SB Nation - Legedu Naanee

Chargers Week 14 Injury Report

John (obviousman) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:32:04 -0000

Player	Injury	Wendnesday	Thursday	Friday	Status
Nick Hardwick, C	Ankle	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
Alfonso Boone, DE	Knee	DNP	FP	FP	Questionable
Kevin Burnett, ILB	Neck			DNP	Questionable
Legedu Naanee, WR	Foot		DNP	FP	Questionable
Shaun Phillips, OLB	Ankle	DNP	FP	FP	Questionable
Quentin Jammer, CB	Toe	DNP	FP	FP	Probable
Travis Johnson, DE	Groin	DNP	FP	FP	Probable
Shawne Merriman, OLB	Foot	DNP	DNP	FP	Probable
Mike Scifres, P	Groin	FP	FP	FP	Probable
Eric Weddle, S	Knee	FP	FP	FP	Probable

Key:

DNP = Did Not Participate
FP = Full Participation

All told, the Chargers looks extremely healthy. Hardwick is out, and I'm starting to think he'll be IR'd and they'll just aim for the beginning of next season. Burnett will probably play but not start, which he might not have anyways. Everyone else I expect to play.

Bengals Injury Report is after the jump.

Key:

LP = Limited Participation (usually working out on the side alone)
Out = The team didn't expect the player to practice due to a long-term injury. The player may not have even been at the facility.
If you're wondering why some of the boxes are blank, it's because the player was not on that day's injury report (these reports are submitted to the NFL ever day) and was probably injured in practice the day before.

Player	Injury	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Status
Chris Crocker, S	Ankle	Out	Out	Out	Out
Domata Peko, DT	Knee	Out	Out	Out	Out
Bernard Scott, HB	Toe	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
Robert Geathers, DE	Knee			DNP	Probable
Kyries Hebert, S	Knee	LP	FP	FP	Probable
Tank Johnson, DT	Foot	DNP	LP	FP	Probable
Brian Leonard, HB	Calf	DNP	FP	FP	Probable
Morgan Trent, CB	Knee	LP	FP	FP	Probable

Final Injury Report: Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) at San Diego Chargers (10-3)

Kirkendall — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:18:27 -0000

BENGALS	WED	THUR	FRI	STATUS
S Chris Crocker (ankle)	OUT	OUT	OUT	OUT
DT Domata Peko (knee)	OUT	OUT	OUT	OUT
DT Tank Johnson (foot)	DNP	LP	LP	Probable
RB Brian Leonard (calf)	DNP	FP	FP	Probable
RB Bernard Scott (toe)	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
S Kyries Hebert (knee)	LP	FP	FP	Probable
CB Morgan Trent (knee)	LP	FP	FP	Probable
DE Robert Geathers (knee)	--	--	DNP	Probable

CHARGERS	WED	THUR	FRI	STATUS
DE Alfonso Boone (knee)	DNP	FP	FP	Questionable
C Nick Hardwick (ankle)	DNP	DNP	DNP	OUT
CB Quentin Jammer (toe)	DNP	FP	FP	Probable
DE Travis Johnson (groin)	DNP	FP	FP	Probable
LB Shawne Merriman (foot)	DNP	DNP	FP	Probable
LB Shaun Phillips (ankle)	DNP	FP	FP	Questionable
P Mike Scifres (left groin)	FP	FP	FP	Probable
S Eric Weddle (knee)	FP	FP	FP	Probable
WR Legedu Naanee (foot)	--	DNP	FP	Questionable
LB Kevin Burnett (neck)	--	--	DNP	Questionable

Week 13 Review: Chargers @ Cleveland Browns. Final: 30-23 Chargers.

Jeff (sliderockmpc) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:37 -0000

Behind a somewhat deceiving final score of 30-23, the Chargers handle their business in Cleveland, racking up an impressive offensive game and getting by on defense without some key players.

Chargers vs Browns boxscore

By and large, the Chargers treated this game as an exhibition, especially on defense. On offense, the Chargers pretty much had their way with an overmatched Browns defense. And, as was the case against Kansas City, the Chargers took advantage of opponents mistakes, played largely mistake free football, and ran their record to 9-3.

However, there were enough miscues, especially by the more inexperienced players on defense, that will give the coaching staff plenty to review and correct going into next week's game against what should be a desperate and dangerous Dallas Cowboys squad.

Grades are below the jump.

Quarterbacks: A

Philip Rivers is spoiling the Chargers and their fans. On the back of his impressive effort against Kansas City, Rivers posted another monster afternoon, completing 18 of his 25 pass attempts for 373 yards and 2 TDs. As usual, he was in total command of the offense, completing passes to 6 different receivers, and giving his receivers opportunities to make plays after the catch - both TDs were 5-10 yard throws that were turned into plays of 66 and 31 yards. He missed 2 opportunities on the Chargers' opening drive, one to Sproles at the 2 yard line, and another to Jackson in the endzone, but this is nitpicking.

Running Backs: B+

It was surprising to a degree that the Chargers did not run for more yards. LaDainian Tomlinson was effective, if not quite productive running the ball, producing 64 yards on 20 attempts and 1 TD. As usual, Darren Sproles was not effective running the ball in the middle, but the running backs as a group were spectacular as pass receivers. For the first time in a few weeks, Sproles got loose on screen passes, one of which was the 31 yard TD. The other was a great 66 yard catch and run by FB Mike Tolbert. Tomlinson had a 21 yard catch off a pass from WR Legedu Naanee to set up a 2nd quarter score. Blitz pickup was effective from the running backs a s a group, and as was the case against Denver a few weeks ago, the running game got better as the game progressed.

Congratulations to LT for passing Jim Brown for 8th on the career rushing yardage list, as well as being the fastest NFL player to 150 TDs.

Wide Receivers: A+

For the 2nd consecutive week, TE Antonio Gates had his best game of the year on Sunday, posting 8 catches for 167 yards. There was nobody in the Cleveland secondary who could cover Gates with any consistency, and even double teams on Gates had no effect, he pulled in receptions of 36 and 56 yards while double-teamed. Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd were largely quiet on receptions, but both players were brilliant blocking down the field. Jackson, in particular, threw the key blocks that sprung Tolbert and Sproles for their TDs. The Chargers pass offense has reached the moment we've dreamed of for a few years - regardless of which option you take away, there is someone else who will beat you.

Offensive Line: B-

Run blocking was marginally better than against Kansas City, but considering the Browns were missing DT Shaun Rogers, the Chargers OL should have dominated the line of scrimmage. It was surprising that the Chargers did not attack the middle of the Browns defense with more regularity. RG Louis Vasquez continues to improve in run blocking, driving a Cleveland defender into the endzone on Tomlinson's 4 yard TD run. RT Brandyn Dombrowski was solid for the second straight game, despite some early struggles on delay rushes from OLB Matt Roth. LT Marcus McNeill and LG Kris Dielman were solid as usual.

Defensive Line: B

The defensive line played better against the run than was the case last week, but there's no getting around how badly DE Luis Castillo is missed. Barring a run out of the Wildcat, and end around by Cleveland WR Joshua Cribbs, the Chargers defense played very well against the run. Considering the quality of players opposite them, the DEs Jaques Cesaire. Travis Johnson, Alfonso Boone, and DTs Ogdemi Nwagbuo and Ian Scott turned in a workmanlike effort. Their primary struggles were the inability to open pass rushing lanes for the blitzing LBs, Corners and Safeties.

