SB Nation - Kris Dielman

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.

Stat of the Day: Grading the San Diego Chargers Offensive Line

John (obviousman) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:42:45 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

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About a week ago, somebody in the comments here (and forgive me for forgetting who it was) pointed me in the direction of a former HS football coach who was grading Chargers offensive linemen on every single play to give everyone a good idea of who was playing well and who wasn't. He was posting his findings on Facebook and the Chargers.com forums, but not here.

I reached out to him, to see if I could convince him to post his stuff here as well. Seeing as how most of us are stat-geeks, I assured him there'd be an audience for it. I finally got my response yesterday, in the form of an awesome spreadsheet. Go ahead and click on that link. It should open up the spreadsheet, which shows Paul's grades on every play for the Chargers games played in Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 8.

Looking just at last week's game against Oakland would probably be the best way to gauge where the San Diego offensive line is at. Louis Vasquez and Scott Mruczkowski have had enough time that their mistakes should be behind them, the line has been healthy enough for the past few weeks that they should have started to gel. So here's how they ranked against the Raiders:

Marcus McNeill - 1.8482
Louis Vasquez - 1.8482
Kris Dielman - 1.8035
Jeromey Clary - 1.7946
Scott Mruczkowski - 1.7678

Did that surprise anybody? Me neither. McNeill and Vasquez have both been playing solid football all season (when healthy). Dielman is definitely not playing at a Pro Bowl level. Clary has been good, but not great. Mooch has shown himself to be an okay backup, but not a potential starter.

Looking back at the Week 1 game in Oakland, the highest rated offensive lineman by far was Nick Hardwick. Hopefully he can get back this week and be the piece that gets the offensive line back to being dominating.

I know these stats are somewhat arbitrary. Somebody's opinion rather than official statistics. However, when it comes to offensive linemen this is really all we have. I think Paul has done an excellent job breaking down these games (you can get lost in that spreadsheet of his), and I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table in the future.

One stat I noticed, while perusing the stats for these four games, is how far the offensive balance has come. In the first 3 games of the season, the closest the Chargers got to "balance" was when they threw only 11 times more than they ran it against the Dolphins. In the Week 8 game against the Raiders, Norv called 28 runs to go with the 28 passes. How's that for balance?

Stat of the Day: Chargers' Offensive Linemen

John (obviousman) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:00:38 -0000

Holy crap. I just found the most in-depth stats for offensive linemen and I couldn't be happier. Not by the stats (haven't scoured them all yet), but just by having a legitimate way for statistical analysis on offensive linemen. Let's look through the Chargers' offensive linemen through the first 6 games of 2009 and see how they've played.....

	G	Pen	Pen Yds	False Start	Holding	Sacks Allwd	Sack Yds
McNeill	6	0	0	0	0	3.0	21.5
Dielman	6	2	20	1	0	1.0	3.5
Hardwick	1	0	0	0	0	0.5	1.0
Vasquez	4	0	0	0	0	1.0	11.0
Clary	6	2	15	1	1	4.5	25.5
Mruczkowski	6	1	10	0	1	0.5	5.0
Dombrowski	6	4	25	2	1	1.0	8.0

The one thing I don't like about these stats is that they're all about pass-protection. Looking at these, Louis Vasquez looks like he's having the best year. Then again, at times he's been a weakness in the running game (he doesn't pull very well). Also, it's not surprising that Jeromey Clary and Marcus McNeill's sack numbers are higher than everyone else's, consider they're going up against the best pass-rushers on the opposing team every week.

All in all, the offensive line's protection of Philip Rivers has not been good. The star QB has been sacked on 6.6% of passing plays, 20th worst in the league. Now, with the stats factored in, is my personal ranking of the Chargers offensive linemen this season (with Nick Hardwick left out):

McNeill
Vasquez
Dielman
Clary
Mruczkowski
Dombrowski

By the way, to compare some of these stats against past seasons.....

Marcus McNeill allowed 3 sacks in all of 2008 and allowed 9.5 in 2007. Statistically, McNeill has had 1 bad season (2007) and 2.5 really good ones.
Kris Dielman's 2009 numbers are on-pace to be pretty much average for him. However, I think where he's struggled is in run-blocking. I think he misses Hardwick next to him.
Statistically, Jeromey Clary is having a worse season in 2009 than he had in 2008. He allowed 7 sacks in 2008 and he's on pace to allow 12 in 2009. He's gotten better at avoiding false starts though. I believe the team signed him to a 1-year deal in hopes that they'd see improvement. Although I thought, from watching the games, that he was having a better year....that appears to not be the case.

Broncos Thoughts and Musings - A look back at Chargers Week

Emmett Smith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:00:30 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

2 months ago: Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, center, goes over the top of San Diego Chargers linebackers Tim Dobbins (51) and Stephen Cooper (54) while gaining two yards for a first down in the third quarter of the NFL football game Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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Having taken a 'bye' week of my own, I thought that I'd put together a few musings for the general group. Before getting into the meat of this week's offering, though, I'd like to take a minute to mention a phenomena that has been showing its ugly face around Broncos Country. I'm talking about the problems of our fans having a 'Shanahangover': the sinking belief that the issues of the past years, in which the Broncos look good enough to fool us and lull us into a state of complacency before succumbing to a massive blowout (often to an inferior team) and shattering our dreams, could resurface in 2009. It's a dangerous disease, but fatal only to those who believe that this year's team has something in common with the teams of the past - notably, the past three seasons. Time will tell, but I don't see this happening any longer.

