’ve chronicled it before. Unfortunately, Philip deserves some of the blame for our 3 losses. I don’t buy the “he’s off the charts this season” talk. The reality is that he has a 3-4 postseason record marked by the type of errors we’ve seen thus far. Sadly, he will be judged as the rest of the team will. The same even goes for Antonio Gates, who has been playing out of his mind this year. He had a few drops in January to go along with that one-handed grab. I’m not bringing this up to bash the Chargers. Actually, it hurts to see these guys doomed to the “never gonna win one” category. The only way for that to change is for this team get its shit together.
I was very happy to hear Jammer deflect the blame from the special teams disasters in the XX1090 interview. This team didn’t create turnovers, didn’t hustle for fumbles and didn’t stop the FUCKING RAIDERS on two long drives. Of course he suggested that we “dominated” the game when asked about Tony Dungy’s criticism of Norv on Sunday Night. I don’t know where the pass rush will come from here on in. Boone, Scott, these guys got us through the last 11 games of last year. However, they’re gone and some other unknowns are in their place.
I saw Hank Bauer on NFL Network today. Of course he’s not the most objective guy when judging the Bolts. He also cited the two long drives last week, but praised the play of Rivers and the defense. He seemed confident that this team would get their heads out of their asses. I certainly believe that the Chargers can go on another regular season run. However, I still haven’t seen anything to make me think that this team will fix THE BIG PROBLEM. In other words, I haven’t seen evidence that the Bolts will finally make the most of their talent and have something to show for all these trips to the postseason.
I am constantly frightened that Norv, his staff and the players haven’t learned anything from all this failure. Again, I am speaking relative to what they’ve accomplished during the regular seasons. I agree with Whit that New England journalists like the Cold Hard Football Facts guys can go fuck themselves. However, they said a lot of what we’ve all been saying here in The Halls of Justice. They didn’t even mention the trash talking, celebrating or bonehead plays. They just contrasted all the talent and wins with the lack of Super Bowl berths, let alone wins. That being said, they can’t do that to our pledges. Only we can do that to our pledges.
A lot of our criticisms of the defense were discussed in this U-T piece. Ron Rivera’s comments after looking at the tape of Sunday’s game:
“We’ve had more opportunities than we’ve ever had. Capitalize. Finish the play.”
Sound familiar? That sums up the last six seasons right there.
I heard a great line in this week’s Smallville, one of my other nerdy indulgences. “A hero is made in the moment, not from questioning the past or fearing what’s to come.” Do we have enough guys who are ready to be heroes? We’ll see. I said earlier in the week that a loss tomorrow would absolutely end our season in my opinion. If can sink any lower than we are right now, there’s no coming back. It sounds like Mathews will get the start, but also that his ankle has been more of an issue than we thought. Of course, he might just be keeping his injury quiet. The kid’s a rookie and has appeared to be a great teammate thus far. The only time we ran the ball when the game was really on the line last season was in Dallas. Norv tried to do so in the playoffs, but we just didn’t have the horses. Hank Bauer made the argument in his NFL Network spot that he doesn’t see Darren Sproles having lost a step. Again, he’s not the most objective observer. However, I really see Sproles running like he’s stuck in the mud. The blocking on returns may not be great right now. But he looks like he takes forever to get going. That pass last week was the only time he really did anything and he had a ton of space to begin with. It would be nice to see Rivers work the screen on Sunday. Mathews has looked to have pretty good hands thus far.
Tolbert has also improved as a pass catcher, but that fumble last week was just inexcusable. If Mathews does indeed start, I hope that Norv mixes things up with both backs. I know when Hester moves behind Rivers that a run play is coming. I can only assume the defense does as well. I don’t know if it’s too late for them to adjust, however.
I don’t need to remind you of the last time we played in St. Louis. It was 2002, I believe. We choked away a 10-point lead when Tim Dwight couldn’t handle an onsides kick. I actually own a “Rams Suck” shirt, which I got on eBay in 2001 along with a “Raiders Suck” shirt. It was after the Patriots first Super Bowl win and the guys who sold them were clearly Bostonians blasting their opponents along the way. I assume they sold a “Steelers Suck” one as well. Since I wore the shirt during the aforementioned last game at the Rams, I’ll try a different one tomorrow. It’s frightening that the two teams we HAVE beaten this year proceeded to beat one of last year’s Super Bowl teams the following week.
I know, it means nothing. I am sure that a lot of “experts” are expecting the Chargers to pick themselves up beginning with tomorrow’s game only have it catch up with them later on. We need to fulfill and then defy their expectations. Colby, you are right. I would rather this team fail during the regular season than choke in January. However, I hope most of all for Option Three.
Sack up, or pack up.
Yeah, I know it’s a little too close to last year’s mantra. I’m out of inspiring platitudes.
It’s another Dylan line. Merriman will gone after he gets off IR. I am not sure what list AJ even put him on. Like many others, I’ve never even heard of it. We signed another practice squad type guy to take his place. Is this really helping? I agree with Whit’s suggestion that Rivera should have blitzed more on Sunday so at least we’d be beaten after showing some balls. However, guys need to make plays on 3rd. Who’s gonna do it? It hasn’t been Merriman for a while, but the defense still worries me. Here’s an interesting discussion thread I responded to. We haven’t maximized our opportunities to date. Yes, we have shown enough resolve to get ourselves into the postseason, but not enough to do anything in it. I guess “Sir Shanks-a-lot” is the perfect kicker for us after all. Seriously, AJ can say “this is not the way we do business” when someone asks him to make a rash decision, but the accountability isn’t consistent. When I say the Bolts have been their own worst enemy since 2004, I mean it as a criticism. When The Organization says it, it is intended as an excuse. Those that cannot learn from history…
you know the rest. Body language during crunch time says a lot and Norv was squeezing his pits on Sunday. It is true that Rivers is like a coach on the field, but he’s still nowhere near Peyton Manning, who is a playoff underperformer in his own right (albeit less so). We also saw that Rivers still needs to mature when he’s looking to the refs to bail him out. I don’t for one second doubt his desire. But Norv needs to be smart and not expect his QB to bail him out of every mess. Don’t throw balance out the window when things get tough.
STDs? If the Bolts have them then their version is chlamydia. It’s the messiest kind and you never hear of anyone getting it anymore.