Linebackers: C+

OLB Shaun Phillips had a decent game, making the key hit on Brady Quinn and forcing a fumble to stop a Cleveland scoring drive. Re-signed OLB Marques Harris also contributed a sack, which helped kill a Browns' drive in the 3rd quarter. Beyond this, unfortunately, the pass rush was virtually non-existent. OLB Larry English was handled by Browns' LT Joe Thomas. Inside, LB Brandon Siler has another solid game, recording 6 tackles and a defensed pass. However, both ILBs Kevin Burnett and Stephen Cooper really struggled in pass defense. Cooper, in particular, was exploited multiple times on seam routes by Browns' TE Eric Moore, and overran a play that should have been a INT return for TD.

Secondary: B-

For the 2nd straight week CBs Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromartie both had some issues giving the opposing WRs too much operating room outside. The Chargers also missed FS Eric Weddle in a big way in this game, with several missed tackles in the secondary. Also, the Safety blitzes which have been very effective over the last month and a half, were almost completely ineffective. DB Steve Gregory had his worst game in over a month, getting beaten down the field by Moore on a couple occasions. DBs Paul Oliver and C.J. Spillman also had problems - Spillman missed Jammer turning WR Mohammad Massaquoi over to him in the endzone, resulting in a TD on the Browns' opening drive.

Special Teams: B

As might be expected, the Chargers' coverage teams struggled to contain KR Joshua Cribbs, allowing an average 24.7 yards, with a long return of 42 yards. However, on Cribbs' 1 punt return, he was rocked by Spillman on a great tackle. Due to the effectiveness of the offense, P Mike Scifres was called on only once, and he produced a 49 yard kick. PK Nate Kaeding hit a trio of FGs from 22, 32, and 42 yards. Punt and kick blocking was problematic, as Sproles was shut down in Special Teams opportunities.

Coaching: B

Norv Turner took a workmanlike approach to this game; clearly he was interested in doing only what had to be done to win the game and nothing more. As a result, he was more conservative in his play calling - excepting the throw-back pass from Naanee to Tomlinson late in the 1st half. Turner went too conservative twice in the 4th quarter, running a FB dive on 4th-and-1 that came up short, as well as running 3 times inside the Browns' 10 on the Chargers' last possession. By going so conservative, Turner allowed the Browns to stay within striking distance - playing more aggressively on either drive would have shut the door on any Cleveland comeback. On defense, it might be time for Ron Rivera to tweak his blitz packages, as it appeared that the Browns were well prepared to handle them.

Hidden Plays (Non scoring, non-turnover plays that directly affected the outcome):

On the Chargers' 1st possession, Rivers misses Sproles and Jackson on back-to-back throws, forcing the Chargers to settle for a FG and giving the Browns some unwelcome confidence.
Cooper overran his zone assignment, missing out on an INT that easily could have produced a TD, as well as breaking the Browns' confidence early.
After the Chargers had taken a 10-7 lead, the Browns mounted another scoring drive. Cromartie makes a great tackle on Massaquoi to keep him out of the endzone - Phillips' strip and fumble occurs 3 plays later.
With 6 seconds remaining in the 1st half, Rivers throws to Floyd along the sideline for 11 yards, and Floyd gets out-of-bounds, preserving 2 seconds and Kaeding's FG opportunity.
The previously mentioned FB dive by Jacob Hester with 13:45 left in the 4th quarter comes up short. Instead of chewing up another 3-5 minutes of clock and putting a clinching TD on the board, the Browns drive for a TD and cut the lead to 13.

Biggest Positives:

No major injuries reported.
Penalty problems from last week are corrected, 1 penalty against the Chargers for 5 yards.
Re-emergence of Antonio Gates as a dynamic offensive weapon.
Several reserves and younger players get major experience and playing time.
Team play on offense contributes to huge scoring plays.

Biggest Areas of Concern:

Offensive line is unable to assert itself in the run game until the middle of the 3rd quarter.
Safety blitzes were ineffective.
ILBs struggle in space, allowing multiple big plays to the TE, slot WRs, and RBs on seam and flat routes.
Inability to finish the game on offense.
Allowing a seriously deficient opponent to hang around longer than necessary.

Looking ahead to:

To checking out the Cowboys brand-new spacecraft (seriously, it looks like the Axiom from WALL-E) and continuing the December blues for the Cowboys. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing just how far the Chargers have come, as it's been 3 weeks since the Chargers last faced a quality opponent.

Bolts & Dolts: Chargers at Browns

John (obviousman) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

16 days ago: San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) breaks the tackle of Cleveland Browns safety Abram Elam in the third quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Cleveland. Gates made eight catches for 167 yards in San Diego's 30-23 win. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

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Has everyone calmed down from yesterday? Is everyone willing to admit that maybe that soft zone defense we saw in the fourth quarter, and on the Browns' first drive, was done as a way to manage the game instead of dominating it? That's what I believe anyways.

For anyone who thinks the Chargers "played down" to their opponents, there's this. The Chargers scored 27 unanswered points. That's more points than Cleveland scored all game. If you take the score of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the score is 17-0 Chargers. If you take the score of the first 3 quarters, it's 27-7.

My philosophy is this. That first drive was a test. Kindof a "Let's see if they can throw on this" and they could. Then it was scrapped and the defense started stopping the Browns on every drive, and the offense started putting up points. With a 20 point lead heading into the fourth quarter, as many backups as possible came in and the message became "Avoid Injury". Coach Rivera figured that even if he played zone, avoiding giving up big plays and allowing short passes underneath, the Browns would take so much time that they'd never be able to catch up. And he was right.

Onto Bolts and Dolts.

Bolts

Offense

Antonio Gates - 8 catches, 167 yds. Gatesy goes first, even before the QB, because that was the best game I've ever seen from him. Outside of the game where Kellen Winslow took over the world, I think that's the best game I've ever seen from a TE ever. Not only was he everywhere, catching everything and making the Browns look foolish, but he also bailed out Philip Rivers (who threw to him in double-coverage a couple of times) with some amazing catches that just shouldn't have happened.

Philip Rivers - 18/25, 373 yds, 2 TD. Finishing the game with a QB rating over 140 will get you a Bolt every time. This wasn't the easy game for him that everybody thought it would be either. Cleveland brought pressure, even sacking him once, and seemed to play very well on his star WRs. Finding the mismatches with Gates, Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert was the work of a smart, veteran QB.

LaDainian Tomlinson - 20 carries, 64 rush yds, 1 rush TD, 1 catch, 21 rec yds. Somebody said that LT didn't even get 3 yards per carry in this game, but they're mistaken. 3.2 yards per carry as a matter of fact. Here's what I saw from LT yesterday: smart, patient running mixed with good pass-blocking. That play at the end of the first half, where he could've went upfield but instead stepped out of bounds to stop the clock and give the offense another shot at the endzone, showed no ego and was a play that a younger RB probably doesn't make.