I've read this from a few of the members and in other blogs and sites: "The Broncos have fooled us before." It's true, too, but that was before a new sheriff, deputy, posse, marksman and scouts came into the picture. No matter what you've seen in the past, this team has little or nothing to do with the Ghosts of Seasons Past. The improvement in the coaching, performance of players, attitude and execution is light years beyond what we as fans are used to. Whether it's our team or another, living in the past is an exercise in misunderstanding the present. This is not last year's Broncos. It's a whole new experience.

As an example, Arrowhead Stadium is likely to be a tough place to win; but it's not because the Broncos haven't played well there in the past. They often didn't, but that's not a matter for this year's team. It's a windswept, loud, raucous place to play. It's hard to hear signals if the place is full and I don't take any game lightly, particularly a division rival. While I do think that the Chiefs are in early stages of an upswing, I'm not at all concerned that they're better than Denver or that they will beat us, even in their own house. Our veterans aren't going to take games off and they're not going to let the younger players take anyone lightly. If the Broncos play anywhere near their skill level, they're just too good for most teams. We've got a lot of great contests coming up, but one thing that doesn't concern me at all is the possibility that we will revert to the habits of seasons past. It's not going to happen, so put it out of your mind.

Charging into the Future

Before the Monday Night Football game that extended the Broncos' record to 6-0, Chargers TE Antonio Gates said, "One thing that gives us a chance is that we're still in the hunt in the AFC West. We never said it had to be pretty, and it wasn't pretty last year." After the game, it was a lot uglier. If Gates believes that the Chargers are still in the hunt, he needs to define his terms pretty quickly.

"It's tough to always be in this situation," Gates said afterward. "We didn't plan on being here. We didn't plan on being 8-8 last year either. But here we are. We have to keep working, or it could snowball and turn into a losing streak."

"We didn't plan on getting here." If there are words perfectly suited for failure, I think those should be high on the list. "We didn't plan on being here." Yes, that about covers it.

Bear in mind that they also didn't plan well enough to avoid it. They didn't run the extra sprints that the Broncos endured to get in better shape than their opponents. They didn't make the personnel moves that the Broncos did, realizing that no matter how good you were supposed to be, an 8-8 record will rarely get you into the postseason. They didn't identify the weaknesses that they had, nor the ones that could arise with age, injury and contract status. They didn't do enough to prepare themselves for the fact that Shawne Merriman was very unlikely to have a great year this year. Few will, after the kind of surgery that he had. In short - they didn't plan to succeed, either.

I'm sympathetic to their injury issues among linemen. That's tough and often unpredictable. But even there - is it a shock that Jamal Williams (who's had more surgeries than an aging Hollywood ingenue) would start to break down? Nick Hardwick has had a lot of injuries, plenty of surgeries (and I thought that Scott Mruczkowski did a very good job until Mike Nolan outfoxed him). Igor Olshansky was going to be gone. I wrote last spring about the issues that the Chargers were going to be experiencing, and I'm no expert. So, what happened?

Three things, I'd argue, and all are common: arrogance, lassitude and reversion to the mean. Arrogance in this case includes believing that you can start out poorly season after season and still make up the ground - the continuing decline of their schedule argues against that. But the arrogance also includes the behavior of individuals, including fighting within the team that is seen in public. Then there's lassitude, as in admitting, as A.J. Smith did last February, that the Chargers' woes were in great part on him but not doing more about it. And reversion to the mean: this is a team that has been heading for mediocrity (and how obvious can that be, after going 8-8?) for some time. It needed major help, and it got a few band-aids.

I loved the Kevin Burnett pickup, and it's just bad fortune that he's hurt. I liked the Larry English draft pick, and he's getting there. I also liked the Louis Vasquez draft pick, and he's developing quickly. I can't even fathom the Kynan Forney (who's since been released) or Travis Johnson pickups, though. The Bolts tended to stand pat with a suspect secondary, didn't develop their depth and accepted on faith that bad performances were anomalies instead of facts. It bought them a game in which a stellar performance by Philip Rivers wasn't enough, in which Nolan and McDaniels out-coached Ron Rivera and Norv Turner and in which the best the Chargers could bring wasn't close to enough.

There will, as Merriman pointed out, be a rematch. I look forward to it, and I'm sure the Broncos do. Stating before the game that 'the Broncos can't stop me' wasn't Rivers' smartest move. Claiming that they will get revenge after the game wasn't Merriman's, but I do appreciate the help those things gave Denver. If the Broncos needed any aid in getting up for the home half of this series, which I greatly doubt, they won't after that night's statements.

Arrogance...some things don't change.

Losing the Locker Room

That same arrogance has infected the locker room and the very attitude of the Chargers. You could see in a single moment why the Chargers have problems with their team very clearly during the first quarter of the Monday night game. The Chargers bogged down at the goal line - LaDainian Tomlinson was stopped short of the goal line twice. They took him out on the third play and put in Darren Sproles, trying to take advantage of a seam that Turner had seen. Tomlinson paced the sidelines, obviously complaining bitterly about not being in. The Broncos stopped Sproles and the Bolts short again, and they settled for kicking the FG.

It got me to thinking. Last year at this time, the Chargers were starting slow, appeared unmotivated and perhaps even ill-prepared. Tomlinson was also complaining - about the play calling, the offensive line, and not getting enough carries. Now, imagine that he was in orange and blue. How likely is it that a Bronco would do that - two years running? If you consider that Turner's team has gone from 14-2 before he arrived, to slow starts three years running, you start to see why that might be true. Players fight with management in the media. The GM insults his team, as A.J. Smith did by calling their play 'soft'. Nowhere is there a sign that adults are in charge. Merriman has a public feud with Smith, dating back a couple of seasons. Smith doesn't like his side jobs, feeling that it takes away from the team. LDT fights with Turner, expresses his feelings and tussles with Smith this past offseason, very publicly. Smith gets quickly pulled into it. No one wins.