Anyways, all of those things above make LT an "Almost Bolt". Saluting Jim Brown, after the things Brown said about LT in his preseason interview with Adrian Peterson, makes him incredibly classy and gets him a Bolt. Also, standing on the sidelines next to Norv and talking about the offense helps his standing as well.

Legedu Naanee/Mike Tolbert. In my Larry English rant earlier this week, I was saying that playoff and Super Bowl teams need to get contributions from their rookies. Well, getting contributions from their young projects is just as good.

Naanee didn't get many chances to catch the ball in Cleveland, no chances at all actually. However, when his number was called to catch the ball and then throw a spiral downfield to a wide open Tomlinson he did so and made it look very easy. A key play, because you could argue that Nate Kaeding wouldn't have hit the end-of-the-half FG without it.

Mike Tolbert's play was great. His speed, with his body size, is just so unexpected. He was the check-down receiver and got the ball because Cleveland brought a bunch of blitzers. Luckily, he also had a bunch of blockers in front of him (including Vincent Jackson, who almost killed somebody on the play). That had nothing to do with the right playcall, and everything to do with the Chargers players making plays.

Defense

Shaun Phillips - 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 defended pass. The boy from Philly has been playing out of his mind lately. This game was no exception. I love that his new move, when he gets to the QB, is to grab their throwing arm while hitting them. It's caused so many fumbles, and they're all game-changers. He probably has no chance of getting there, but Shaun deserves a Pro Bowl nod this season.

Special Teams

Nate Kaeding - 3/3 FGs, 3/3 XPs. The only kicker that's having a year as good or better than Nate's this season is David Akers in Philadelphia. Those should be your Pro Bowl starters, without any question. Nate has become automatic from about 48 yards and in this season.

Dolts

Offense

There were no offensive Dolts this week.

Defense

There were no defensive Dolts this week.

Almost Bolts

Darren Sproles - Sproles played a very good game on offense, running the ball effectively and making the most of his screen passes. That would've been enough for a Bolt, but again we have the same issues as weeks past. I know Darren is a bright guy, but it seems like when the ball is in the air on kickoff or punts he becomes an idiot.

First, there was the kickoff return where he grabbed the ball and jumped out of bounds. I don't know why he felt the need to grab the ball and jump out of bounds, instead of simply letting the ball go out of bounds and taking the field at the 40, but he did. I guess you could argue he wanted to make sure the Browns didn't get to it, but it really didn't seem like any of them were near the ball to me. Just a dumb play.

Second, and stop me if this sounds familiar, another play where Sproles refuses to call fair-catch and gets absolutely hammered by Josh Cribbs the second he touches the ball. I'll give him credit, he seems to do a good job of holding onto the ball in this situation, but one of these days he's going to fumble it in a big spot or get injured that way. FAIR CATCH THE BALL. We would much rather have a safe catch than a 1 yard loss and a heart attack.

At this point, if Sproles was taken off returns for a while, I would be happy about it.

Brandon Siler - He was strong against the run and effective against the pass as well. If Stephen Cooper wasn't the captain and wasn't calling the plays, he would've lost his job to Siler by now.

Vincent Jackson - Made a big catch with guys draped all over him. Made a big block to spring Tolbert's TD. The defense is sending more and more coverage at him, and it's just making him work harder. That's a great sign.

Almost Dolts

Kevin Ellison - The leading tackler for the Chargers was also the guy who couldn't cover Evan Moore at all. Every time Brady Quinn saw that matchup, he attacked.

GoT NUMBERS? Analyzing the Chargers vs. the Browns

Ryan Kelsey — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:51:50 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

Darren Sproles is short. Vincent Jackson is tall. The Chargers are good. The Browns are bad. (AP Photo/John Amis)

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This season is getting even harder to watch. We now have starting RB Jamal Lewis, our best defensive player- NT Shaun Rogers, and starting FS Brodney Pool on injured reserve to join our 2 starting ILBs, starting TE, our pro bowl caliber punter, and a bunch of other would-be contributors. Seems like doom for our 30th ranked defense (in efficiency by DVOA). But that's not all. Our top pass rusher (OLB Kam Wimbley) and another starting member of the front 7 (DE Kenyon Coleman) are nursing knee injuries and hadn't practiced as of last check. And to top it all off, we are playing an incredibly talented and very efficient offense in the San Diego Chargers.

And I don't think anyone expects Brady Quinn and the offense to be able to keep up with the dozens of points Philip Rivers and co. will be putting up against our ravaged defense. Let's see what the numbers say.

Once again, the stats I use are from Football Outsiders:

A quick note about the stats I'm going to use in this regular column. The full explanation can be found here. Basically, Football Outsiders uses the data from every play and finds the league average (adjusting for yards gained in the redzone, touchdowns scored, and the down and distance- so a 3 yard TD run on 3rd-and-1 from the 3 means a lot more than a 3 yard run on 3rd-and-15 from your own 20.) Then it rates players and teams based on their relation to this league average. The result is meaningful rate stats. They are akin to league adjusted stats in baseball, like OPS+ and ERA+. DVOA is the most common stat they use and 0.0 is exactly league average. A 10.0% DVOA for a QB means a QB that is 10.0% better than average. -15.0% DVOA means 15% below average for a QB. For defensive numbers they are reversed, so negative numbers are better.

Got all that? No? Well, then trust me when I say, higher positive numbers are good for offensive players and lower or negative numbers are good for defenses. 0.0% is always average.

And my personal caveat using these numbers in football: here.

When the Chargers have the Ball

Philip Rivers is really good. In fact, he is underrated and probably deserves to be in the Favre/Brees/Manning/Brady conversation as a top QB in the league right now (apologies to Warner and Rodgers). This year, he is leading the league's top rated passing attack by efficiency (56.7% DVOA). He has had a QB rating over 100 for 2 straight years. If he keeps that rating over 100 this season, he will join Manning as the only active QB to have 2 straight seasons over 100. (I was shocked that Brady, Warner, Favre, McNabb have all never done that). Rivers ranks 4th in QB DVOA (38.7%). He has two great weapons that he depends on: Antonio Gates (1st in DYAR and 2nd in DVOA amongst TEs) and Vincent Jackson (3rd in DYAR and 2nd in DVOA amongst WRs). Gates is huge with good hands and runs good routes. Think Kellen Winslow, but bigger, stronger, and healthier. Jackson is big and fast (6'5, 230, 4.38 40). Think Braylon Edwards only much bigger, much faster, and with better hands. The Browns defense is bad against the pass (30th in defensive efficiency), and especially bad against #1 WRs (31st) and TEs (32nd). So look for HUGE days from Jackson and Gates.

And if those two weren't enough to worry about in the passing game, the Chargers also boast another big (also 6'5) and fast WR in Malcom Floyd, who hasn't been targeted a bunch, but on a per play basis he ranks 6th among all NFL WRs (DVOA of 31.2%). Their #3 WR is no slouch either. Only 6'2, Legedu Naanee has a healthy DVOA of 32.6% (though he doesn't have enough targets to qualify) Finally, for the last several years the Chargers passing game has used their RBs as an extra, constant, and effective weapon. That effort is lead this year by Darren Sproles. He ranks 5th in both DVOA (33.2%) and DYAR as a receiving RB. The Browns have a chance at slowing these guys down. They are 11th in defending #2 WRs, 23rd against "other" WRs, and 26th against RBs in the passing game. Not great, but it won't be as ugly here (though that was with a healthier unit than they'll have this week).