This past week, it was wide receiver Chris Chambers. A non-factor for quite a while now, he was complaining to the press that his snaps are being taken by Malcolm Floyd. I don't know what he expected - he's not gaining separation, he's not getting open and he hasn't shown a ton of skill at fighting for the ball. But he's still touting himself as if it were three seasons ago and he was doing good things. It's the kind of thing that you're not seeing from the Broncos, the kind of thing that tells you when a franchise is in disarray.

I can't even express my gratitude for the fact that Josh McDaniels has very good management skills. He won't carry arguments into the media, rarely gets flustered and keeps things behind closed doors. I've fired people for the kinds of destructive behavior that I've seen from the Chargers over the past two years. Those who claim that this is football and that it's really okay to have things this way should consider how the Broncos do handle things -- and how their team acts and plays. As in, as a unit. As a real team, one that's going good places. It matters. Once in a while, a dysfunctional team has a good year. Most of the time, though, they flame out, and the talent levels don't matter enough to get them where they want to go. That's happening in San Diego, and while it's good for the Broncos, it's an obvious sign of the Bolts organization needing a makeover.

Asked before the MNF debacle, LDT was asked what he saw in the Charger's locker room. "It's a quiet confidence. You look in each man's eyes in that locker room, you can tell there is something extra."

Did they also see that you'd be pacing the sidelines, yelling and pouting, LDT? Perhaps not. That's one reason that the Chargers are 3 games back. Even worse for the Bolts and better for the Broncos, LDT hasn't been alone.

Beating Kansas City has given the Bolts a brief respite, but that's hardly a road back into the land of the competitive. While I do think that the Denver game as been a wakeup call of Shakespearean proportions for San Diego, their problems run too deep to permit them to make the late season run this year profitable. The game in Denver will be a grudge match. Given the state of the raiders and Chiefs, that's a good thing. It may keep thing much more interesting.

Some Other Stats that Matter (With apologies to Lebowski)

What did the Broncos do right so far this year? It's a long list, but try these perspectives on the rushing game:

Stuffs per carry - Correll Buckhalter, 4th, at 0.043 Knowshon Moreno at 9th, with 0.061
Stuffed: Best in league - It only happened on 8 plays. Despite the issues that can improve in short yardage, the problem isn't with negative plays.
YPC: Buck, 1st, 6.7 Broncos 11th, 4.3
Yards: Broncos 7th, 798
Big play rushes: tied for 9th, 20
100-yard rushers against: 0
100 yards rushing by opposing teams: 0
Passes dropped, over 6 games: 5. Four of those came in the first two weeks. It's all about doing your job and doing it right.

Let's also look at the percentage of rushing versus passing plays. Going back to the offseason, Doug (nycbroncosfan) and I published the "Divining Josh McDaniels" series. We said at the time that McD had been viewed at being more of a passing kind of guy than he really deserved. It was true when McD was in NE and it is true in Denver. We're in 8th, with 47.7% rushing and therefore 52.3% passing - a very even, balanced attack. Over the last 4 years, McDaniels had averaged 43.1% rushing plays. That seems low, but it's not if you look at how the team was structured. In 2008 that number was 46.8% rushing and that was similar to 2006 as well. On the other years, the passing game was working too well to minimize it. Josh McD believes in maximizing all of your skill sets and using the ones that the defense lets you win with, whether it's the pass or the run. As you would expect, he's attempting to make sure hat both are viable options. It's that simple. By getting Moreno, Buckhalter, Orton, the O-line and the receiving corps, he can go either way with complete confidence. That makes it very hard to stop the Broncos' offense.

You might also look at how the aging, decrepit defensive secondary is doing. Teams have been challenging Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins and getting their hats handed to them. Take a look at these stats: Bailey is tied for 2nd in the league with 8 passes defensed; Dawkins is tied for 11th with 6.

The Broncos have two players in the top 11 in the NFL in passes defensed -- and both players are over 30. That's a stat that not a lot of casual fans follow, but it tells you a lot about a team. It tells you that the Broncos have age, wisdom and maturity in the defensive secondary. Experienced players know how to communicate and that skill is constantly undervalued. It also tells you that those who believe that Champ Bailey, Andre' Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill are 'losing a step' need to find their argument. Dawkins and Bailey are among the league leaders and are getting some payback on the 'lost a step' crowd. Andre' Goodman and Renaldo Hill are playing the best ball of their careers. The young guys, Alphonso Smith and Jack Williams, are also paying well and Darcel McBath has already shown why we drafted him on defense as well as by leading the team on special-teams tackles.

I'll be back later today with more Thoughts and Musings...

The Offensive Line Part 4: A Failure Not Earned

John Morgan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:00:42 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

It's hard not to be mad after yesterday's travesty, but class, and the ability to direct one's anger where it belongs, separates the losers of yesterday and the losers of tomorrow.

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Offensive line, right? It's a joke made thousands of times since 2005. From what little I saw of yesterday's game, the line was bad enough to kill the offense itself. The Seahawks week six line, Kyle Williams - Steve Vallos - Chris Spencer - Max Unger - Ray Willis, is the worst line Seattle has started since Tim Ruskell took over. Williams and Vallos are essentially replacement level talent, and Spencer to Willis is not the kind of intimidating right side that can hide a piecemeal left.

Seattle was poorly built but lucky in 2007 and as things turn out, it has been well built but unlucky in 2009. Kyle Williams was never meant to start. Seattle imported a player from across the country to keep Williams on its practice squad. Williams was buried behind Sean Locklear, Brandon Frye and theoretically Walter Jones.

Let's blow up the Jones situation again. Jones underwent microfracture knee surgery last fall. I thought that might be the end of his career, but I was in error. It might still be the end of his playing career, but Jones is very much a Seahawk and very much on the Seahawks roster. He cost $8.6 million against the cap each of the last two seasons and I believe costs even more than that this season. Maybe Jones is never going to play again, but in Ruskell's world, Jones is an investment and a failing one Seattle can't shake.

Before training camp, Jones passed his physicals. His microfracture surgery was a success. The rub is that the procedure is not likely to preserve Jones career and its short term consequences have left Jones unable to play. So the greatest player in Seahawks history, through no fault of his own or others, has become a big, fat boondoggle.

Seattle did invest into its tackle position. It signed Locklear to a contract with incentives if he stuck at left tackle. Locklear has been reasonably healthy and had shown some skills that could translate. The team was not relying on Locklear for its future, but with the entire tackle situation queered by Jones health, Locklear represented a cheap, low-downside bridge from the Jones era to whatever followed. Seattle re-signed Ray Willis to a two-year, inexpensive contract. Willis seems like a steal now that his early-career health problems are behind him. Funny how unpredictable injuries are.

Seattle's success kept it just outside 2008's historic offensive tackle class and it's hard to discredit Seattle for selecting Aaron Curry fourth overall in 2009. Linebacker is not typically a foundational position, but Stafford was gone, Sanchez was iffy, the tackle class overblown -- its best talent taken at two and its second best talent Andre Smith. Eugene Monroe is tossed around, but Monroe had serious injury concerns. He started the season for Jacksonville but has since been benched. If you saw the solution to Seattle's offensive line woes on October 11, you weren't sitting in Qwest Field.

At the time and in the short term, Curry appears to be the right pick. Seattle then traded its second round pick for the 2010 first round pick of the Denver Broncos. It was team with a rookie coach, Kyle Orton at quarterback and one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2008. It was a smart decision then and whatever has happened since doesn't change that.

Unless it wasn't a smart decision. Eben Britton was available. He is playing right tackle now and may forever play right tackle. Seattle could have selected Andy Levitre, though Levitre is a guard. It could have drafted William Beatty, but neither player has done much for their respective teams. Instead it traded that pick for a better pick and traded back into the second to draft Max Unger. Unger has started all season and seems mostly competent for a rookie right guard.

So it was a smart decision. And yet Seattle's offensive line is in ruins. That is a microcosm for this entire debate. Tim Ruskell has made many smart decisions, but the Seahawks are not winning games. A general manager's job is to build a winning football team. Seattle is 6-20 over the last two seasons. It has clear and recognizable weaknesses at offensive line and in the secondary. Both are units Ruskell has invested in.

Ruskell drafted Ray Willis and he starts. He drafted Chris Spencer and Spencer starts, but has missed time because of injury. He draft Rob Sims and Sims starts, but has missed time because of injury. He drafted Unger, the rookie. He signed Sean Locklear as a low-downside stop-gap until the team could know what to do with Walter Jones, and Locklear's injury has been felt worst of all. He drafted Steve Vallos and Mansfield Wrotto, but Vallos has shifted around and started bad. Wrotto can't seem to impress Seattle's coaches. He got Brandon Frye for nothing, but Frye went down, and Williams for nothing, his asking price, and Damion McIntosh for almost nothing, but maybe a week too late.

Ruskell built his line through the draft and without great expenditure. His picks have been mostly mild to moderate successes. He may not envision an elite line or maybe just never saw value when Seattle was on the clock. That might be arguable, but it isn't indefensible.

So how did the offensive line become offensive? Injuries, age and one very bad decision, it would seem. Steve Hutchinson hangs over Ruskell. Walter Jones, Robbie Tobeck and Chris Gray got old. Jones, through not fault of anyone, has become a burden. Locklear, the young tackle many were gushing about in 2005 has suffered a rash of disconnected injuries. Sims, the young guard many were gushing about in 2006 has suffered a rash of disconnected injuries. Kris Dielman said "no". Unger is a rookie. Spencer has been competent and not too long ago was a steady, established starter. Mike Wahle filled in for a season before his body broke down. Tom Ashworth was expunged. No one Ruskell inherited from 2004 except Hutchinson who was worth retaining wasn't retained.

Revisiting Ruskell's decisions when they were made does not reveal great missed opportunities, but missed opportunities. It does not reveal a general manager that ran a historically great line into the ground, but instead one crucial mistake and the irrepressible destructiveness of time. It does not reveal a man who ignored the line, but added good talent to it, good overall, good respective to the available players and good respective to their cost. It reveals that yesterday's game, awful as it was, is the kind of game every franchise endures. Ozzie Newsome saw it week one of 2007. Bill Polian saw it in week three of 1987.

They saw, we saw, an everyday, frustrating as hell, meltdown -- The kind that happens every Sunday. But there's no heads to call for and no easy answers to rebuilding.

The Offensive Line Part 3: The Healthy Year

John Morgan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:51:01 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Players like Matt Hasselbeck make but also create hard decisions. He has been undoubtedly Seattle's greatest quarterback ever, but when is too soon to prepare for the future? And how can you win when you know the player you acquire is not likely better than Hasselbeck's past?

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Steve Hutchinson is an amazing talent. Seattle wasn't building a line of amazing talents. Chris Gray was sagging, Walter Jones in decline, Sean Locklear as serviceable as ever and Chris Spencer and Rob Sims still getting their feet wet. But it had a healthy line. Jones missed one game, the only game missed by Seattle's starting five, and he missed that game as a precaution. It's not well remembered today, but Seattle's 2007 offense was good, even with Shaun Alexander. It was a twelth ranked offense and a 9^th ranked passing offense. The run game was solid outside of Alexander. Maurice Morris had his best season as a pro.