Don't expect to get to Rivers either. The Charger line has allowed sacks on just 5% of the drop backs. Good for 8th in the league. The Browns are pretty much exactly league average at sacking the QB, 16th in the league at 6.5% of drop backs. But, again, that was with a healthy Rogers, Wimbley, Coleman, etc.

So with such an efficient and prolific passing game, why do the Chargers rank just 6th in total offensive efficiency? Well, the running game has been a bit embarrassing. 31st in DVOA at -11.4%. A one time force in the NFL, LaDainian Tomlinson has had a tough couple years, battling injuries and feeling the wear of thousands of NFL carries on his 30 year old body. This year he ranks 31st of 37 qualified backs in rushing DVOA, about 10% worse than an average RB. And while Darren Sproles has excelled in the passing game and as a change of pace back over his career, nobody is mistaking him as an every down running threat. He has averaged just 3.3 yards per carry on his way to a dismal -33.5% DVOA (of all RBs with more than 50 carries, only Glen Coffee and Marshawn Lynch have a worse number). Still, this might be the week the San Diego rushing attack gets healthy. Why? Because the Browns rank 30th against the run in DVOA (10.2%)

When the Browns have the Ball

Injuries make this matchup even tougher to evaluate. While the Browns will be without the back they have hopelessly fed the ball to for the better part of 3 years (Jamal Lewis), the Chargers could be choose to rest many of their banged up defensive stars. OLB- Shawne Merriman, OLB- Shaun Phillips, DE- Luis Castillo, S- Eric Weddle, and DT- Ogembi Nwagbuo all were held out of practice yesterday. But even with these guys playing most of the season, the Chargers have been below average on the defensive side (19th in DVOA, 7.1%). Not that we expect the Browns terrible offense to take advantage of this mediocrity.

The Chargers strong suit is against the pass. They rank 13th, but still worse than average in DVOA at 6.3%. They are 6th against TEs and against #2 WRs. So don't look for our gang scrub TEs to catch many passes. And Chansi Stuckey is going to have a tough time keeping his recent momentum going. But the Chargers do struggle with defending RBs out of the backfield. That should mean good things for Harrison and Jennings. Not that we have been good at getting the ball to these two. Jennings dropped the pass of the year from Brady Quinn against Detroit, and Harrison has struggled when given the chance (-38.3% DVOA, 45 of 47 qualifying RBs in pass catching). But hopefully we keep trying the wheel routes and screens. It may be our best chance to score.

But the biggest key will be to protect Brady Quinn (and make him believe he is protected). The Chargers are 10th in getting to the QB with 28 sacks, 7% of opponent drop backs. The Browns have allowed sacks on 6.6% of Quinn and DA's drop backs, good for 18th. The problem isn't always the sacks, its the blitzes (which the Chargers will bring a lot of with Phillips and Merriman or not) and having the WRs and QB on the same page. We'll see if that continues to improve with Quinn's second stint as starting QB.

The Chargers have struggled against the run (25th in the league at 7.9% DVOA). And with their front 7 banged up, this could be something to exploit. Thing is, there really isn't enough data to know what we will get in the running game with Chris Jennings and Jerome Harrison. And we really haven't seen enough of them to have any reason to be confident in them. Only time will tell. Hey, maybe Cribbs and Quinn can break some runs?!

Special Teams

The Browns remain 2nd, just behind the Vikings in overall special teams DVOA (7.2%). They are still lead by the return units, especially the league leading punt return group. San Diego is pretty average at everything in special teams, except for kick coverage, where they have a -5.3% DVOA (5th worst in the league). Making the overall special teams place 20th overall in efficiency. Maybe Cribbs can break a kickoff return. He should have a couple opportunities.

Conclusions and Questions

It doesn't look good for our Browns. But with the injuries on both sides, there are a lot of variables. And variables are always good for the underdog. Three questions that will determine the outcome:

1.) With Jamal Lewis finally out of the way, what can Chris Jennings and Jerome Harrison show against a suspect and hurt front 7 of San Diego? Both in the run game and in the passing game.

2.) Will LT have a breakout game or will his decline continue, even against a battered and suspect front seven of Cleveland?

3.) Can the Browns prevent Rivers, Gates, and Jackson from scoring TDs at will? Anything less than 350 yds and 4 TDs would be amazing to me.

The Chargers are good. At 8-3, they are playing for playoff position. It seems like our only hope is if they overlook our battered, bruised, and beaten Cleveland Browns or if the brisk weather on Lake Erie gets to those sissy SoCalians. I don't see it happening: Chargers win, 35-16.

Bolts & Dolts: San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos

John (obviousman) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:24 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

about 1 month ago: San Diego Chargers' Nate Kaeding (10) kicks a field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

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I know, I know. "Everyone's a Bolt!" Not so fast. When the San Diego Chargers raise their game across the board, the criteria for being listed a Bolt or a Dolt is raised as well. This post is meant to spotlight players that had particularly good or bad games. It was a little more difficult in his game, since the Chargers played very well as a team, but I managed. Nit-picking is a specialty of mine.

Also, look out for some new features this week including the "Almost Bolts" and "Almost Dolts".

Bolts

Offense

Philip Rivers - 17/22, 145 yds, 1 TD. Those incomplete passes weren't even that bad. His first incompletion was a ball that was thrown away. The second was a ball knocked down at the line. I didn't even see the last two because I couldn't stay entertained watching the garbage time for a second time. In the first game of the season where he was not asked to carry the offense, Rivers was incredibly efficient.

Running Backs - 43 carries, 203 yds, 2 TDs. The Chargers are no longer the last team in the league in terms of rushing yards per game. They're 30th. Any idea who is 31st? The undefeated Indianapolis Colts. Take that, losers.

LaDainian Tomlinson - 20 carries, 73 yds, 1 TD. I have no idea what the negativeness after the game was about. Why are people sad to see LT producing at this level? If you thought he was going to be putting up 150 yards per game, you're nuts. There's a reason he broke a bunch of records in such a short timespan, and that's because most players' bodies could not stand the punishment that his body has taken for so long. At this point, with good blocking, he's a smart RB that is going to take what the defense gives to him. That's a big improvement over what he was earlier this season. 20 carries, about 80 yards and a TD every game would be perfect in my book.
Mike Tolbert - 7 carries, 58 yds, 1 TD. Everyone is so quick to look at Tolbert's body shape and say that he's the next Lorenzo Neal. They want him to be the big blocking back that's going to kill linebackers at the point of attack. The fact of the matter is, FBs like that are not nearly as useful in this offense and in today's NFL as FBs like Tolbert. Tolbert can run, catch and block. He's as strong as most linebackers and faster than most as well. He's just as dangerous with the ball in his hands as somebody like Darren Sproles. He's a faster, shiftier Mike Alstott. I couldn't be happier with the season he's having.
Jacob Hester - 7 carries, 46 yds. Apparently, with a bit of blocking, Hester is the RB that AJ Smith envisioned he could be. His 6.6 YPC certainly helped to beat up a downtrodden Denver Broncos team late in the game. I don't buy that he's finally figured it out, especially since he wasn't very good during the early part of the game (3 catches, 0 yards and a bunch of slips). Here's to hoping that's the player we see for the rest of the season though.