Seattle was healthy in 2007 and other than right guard, it did not seem to have pressing needs at offensive line. Jones was writing the book on modern dominance at left tackle and his historic peers at the position commonly played into their mid- to late-thirties. Sims and Spencer were the subject of Mike Holmgen's scorn, but neither player played that bad, and both were still very young at a position that historically peaks late.

The big flub happened in 2006 and hurt Seattle in the 2007 draft. Tim Ruskell traded the Seahawks first round pick for Deion Branch and then signed him to a six-year, $39 million. He desperately wanted out from Darrell Jacksons's contract, could not retain Joe Jurevicius after Vicious signed for less to play for his hometown Browns, had no interest in keeping Jeremy Stevens, was about to lose Bobby Engram to Graves Disease, and had signed Nate Burleson as a inexpensive project wide receiver and return man. Burleson has fulfilled both roles well. He has cost Seattle $2, $3.5 and $4 million against the cap his first three seasons.

Ruskell saw the Seahawks a contender and didn't see a better opportunity to add a wide receiver. He may have reached a bit, but the enormity of his decision is overblown. Late first round picks are seldom superstars and often outright busts. Had Seattle switched Branch for a generic, late-first round receiver, that receiver would have underperformed the disappointing Branch. It could have used that pick elsewhere however. It could have drafted Ben Grubbs, Arron Sears or Justin Blalock. All three have been solid, though Sears career may be over after a frightening concussion.

This marks the point where we can first say Ruskell was deemphasizing the offensive line. He didn't add significant talent in a significantly talented class, opting instead to draft project player, Mansfield Wrotto, in the fourth. The team made a run at Kris Dielman, but when Dielman frowned at Seattle's weather and went home to San Diego to sign for less, the Seahawks didn't have a plan ‘B'. Its good health at offensive line may have hidden a rotting foundation. Chris Gray started 16 but arguably shouldn't have started one. Excepting Jones, it wasn't very talented, and the youth movement Ruskell started with Spencer, Willis and Sims, was not added to or challenged. Tom Ashworth and Floyd Womack were still primary depth and the most promising successor to Jones was Locklear.

The year that Ruskell's plan was its most effective was also the year Ruskell's plan looked most ominous. Seattle didn't land one of that free agent class's big name guards and didn't acquire talent that could start in a pinch. Had the same injuries occurred that year as have this, Seattle was thinner and weaker and more likely to collapse with Tom Ashworth, Mansfield Wrotto and Steve Vallos thrust into action than even Kyle Williams, modern Wrotto and modern Vallos.

But it didn't and line depth didn't seem like such an awful big deal in 2007. What line could look good blocking Shaun Alexander? It had young parts, an ageless veteran and a defense that was starting to look like the future of the team.

Matching up with the Chargers

Emmett Smith — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:30:15 -0000

More photos » by Chris Schneider - AP

Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels salutes the crowd after the Broncos defeated the New England Patriots 20-17 in overtime in an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

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Living in San Diego now (up north, in Carlsbad), I've had a classic opportunity to follow and spy on the Chargers. Milling around the town, lounging on the beach, watching the newspapers and the tube analysis, as well as breaking down the games, I had a year-long chance to get a little insight into the team. I wanted to share with you some of the things that I've seen over that time. The Bolts are a walking contradiction, just as they are every year, of late. They're starting slow, they have seemed unmotivated and they're been fighting injuries. They are going to be playing for their season, though. It's a great Monday night matchup, and I'm going to enjoy it.

So saying, here's to 5-0, 6-0, and another Monday Night slugfest!

Denver vs. San Diego

This is probably one of the best opportunities that Denver will have this year. They can take this one on the road and put SD in a deep, deep hole - IF they can control the tempo of this game. I've been living in SD for 15 months now, and spying on the Chargers organization the entire time. I have a lot of respect for them. Taking them lightly will get you beaten, but Denver won't do that. In that fact, can lie the road to victory.

Let's take it one area at a time. I'm going to start where every game starts - with the Trench Warfare (dedicated to firstfan):

Denver O-line vs. the Chargers D-line.

This is one battle that I think Denver can win hands down. Again - I'm not suggesting that it will be easy, just that it's very winnable. Ryan Clady is the best in the game. Ryan Harris is healthier, Casey Wiegmann is doing fine and while I'm not excited about Russ Hochstein, I do think that he's up to the job. I also think that Chris Kuper is better than any fans (even Denver fans) give him credit for. Like most fans, I'm worried about Ben Hamilton, but I do think that he's up to this one if he plays. Perhaps he will do better at center, perhaps he's fading a bit. That's why grooming Seth Olsen makes so much sense.

On the Bolts' side of the ball, it's a different story. Jamal Williams is injured; he's also pushing 35, is gone for the year, and (in my mind) probably won't be back next season. He's most likely done, and SD didn't find anyone to get prepared and polished for this moment. Bad planning, A.J. Smith (Chargers GM). Igor Olshansky was uneven in his play and a problem in the locker room last year, so they don't miss him. However, Ryon Bingham was supposed to replace him and he's on injured reserve. Jacques Cesaire, backing up Bingham, has some injury problems of his own. A local rookie made good in Ogemdi Nwagbuo is trying to handle NT.

Luis Castillo has been uneven but can't be overlooked. Monster Vaughn Martin from Canada isn't ready for the NFL game, but he's probably the Chargers' future at NT, at least as the roster is currently set. The Chargers found a warm body in Alfonso Boone, formerly of the Chiefs. If a Chiefs castoff is your option at DL, you're in seriously deep kimchi (Note - Seoul Food, on 6th Avenue, is/was a very fine restaurant for those who like Korean cuisine). Travis Johnson, a recent Chargers acquisition from the Houston Texans, has had issues with motivation and injury; but he will now be back for Monday's game, as will all players except Center Nick Hardwick. The current plan is for Johnson to take some of the reps at NT which he played for 14 games in 2008 for Houston, although that was in a 4-3 line.

Backing up the front line on the Chargers side are the linebackers. Shawne Merriman is still trying to recover from his knee surgery. He won't be fully back until next season (and he may be working for another team by then), but he will be on the field. The rest of the Chargers LBs are good, but not stars; they brought in Kevin Burnett from Dallas, and he's played well. 1st-round draft pick Larry English will be a very good-to-great one, but not this year. Shaun Phillips, Antwan Applewhite, Stephen Cooper, Tim Dobbins, and Brandon Siler fill out the squad. Jyles Tucker spent some time injured last year, but he showed enough for the Chargers to know that he has serious potential. Even so, they aren't a bad squad, but they seem disorganized and unmotivated. The Broncos have a chance here to paste one on them.

Denver's offensive playmakers vs. Chargers secondary:

The first fact that Denver has to face is that one of the trade-offs to Kyle Orton's incredible home record is that he hasn't been as effective on the road prior to this season. That may not be a concern, since everything this year is different, but it's something to watch for. Orton's numbers are good and becoming much more so.

In fact, Orton has a better QB rating right now than Philip Rivers. He's got a much better TD/INT ratio (Orton - 7/1, Rivers - 6/3 in 1 fewer game). Orton also has an INT percentage of 0.6%; Rivers is 12th in the league at 2.0% - not bad, but not as good. Overall, Rivers is a top-5 QB -- in theory. But right now, his playmakers aren't producing like Orton's and that's affecting his numbers.

The Denver running game is better than the Chargers' front 7. Knowshon Moreno is coming into his own, and he's going to be very good indeed. LaDainian Tomlinson has been out, injured. He should be back, but even so - he's been playing like he's getting older and isn't the same. I love Darren Sproles, but he's not an all-game answer.

The Denver WRs could have a stellar day. The secondary of SD is being coached by Steve Wilks, formerly of Chicago a friend of Ron Rivera's who came over to help Ron out. The Bolts are playing in the secondary like they're being coached by Pee Wee Herman.

I speak periodically with Bolts From The Blue Contributing Editor Brian; he got his start on MHR and he's a well-informed, interesting guy who is open about sharing his knowledge. This is what he had to say about the Chargers' secondary following their loss to the Steelers...

I think it's also time to pull Cromartie for Cason; he is just a train wreck out there. And why Rivera stuck with deep zones when they were eating us alive underneath, I have no clue. I still have a lot of belief in the linebackers, but time will tell. We have almost no sacks; from AJ's perspective he is losing a ton of talent this year and these guys look to be mailing it in sometimes. I guess that is the heart of it; they perform exceptionally in spots and weakly in others, it is strange considering how many could be making a play for a starting job.

I don't have a lot to add. He's pretty much nailed it. Eric Weddle was laid out by the Steelers, Clinton Hart was doing so-so but the Chargers released him Wednesday in a surprise move in order to add DT Ian Scott. Antonio Cromartie looks terrible. Steve Gregory is playing alright, but this isn't a group that inspires confidence. At this point, they claim that they're still not sure who will start in Hart's place, but 6th round pick Kevin Ellison is one option. When you consider that they aren't stopping the run effectively and that the line isn't bringing pressure to stop the pass, this could be a long day for the Chargers defense.

Chargers offense against the Denver defense:

Philip Rivers is always dangerous; in fact, he's the only reason that SD is in the race at all. The Chargers O-line has been porous and despite his relative mobility, Rivers has been sacked 10 times in 4 games. His QB rating is down to 90.2 after a year's rating of 105.5 last year. It's mostly because of the O-line, and I'll get to that in a moment.

But there is a strength that I haven't discussed for the Chargers. Before the season I was talking to Brian, of Bolts from the Blue; he noted that Rivers had a lot of skills and strengths, but that he just hadn't mastered the long ball yet. His deep passes were a weakness that other teams could exploit. That's not at all so anymore. Rivers has completed 16 passes of 20 yards or longer, with 4 surpassing 40 yards; both place him among the NFL's leaders despite having been on bye last week.

Look for Rivers to throw mostly out of the shotgun. After going from the shotgun on 16 of his 39 drops (41%) at Oakland Week 1, Rivers was in the shotgun 29 times in 47 drops (62%) against the Ravens and 27 times in 35 drops (77%) against the Dolphins. Rivers needs the extra time since his line has been so weak. The Broncos secondary has been strong thus far; this could be their toughest challenge yet.

Trench Warfare:

LT Marcus McNeill had two surgeries during the offseason. LG Kris Dielman went to his second Pro Bowl last season - he's very good. They did lose C Nick Hardwick until at least November, and he's been replaced by Scott Mruczkowski. They cut Mike Goff at right guard (who then went on to infect Kansas City) and replaced him by drafting Louis Vasquez, who has fought injuries as a rookie but should play Monday. Jerome Clary is uneven at right tackle, and Elvis Dumervil may snack on him as the game wears on. In fact, I do not believe that the Chargers can stand up to our DL over the course of a full game. That is probably our ace in the hole. Like All QBs, Rivers can get frustrated if he's harassed.

Expect the Chargers to feature their TEs and use more max protection Monday. Antonio Gates is still strong and effective, and the Chargers have two young talents in Brandon Manumaleuna and Kris Wilson who are perfect for their roles. Both are good blockers, can run routes, go in motion, and confound opposing defensive coordinators. I see the tight ends as one of the Chargers' biggest strengths.