Wide Receivers - 12 catches, 137 yds, 1 TD. It all looked too easy. Antonio Gates was uncoverable. Vincent Jackson made some plays, but Philip didn't need to force the ball to him. Malcom Floyd made plays outside of the first quarter and is turning into Rivers' second favorite target on third downs. Legedu Naanee may have made the play of the game on his TD grab. Watch it again and see how badly he jukes D.J. Williams. The reason Rivers could throw the ball was because Williams had to turn his back to the line of scrimmage to try to catch Naanee after getting humiliated at the goal line.

Offensive Line - 4.7 Yards Per Carry, Zero Sacks Allowed. No, I still haven't heard anything more about Jeromey Clary besides that it's "serious". I could've told you that when Rivers, Eric Weddle and other players were coming up to the cart to wish Clary good luck. Those players know what the doctors are saying, and they know that will probably be the last time they share the field with Clary for a while.

Still, before and after that, the offensive line played great. The running backs had big holes to run through all game, and Rivers having all the time in the world is what made him so efficient. There wasn't a forced pass out of his 22 attempts. In the last few weeks, Kris Dielman, Scott Mruczkowski and Louis Vasquez have all gotten significantly better individually and as a group (Marcus McNeill has been really good all season). Hopefully they can hold onto that success once Nick Hardwick takes over the starting Center job again.

Defense

Shaun Phillips - 3 tackles, 1 sack. He makes the plays the offense allows him to make. You really can't ask for more than that. When he's not double-teamed, Shaun usually beats his man and makes the QB feel very uncomfortable in the pocket. When he has to cover a TE or RB, he's so close the QB is afraid to throw at him. Ron Rivera has done a great job of freeing him up to make more plays.

Kevin Burnett - 8 tackles, 2 sacks. If Burnett can ever figure out how to stay healthy, he could be a Pro Bowl player. He flat-out flies around the field, hitting people hard or at least wrapping them up cleanly. As good of a blitzer as Stephen Cooper is (was?), Burnett is much better. Remember all of the talk of the Larry English/Shaun Phillips/Shawne Merriman formation that would keep all 3 guys on the field with Phillips playing the "Wild Card" position? English hasn't been effective enough, but Burnett seems to fit that role just fine.

Eric Weddle - 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit. I called it towards the end of last year. Weddle is the best blitzer on the entire team. Not the best pass-rusher, but definitely the best blitzer. The better Paul Oliver plays in the secondary, the more Weddle is free to come flying around the corner and hit the QB. On top of changing yesterday's game with his blitzes, he played outstanding coverage and saved a TD and a bunch of Denver momentum with his tackle on Knowshon Moreno in the open field.

Antonio Cromartie - 4 tackles, 1 pass defense, 1 interception. Really this is a Bolt for Cromartie's play over the last 6 weeks. He didn't do anything special or different in yesterday's game that he hasn't already been doing for a month and a half now, he just got lucky enough to be in position to get his hands on the ball. He has been a complete and total shutdown corner, playing as good as or better than Quentin Jammer the entire time. Also, his episode of Chargers Roll as fantastic. He admitted that in the past he basically relied on his talent and didn't go 100% in practice, and that changing that around is what has made him better in the games. Even his tackling is much improved.

Steve Gregory - 3 tackles, 3 passes defended, 2 recovered fumbles. Apparently Steve Gregory and his physical play near the line of scrimmage was the key to the defense. Who knew? I don't think he made a mistake all game, and consistently put himself in position to stop the guy he was defending. Good things happen around Gregory, they seemingly always have, and that trend continued yesterday as he fell on top of two critical fumbles. Benching Antoine Cason in place of Gregory was absolutely the right move, and my questioning of it proves that I don't have what it takes to be an NFL coach.

Special Teams

Nate Kaeding - 4/4 FGs, 2/3 XPs. Did you hear that stat the commentators brought up about how many consecutive FGs Nate has made inside 40 yds? It was ridiculous. I don't recall it, but I recall thinking that it equaled out to more than an entire season. Kaeding is having a Pro Bowl-caliber season this year, and his performance in Denver (including a handful of touchbacks on kickoffs) cemented that.

Coaching

I'm not going to single out anybody. They've all been good. Norv Turner has been the cool hand to guide the team along and Ron Rivera has been the mad scientist who gets better at the 3-4 each week. Even the lesser-known coaches such as Hal Hunter, Don Johnson, Charlie Joiner, Ollie Wilson....they've all faced some obstacles this season and each one has brought their unit up to the level of a winning team. There are players that deserve accolades for this team being in 1st place in the division, and they'll get them, but just about every member of the Chargers coaching staff deserves a pat on the back for a fine job weathering the early-season storm.

Dolts

Offense

There were no offensive Dolts this week.

Defense

There were no defensive Dolts this week.

Special Teams

Darren Sproles - 3 punt returns, 6 PR yds, 1 fumble. Somebody has to teach Sproles how to fair-catch the ball. Please. His penchant for trying to catch it with a guy half a yard away from him is the type of minor flaw that could become a huge, glaring flaw in the postseason. Has he ever done anything great with one of those? There's really two options when he's catching the ball like that.

Fumble the ball, hopefully out of bounds.
Catch the ball, take a hard hit and hold onto the ball.

Almost Bolts

Paul Oliver - He's making it really hard for Kevin Ellison to get back on the field. Not only are his coverage skills really good, but he's starting to play with a mean streak and lay some big hits.
Shawne Merriman - Kindof. He almost deserves a Dolt as well, if you were just looking at the box score. However, if you watched the game you noticed that even Ryan Clady couldn't handle Shawne on his own and had a TE or RB to help on just about every play. This meant that the blitzers Rivera was bringing over the RT were running free, because the Broncos would rather have that than Merriman going one-on-one against their Pro Bowl LT.
James Holt - Great job on Special Teams, kid.

Almost Dolts

Kevin Ellison - When Oliver is playing as well as he is, you have to make a play and an impression on the coaching staff when they send you on the field. Playing 10 yards off of Tony Scheffler and not competing for the ball is not going to cut it.
Stephen Cooper - Cooper's terrible skills in zone coverage is what made it so easy for Kyle Orton to move Denver down the field at the end of the first half. Eventually, with a big enough lead, Rivera stopped calling zone and it stopped being such a big problem. It doesn't erase the fact that Cooper is a liability in zone coverage and everyone knows it.

Week 10 Review: Philadelphia Eagles at Chargers. Final: 31-23 Chargers.

Jeff (sliderockmpc) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:11:18 -0000

Another masterful showing by Philip Rivers, a vintage performance from LaDainian Tomlinson, and a stingy red-zone defense give the Chargers a 1st place tie in the AFC West.

Eagles vs Chargers boxscore

It's amazing that less than 1 month ago, the Chargers were left for dead by the Denver Broncos following a 34-23 defeat at Qualcomm Stadium. The vultures, as well as angry Chargers' fans (myself prominently among them) were ready to strip the decaying flesh off the carcasses of A.J. Smith, Norv Turner, Ron Rivera, and numerous players on the roster.

It was QB Philip Rivers who insisted that we put away our torches and pitchforks, telling us "We just have to start winning games and hopefully in a month we’ll look up and be in good shape." By defeating the Eagles on Sunday, in game that was dominated by the Chargers for the 1st 3 quarters, Rivers and the Chargers made good on their promise.

Aided for the 2nd straight week by an opponent's unusual decision making (Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid in this case), the Chargers capitalized on most of their opportunities, limited the damage done by their opponents, and rode a solid effort from coaches and players into a 1st place tie with the suddenly reeling Denver Broncos. Grades are below the jump...

Quarterbacks: A

It was evident in the game plan that the Chargers did not want to get into a shootout with the Eagles. Rivers was asked to manage the game, control the ball, and keep the Eagles offense of the field. By any measure, he succeeded. Rivers completed 20 of 25 attempts for 2 touchdowns, one being a gorgeous read and throw to FB Mike Tolbert, who ran to the open space left by Philadelphia's blitzing linebackers and scampered for a 20-yard TD. For the other TD, Rivers okey-doked CB Asante Samuel with a pump fake, then found WR Legedu Naanee alone in the back of the endzone - also a 20-yard score. However, Rivers was at his best on the Chargers' final drive. Having only converted 1of 5 3rd downs during the game, Rivers converted two 3rd down plays, bleeding more than 6 minutes off the clock and leaving Eagles QB Donovan McNabb only 30 seconds to mount a final drive. 2 weeks, 2 huge performances in the clutch.

Running Backs: A-

LaDainian Tomlinson has still got it. After being the victim of nagging injuries and erratic offensive line play, Tomlinson broke out with a vintage performance. 24 carries for 96 yards and 2 TDs. I think it's fair to say Tomlinson is not the explosive RB he was 3 years ago, but he is still an effective downhill runner who has enough speed to turn a 5 yard run into a 20-yard TD, as was the case Sunday. Darren Sproles added a couple of nice runs and catches off screen passes. Both backs were effective in pass protection. As mentioned above, FB Mike Tolbert turned a 3 yard hot route into a 20-yard TD - he has deceptive speed and needs to be incorporated more in the passing game. Both Tolbert and FB Jacob Hester has their best days as lead blockers.

Wide Receivers: A-

The Eagles determined that they would not let WR Vincent Jackson beat them. This was fine, because the rest of the Chargers' receivers stepped up and made the plays when needed. TE Antonio Gates dominated the middle of the Eagles' defense, catching 7 passes for 78 yards. Malcom Floyd contributed three catches - one of which was a spectacular reach back across the middle for a 1st down. Another was one one of his patented jump-ball grabs, setting up San Diego for their 2nd TD. Naanee, in addition to his TD catch, made a huge play on the last drive, turning a 3 yard catch into an 18 yard gain that all but sealed the game. Though he had only one reception, Jackson made the play when needed, picking up the initial first down on the Chargers' last possession.

Offensive Line: B+

By any measure, this was the O-Line's best overall game of the season. Without exception, the Chargers' stymied the Eagles' various blitz packages. 2 sacks were allowed, ironically on 4-man rushes. The first, both LG Kris Dielman and RG Louis Vasquez were blown up by DTs Darren Howard and Victor Abiamiri, respectively. The other sack was allowed by reserve OL Brandyn Dombroski (subbing for RT Jeromey Clary) against DE Juqua Parker. Run blocking was significantly improved across the board. Dielman in particular, made a great block to spring Tomlinson's 20-yard TD run. Overall, the Chargers were equally adept running in power situations and spread situations.

Defensive Line: C

The Eagles mounted no serious effort to run the ball, although the D-Line continued their struggles in defending draw plays. By and large, the Eagles comitted themselves to winning through the air, and virtually neutralized the Chargers' defensive line in the process. DE Luis Castillo was double-teamed most of the game, which prevented him from opening room for the OLBs Shaun Phillips and Larry English. However, the line made it's presence known on the Eagles' first scoring drive, bottling up the middle and holding Philadelphia to a chip shot FG from the 1-yard line.

Linebackers: B-

OLBs Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips, and Larry English were neutralized by the Eagles offensive line. No sacks, and only handful of tackles and hurries between the three of them. Phillips had the only tackles for losses among the entire group. Inside, however, ILBs Brandon Siler, Stephen Cooper, and Kevin Burnett played very well, contributing a total of 19 tackles. Tackling among the three was consistently strong, and Siler got the only sack among the front seven. The only black mark against the ILBs, and it's one that cost the Chargers 10 points - failure to hold onto interceptions. Each ILB dropped one interception, and all three were among the biggest hidden plays of the game (see below).

Secondary: C-

It seems evident that Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera adopted a "bend-but-don't-break" approach, which explains the space that CBs Quentin Jammer, Antonio Cromartie, Antoine Cason, and Steve Gregory allowed at the line. Unfortuantely, the pass rush was ineffective, and the group was torched through the air. Tackling was an issue for the entire group for first time in 2-3 weeks. Safties Eric Weddle, Kevin Ellison, and Paul Oilver were mostly ineffective running the safety blitz, with Oliver recording the lone sack among the group. In particular, the Eagles took advantage of the slot position, manned by Gregory, with WR Jason Avant amassing 156 yards on 8 catches. Cason was also beat for a TD in the 4th quarter, when he dropped coverage on WR Jeremy Maclin.

Special Teams: B

One of the major keys to this game was controlling Eagles WRs DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin in the return game. By and large, the coverage units succeeded. Neither player had a significant return. On the other side, Sproles was unable to break a big return, but made a terrific play early in the game, fielding a punt at the Chargers' 8 yard line and preventing the Eagles from downing the ball inside the 5. P Mike Scifres and PK Nate Kaeding were their usual effective selves.

Coaching: B

For the 2nd straight week, Norv Turner took advantage of a ridiculous game plan by the opposing coach, this time the Eagles' Andy Reid. Turner was smarter in the use of his timeouts, and consistently kept the Eagles defense off balance with a good mix of run and pass plays. In particular, his use of the Wildcat netted a pair of nice runs for Tomlinson and Naanee. In this game, he was also smart not to get into a shootout against the Eagles offense. On defense, Ron Rivera applied the "bend-but-don't break" approach, and it was effective in keeping the Eagles out of the endzone for 3 quarters. In some instances, he was using a 2-man line, practically begging the Eagles to run the ball. To his credit, and the Eagles' coaches discredit, Philadelphia never really attempted to run the ball. Some changes need to be made to the safety blitzes and zone blitzes, as it appeared the Eagles were not surprised by any of the blitz calls.

Hidden Plays (Non scoring, non-turnover plays that directly affected the outcome):

In the 1st quarter, Eagles' LB Jeremiah Trotter commits a holding penalty that backs the Eagles offensive inside their own 5 yard line, leading to a bad punt and good field position on the Chargers 1st scoring drive.
In the 2nd quarter, Norv Tuner calls a counter on 3rd-and-inches with Darren Sproles. The play is stuffed and the Chargers give the ball back to the Eagles with some momentum.
Next Eagles possession - Brandon Siler drops an INT inside the Eagles' 30 yard line. The next play, RB Brian Westbrook gains 18 yards on a screen pass to set up the Eagles' 2nd scoring drive.
3rd quarter. The Eagles stuff Sproles on a run play, but the drive continues when DT Mike Patterson jumps offsides. Rivers' TD pass to Naanee occurs on the next play.
Naanee's excessive celebration forces the Chargers to kick off from their own 15 yard line, setting up the Eagles next possession at their own 47 yard line.
On the following drive, dropped INTs by Kevin Burnett and Stephen Cooper allow the Eagles to continue their 1st TD drive of the game.