On the other side of the ball is a Denver group that doesn't have a single well-known household name, but they play like unbridled fury. Ronald Fields and Marcus Thomas are splitting time at NT, and both look good. The starting ends have been surprising players - Ryan McBean (formerly of the Steelers practice squad) and Kenny Peterson, and they are rotated with Vonnie Holliday. Le Kevin Smith isn't back from his knee injury fully, but he is a solid backup. The front seven is rounded out with a big group of linebackers. Elvis 'Doom' Dumervil and Mario Haggan are backed by Darrell Reid and Robert Ayers. At ILB, D.J. Williams and Andra Davis are leading the team in tackles. This isn't an even contest - the Broncos have the advantage across the board. I expect them to notch a few sacks on Rivers. If they can harass him into mistakes, this could turn ugly for the Bolts.

Rushing to Victory

I believe that the Chargers are in trouble here. Tomlinson has already been injured. He's dangerous if he's healthy this Monday, as is predicted, but he's not the player he once was. Like the team overall, I don't recommend underestimating LDT, but he can be stopped, especially behind that line. The Chargers have a potent weapon in Darren Sproles on kickoffs and in relief of LDT. Michael Bennett is also an option. They Chargers surprised me by cutting Gartrell Johnson, who only had one good game in preseason but was a 4th round pick: I believe that admits indicates sloppy drafting.They can hurt Denver here, but the O-line has to step up for that to happen.

On the other hand, Knowshon Moreno is coming into his own and is running behind a very good Denver O-line, which is bad news for the rest of the league. My only concerns with Knowshon were that he might be a little light for the league - he's put in the time in the weight room to counteract that and will continue to get tougher, and that I honestly didn't know if he was the kind of player that Bobby Turner wanted. I wasn't convinced that he wasn't, just interested to see what Denver thought. Could he pick up and play within the system? The answer to both questions is a resounding "Yes". Correll Buckhalter may be back, which would make the game easier. I'm disappointed in Peyton Hillis so far, and LaMont Jordan is a good back for running out the clock and a very good receiver, but his minutes will be limited. The Broncos are near the top of the league in rushing with 139 yards per game and have a nice average of 4.6 YPA. They will be hard to stop and the Chargers haven't been great at stopping the run.

Slow Starts:

What is it with the slow starts in San Diego? Ever since Norv Turner came to town, the trend has been to stink up the beginning of the year and to firm up later. With the Broncos coming into the game undefeated, that just won't cut it in the AFC West. The Bolts need to wake up NOW if they are to have any chance at all in the division, much less in the playoffs.

I did a little checking, and it seems that historically the Chargers have had recurring issues in this regard. In fact, they are the only team since 1970 to make the playoffs after a 0-4 start, having managed that in 1992 (Final regular season record, 11-5 that year). At 2-2, they aren't in that kind of trouble, but unless they pull themselves together, they soon will be.

That's the big potential trap here - the Chargers have had two weeks to game-plan, which puts them almost even with an 8-day Josh McDaniels plan. They are at home, they are coming off a bye week, and they are fighting for the season. A loss at this point could end their Super Bowl aspirations for the year. They may be a very tough team on Monday night; but they are still, without question, vulnerable. Unless they can really put a lot of points on the board early, the Denver defense will probably shut them down in the second half.

A last point on SD:

I've been hearing from some intelligent Chargers fans that there "wasn't anyone out there who could have an impact at NT (and a few other positions)". I've had to bite my tongue before casually asking if they'd looked at Ron Fields lately. The fact is, there were good players at many of the positions that SD now needs sitting out there this past offseason. You can get a good look at most of them on the Broncos roster next Monday night. Blame this one firmly on A.J. Smith, who was too smart for his own good this time.

With all of these factors in mind, this has the makings of another great game. SD will be highly motivated - they're at home, the numbers favor them becuase they're coming off a bye at home and they know that their season may well rest on this game. That and their offense (other than the line) are concerns.

The Broncos, on the other hand, will be prepared.They will be well aware of the dangers. They will be recipients of the McDaniels/Nolan game plans. We have the same offense that has scored when ever it had to and which is looking to break the habit of starting slowly. They can - they know each other better each week. SD isn't, frankly, as good as New England. Could we drop emotionally. Honestly, not on Monday Night Football. I see that as a small benefit - our guys are given a chance to prove, on national and international TV, who they are.

They will. Broncos over the Bolts, 27-24. Rivers has a good night, Doom gets a couple of sacks and Orton continues to do his job and do it well. How's that for playing it safe?

Go Broncos!

Bolts & Dolts: Miami Dolphins at San Diego Chargers

John (obviousman) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:38:22 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

2 months ago: San Diego Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson, front, hauls in a pass over Miami Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell, right, and cornerback Will Allen, left, in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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So my father, who sounded as sick as I was last week, called me up towards the end of Miami Dolphins' first drive to let me know that the sky was falling. Again an opposing team was showing how easy it was to run on the San Diego Chargers' defense. Again it looked as though the Chargers were not getting much of a pass-rush.

I said the same thing to him that I roughly outlined in my game preview, that once the Chargers started to score the Dolphins would be forced to abandon the run and the game would be easily won. I didn't know that the Chargers wouldn't score a touchdown until late in the third quarter, but I believed that eventually Miami would not be able to keep up with the Bolts' offense.

The Chargers deserved to win yesterday's game. In making up my Bolts & Dolts list, I found plenty of Bolts and not a lot of Dolts. I think the team played about as well as it could have considering their current health situation. However, even if Pittsburgh is without Troy Polamalu next week, there are a few players and coaching strategies that need to be improved if the Chargers want to beat a stronger opponent.

More details on all of the above after the jump.