Biggest Positives:

The emergence of a legitimate running game.
Rivers relies on receivers not named Vincent Jackson to make plays.
Showing resiliency on the final possession and denying the Eagles the opportunity for a game-winning TD drive.
Red zone defense was stout for 3 quarters.
Chargers have scored 10 TD in their last 11 trips inside the opponent's 20.

Biggest Areas of Concern:

Failure of blitzes to get consistent pressure on McNabb.
Erratic tackling in the secondary.
Success of opponents using slot (3rd and 4th) receivers.
Defense is unable to hold onto turnovers.

Looking ahead to:

Reclaiming 1st place with a victory over the Denver Broncos. I am expecting to enjoy eating some crow on Sunday evening. The Chargers need to attack the hell out of Denver QB Kyle Orton, especially with his gimpy ankle. Staying patient against the Broncos' defense will be key.

Bolts & Dolts: Eagles @ Chargers

John (obviousman) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:38:03 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates plows through Philadelphia Eagles' Asante Samuel, left, and Dimitri Patterson after catching one of his eight reception in the third quarter of the Chargers 31-23 victory during the a NFL football game Sunday Nov. 15, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Browse more photos »

When I got home from the Giants game last week (at about 10pm), I was still wearing my white LT jersey. As I mentioned last week, my jersey of choice is the powder-blue 17 but I had let my bodyguard/friend wear it during the game since it's much bigger and the 21 wouldn't have even fit him. Usually the 21 sits in the closet or my wife throws it on.

Anyways, I got home and, pumped off a dramatic and unlikely day, decided that the jersey was lucky. I declared that, until proven otherwise, the jersey was not to be washed and was going to be worn during all Chargers games. Based off of the jersey's performance yesterday (win vs. Eagles, loss for Broncos), I'd say it still has some good juju in it. An honorary Bolt goes to my lucky Tomlinson jersey for yesterday's victory.

Now, onto the real Bolts & Dolts....

Bolts

Offense

Philip Rivers - 20/25, 231 yds, 2 TDs. This may have been Philip's most efficient game all season. There was no inaccurate passes and even the 5 incomplete balls were either thrown out of bounds or catchable balls. He was feeling it yesterday and it's a big reason why the offense was able to put up 31 points.

LaDainian Tomlinson - 24 carries, 96 yds, 2 TDs. Welcome to the party, LT! A really strong game from him. The play call certainly helped. He was put behind the defense with draw plays when they were selling out, and the secondary couldn't focus on him because of their lack of talent at CB. It was a perfect scenario and LT came through in a big way. I wish he could've gotten over 100 yds, but I'm sure any game where he ends up with a 4.0 YPC is a good one in his book.

Antonio Gates - 7 catches, 78 yds. Think Antonio Gates worked on catching the ball after his 2 big drops last week? He was targeted 8 times and came up with the ball 7 of those times. The other time it was knocked away by a defender. This is a case of the coaching staff identifying a weakness (Eagles struggle covering TEs) and attacking it.

Legedu Naanee - 3 catches, 42 yds, 1 TD. I was worried about this. The Eagles had 2 good CBs to defend Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd, but nobody after that. Most teams would say "okay, the slot WR is going to have a big game", but Naanee had been almost invisible in this offense since the early part of the season up until last week against the Giants. Hopefully, with two big weeks in a row, he's turned a corner and will be a weekly weapon for Rivers. We know his upside (speed, size, hands, strength) and he put it to use in getting the TD catch and also with a clutch catch to extend the Chargers final offensive drive.

Mike Tolbert - 2 catches, 25 yds, 1 TD. Tolbert is really turning into a hell of a FB, and the player we all hoped he would become when he came burst on the scene last season. Not only was his TD grab awesome (he looks like Sproles when he gets the ball in his hands!), but his run-blocking was near-perfect all night.

Defense

Kevin Burnett - 9 tackles, 1 tackle-for-loss, 1 QB hit, 1 defended pass. Welcome back in a big way, KB. I was wondering how Burnett would react when I saw the e-mail that said Brandon Siler was getting the start. To be fair, Burnett led the team in tackles mostly because the Eagles targeted the MLBs in zone with their WRs. However, when he wasn't chasing 150-pound WRs, Burnett was making goal-line stands and defending TEs on big plays. Just another good all-around game from the new guy. Let's hope he can stay healthy now.

Paul Oliver - 6 tackles, 1 sack. Dare I say it? I think the SS-by-committee approach is working. Oliver plays very well in coverage, but doesn't offer much in run support. Kevin Ellison is a beast in run-support, but doesn't offer much in the way of coverage. You'd think this would make it easy for the offense, but Ron Rivera has been pressing the right buttons at this spot and it's working. Against the Eagles' pass-happy offense, Oliver played significantly more than Ellison and played well. Next week, against the Broncos team that is struggling to pass the ball and may be missing their starting QB, he may not see much of the field.

Quentin Jammer - 6 tackles. Not Q's best game in terms of coverage, but to be fair DeSean Jackson is probably twice as fast as him. However, Jammer's tackling was a game-changer. Especially when it was him on Brent Celek, one-on-one and Jammer won the battle (this happened at least twice). Huge game for him and I just hope there's no residual effects from that hit on his leg by Weddle.

Special Teams

Mike Scifres - 4 punts, 50 yd average, 2 inside opp. 20. Scifres is slowly, but surely, working his way back up the punting charts after playing for a few weeks with a tweaked groin. He's 8th in punting average, 10th in net punting average and 10th in the number on punts that have landed inside the opponents' 20 yard line. A lot of people are quick to hold every game he has against the one he played in Indy last season, but that's really unfair. That was a once-in-a-lifetime game for a guy that is still putting on great punting displays week-in and week-out.

Dolts

Offense

Darren Sproles/Norv Turner - 2 carries, 14 rush yds, 4 catches, 31 rec yds. The reason this is Darren/Norv is because Darren's bad game is half Norv's fault. Look at Norv's playcall on 3rd & short for the entire game:

(Shotgun) P.Rivers pass incomplete short right to V.Jackson.
D.Sproles left end to SD 33 for no gain (M.Fokou).
D.Sproles right tackle to PHI 25 for no gain (Q.Mikell, W.Witherspoon). PENALTY on PHI-R.Robinson, Defensive Offside, 5 yards, enforced at PHI 25 - No Play.
(Shotgun) P.Rivers pass short middle to L.Naanee to PHI 15 for 18 yards (V.Harris, W.Witherspoon).

If you disregard the penalty that kept that drive alive, that's a 25% conversion rate on 3rd & short. There's not a single run by LT, Jacob Hester or Mike Tolbert in that situation. I understand Sproles is quick/strong enough that he can usually get that last yard, but only when it's a surprise and it just isn't anymore. It's time to start trusting LT on 3rd & short again.

Defense

Pass-Rush - 2 sacks, 4 QB hits. It took 4 quarters, but I understand what the defensive gameplan was. The Chargers prevented the Eagles from throwing deep (for the most part) and then locked down when they got near to goal line. The gameplan was to try FGs for TDs, and it worked. Because they were often playing zone, this meant a lot less CB and Safety blitzes than we've become accustomed to lately. This meant less creativity on the defensive side of the football. Essentially the Chargers were rushing 4 or 5 guys on every play, and just about everyone knew who was coming and from where. The couple of times things got creative, it worked (Oliver's sack, Gregory blowing up the double-reverse).

I'm not saying there should've been more blitzes. I agree with the gameplan. However, I think Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips and Larry English were pretty easily handled and I did not like to see that. I don't want to believe that the only reason those guys were having success was because of all of the blitzing from elsewhere. I'll instead choose to believe that Merriman and Phillips injuries were the culprit.

Steve Gregory - 4 tackles. A lot of people were afraid that this game would eventually come, and it did. Gregory has shown himself to be an excellent player within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. He's great supporting the run, can stop the short pass and can even bump a WR when given the opportunity. He's tough. However, against the team like the Eagles that prefers to play downfield instead of near the line, he was exposed for his lack of footspeed. If you thought you saw more of Antoine Cason late in the game, you did.

SG will be fine. He'll continue to be an improvement over Cason in the short-passing game and in run support, so he'll keep his job for now. However, against a team like the Cowboys you'll probably see more of Cason covering downfield. This is just a matter of the coaches coaching according to their personnel.

Game Preview: Philadelphia Eagles at San Diego Chargers

John (obviousman) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:00:27 -0000

Is anyone else worried that this might be a let-down game? The Chargers are coming off a huge victory against the Giants in New York and are returning home to play an Eagles team that's on the verge of turmoil (aren't they always?) after losing to the Dallas Cowboys. The Bolts have the momentum and many people are picking them to win. Here are the two things that are worrying me about this game:

Everyone knows how big the Broncos game is. If the Chargers are going to make a run at the division championship, they need to win that game. It's been a focus of the fans all week and the Eagles have almost become an afterthought. Let us hope Norv has been able to keep this team focused on this week.
Although the team has been improved since the bye week, the only team they've soundly defeated during that stretch is the Chiefs. The Chargers were pushed around again by the Raiders and needed a last-minute drive to beat the struggling Giants. The main reason for these close wins is the offense going silent for long periods of time in the second half. My thinking is, if the offense can die for an entire quarter it can stay silent much longer.

Doing each one of these game previews, I usually bring everything back to the "worst case scenario". This is really how I think about everything in the future. Usually the worst case scenario for the Chargers is a shootout, which they can usually win based off of the strength of their offense. However, I don't know that the Chargers could beat the Eagles in a shootout.

I don't know, I have a lot of doubts about this game. I know we have momentum and good feelings, but that doesn't win football games. Let's break down the stats and see what they tell us.

When the Eagles Have the Ball

Off. Yds/Game: 15th

Off. Pts/Game: 4th

3rd Down %: 22nd

Time of Possession: 26th

Pass Yds/Game: 15th

40+ Yd Pass Plays: 10 (1st)

Rush Yds/Game: 17th

Rush Yds/Att: 4.7 (5th)

All of these stats add up to something very simple: Stop DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Obviously the Eagles struggle to put together long drives and score mostly on big plays. Luckily for Chargers fans, stopping the big plays has been a specialty of the defense (and especially the secondary) this season. Stopping 3rd down conversions is another story...

via twiggs.org

Def. Yds/Game: 11th

Def. Pts/Game: 20th

3rd Down %: 28th

Pass Yds/Game: 5th

40+ Yd Pass Plays: 2 (5th)

Rush Yds/Game: 26th

Rush Yds/Att: 4.2 (13th)

Advantage: Tie. Coming from somebody who lives in Philly and has watched a fair share of Philly games, there's no way of predicting what will happen. There's a 50% chance that Donovan McNabb is incredibly accurate and Brian Westbrook is unstoppable. There's also a 50% chance that McNabb can't complete a pass and Westbrook can't get any significant yards (yes, even against the Chargers "warm butter" run defense).

Luckily for the Chargers, and for us fans, this is a strength vs. strength matchup. The Eagles offense will test the Bolts' secondary, which has been good all year and is getting better with addition of a real pass rush. That gives me more hope than if San Diego were facing a team that relies heavily on a power running attack.

When the Chargers Have the Ball

Off. Yds/Game: 17th

Off. Pts/Game: 9th

3rd Down %: 12th

Time of Possession: 28th

Pass Yds/Game: 7th

40+ Yd Pass Plays: 8 (5th)

Rush Yds/Game: 32nd

Rush Yds/Att: 32nd

It's kindof amazing that the Chargers are 5-3 and surging with the league's worst running game.

via www.eagles-football-fansite.info

Def. Yds/Game: 10th

Def. Pts/Game: 8th

3rd Down %: 6th

Pass Yds/Game: 11th

40+ Yd Pass Plays: 3 (9th)

Rush Yds/Game: 10th

Rush Yds/Att: 3.6 (4th)

Advantage: Eagles. While the Eagles defense isn't bad, they're ranked about as well as the Giants defense, they lost their nickel and dime cornerbacks during this week. That is a weakness that can be exploited with Legedu Naanee and maybe even Kassim Osgood. That can be paired with the height disadvantage (all of the Philly CBs are 5'10") for some opening in the passing game. One thing is for sure, Philip Rivers will not hesitate to throw to his tall WRs downfield if they're covered one-on-one.

The key to this game is Nick Hardwick. Rivers won't survive against the Eagles' complicated blitzes without somebody on the line that can figure out where the blitz is coming from. If Hardwick plays, there's a much better chance of keeping the QB upright and throwing downfield.

Fancy Stats (DVOA Rankings)

via www.bostonherald.com

San Diego Chargers

Offense: 16th

Pass Offense: 9th

Rush Offense: 30th

Defense: 23rd

Pass Defense: 14th

Rush Defense: 27th

Philadelphia Eagles

Offense: 12th

Pass Offense: 15th

Rush Offense: 9th

Defense: 1st

Pass Defense: 1st

Rush Defense: 12th

Chris Chambers Released By San Diego Chargers

John (obviousman) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:04 -0000

Chris Chambers

#89 / Wide Receiver / San Diego Chargers

Height: 5-11

Weight: 210

Born: Aug 12, 1978

College: Wisconsin

I understand his play has been poor, but after making arguably the best play of the game Chris Chambers is out on the streets.

Chris Chamber was the catalyst for the 2007 Chargers' run to the playoffs. His production has declined since then, but he's always been fairly reliable in clutch situations and in playoff games. Against the Raiders, Malcom Floyd took his spot as the starting WR opposite Vincent Jackson.

This makes Legedu Naanee, who has disappeared since having a good start to the season, the Bolts' new slot receiver.

Chambers' 2009 stats:

	Receiving						Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	Lng	TD	KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
4	9	122	30.5	13.6	20	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0