Bolts

Offense

Philip Rivers - 18/33, 303 passing yards, 5 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD. The rushing touchdown I saw live. Right before the play happened I said out loud "The defense is not respecting the run at all. Philip should just run it in." Next week, when the Chargers are inside the Steelers 10 yard line, the defense will at least have to keep somebody in the area to watch for a run by either a RB or Rivers. It will clear a little bit of space in the coverage. It will help things. That was not just a momentary success and six points, that was a big play that should help future red zone conversions.

By the way, does anybody throw a better deep ball than Philip? His passes to Malcom Floyd and Vincent Jackson were right on the money every time but one (he overthrew VJ because of pressure). What was once considered a weakness is now one of Rivers' greatest strengths. If the offensive line can keep him from getting killed the rest of the season, he'll be in the MVP running.

Vincent Jackson - 5 catches, 120 yards. This game made me flip-flop on VJ. Did I think he was great? Absolutely, but I thought of the potential 2010 free agents for the Chargers he was one of the expendable ones. No way. Not a chance. The entire offense, which used to revolve around Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson, now revolves around Vincent Jackson. Unless he's being double-covered and going up against at least one All-Pro Cornerback, you can pencil him in for a dominating game. The Dolphins shied away from putting the rookie Sean Smith on him, so instead he made Will Allen look foolish and slow all game. I think VJ has progressed to the point where he's every bit as good as Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Greg Jennings and other top WRs around the league. His football smarts have caught up with his freakish physical tools and he cannot be stopped.

Antonio Gates - 5 catches, 64 yards. Do those numbers blow me away? Not at all. Was it a dominating performance like VJ's was? Nope. However, the one thing that bothered me about Antonio's 2008 season was that Rivers lost his favorite third down target. Well, that has not been the case this season. Third and long, third and short, whatever the yardage is the ball is probably going to Gates and he's probably going to get the first down. Even when he caught the ball a yard and a half shy of the first down marker, he somehow knew where the first down was and dragged three Dolphins players the two yards to get it. That's what he's best at and that's what the Chargers need from him.

Malcom Floyd - 2 catches, 65 yards. After seeing both Floyd catches from last night, my wife turned to me and said "Why don't they throw to him more? He's great!" This will be a theme revisited later, by the way. My answer to her was that Malcom has a difficult time staying healthy. Just as I said that, the cameras show Floyd being checked on by the trainers on the sidelines. Oh boy. Malcom has the talent to be every bit as dangerous as Jackson, he just has to stay healthy. Although no injuries were reported after the game, I'll be keeping an eye on the practice participation reports this week for his name. I think he is somebody who was sorely missed in the playoff game last season and I would much rather go into Pittsburgh with lots of mismatches outside the numbers.

Legedu Naanee - 4 catches, 40 yards. He certainly learned from his mistake. Every time he got his sticky hands on the ball he would take off upfield. No more dancing around and possibly losing the game for him. I liked the screen passes to him too, as I think he may be the quickest receiver on the team and he has top-end speed if he finds some space as well. This was another one of those games that the coaches will look at and will say to themselves "Let's continue to get him the ball more often" because it's always a positive play.

Jeromey Clary - For all of the crap Clary took as the weak-link of the offensive line last season and into the offseason, the man deserves an apology. He has been the Chargers best offensive lineman so far this season and seems to win the battle against whatever pass-rusher he's facing about 90% of the time. His technique is vastly improved over 2008 (when I thought he was serviceable) and he holds his blocks longer than anyone else on the line. If you watch the pressure on Rivers these last few weeks, it almost always comes from up the middle or from whomever Marcus McNeill was trying to block. Outside of one missed assignment that turned into a sack on Rivers against the Raiders, I cannot remember Clary making a mistake or causing a sack.

Defense

Kevin Burnett - 13 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits. Kevin returned to being the monster we all saw in the preseason. A theory I had, and had mentioned once or twice, was that once the season started the defensive playbook was vastly expanded and Burnett was forced to play catch-up again. His monster game against Miami, where he seemingly made every tackle, lends credence to that theory. According to the box score, Burnett was the only Chargers player to touch a Dolphins QB behind the line of scrimmage. He led the team with 13 tackles, and the next closest guy was Stephen Cooper with 8. He also played a fair amount of man coverage on Anthony Fasano, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, as where as zone coverage where he was quick to make the tackle. Kevin Burnett could not have had a better game.

Larry English - 2 tackles, 1 pass defended. I have one gripe about Larry English and it's that he goes outside on his pass-rush too much. I guess it's fine, because he's usually fast enough to get around the blocker, but with no pressure from the defensive line the QB can get away from him by simply stepping up in the pocket. I know the kid is young and inexperienced, but by time the playoffs roll around I'd like to see him trying the occasional spin move, swim move or bull-rush so that the offensive tackle doesn't know what to expect every play.

As for this game, Larry made three big plays that stand out to me. One was the play in which Chad Pennington left the game with a shoulder injury. The announcers missed it, but it looked to me that Chad hurt his shoulder because English grabbed Chad's arm while he was throwing. Even if that didn't happen, Chad had to get rid of the ball quickly because Larry got there to force pressure very quickly. The second play was Larry's defended pass, which was brilliant (he saw the screen and stopped to swat it down instead of trying for the sack) and saved a huge play (the RB had blockers and nobody in front of him). The third play was a non-play. A dead ball that the referees didn't whistle dead until after Chad Henne started making his reads in the pocket. Larry got there, grabbed Henne and then stopped himself from completing the sack. If he made the rookie mistake of throwing Henne to the ground, it would've been a 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down for the Dolphins.

Luis Castillo - 4 tackles (2 tackles for loss). With Jamal Williams out of the lineup, Luis is seeing a lot more double-teams than he's used to. Still, he may be playing the best football of his life to start the 2009 season. He wins every one-on-one matchup, is playing the run like he's a Nose Tackle and is generally using his speed and agility to get where he wants to be and screw up the play for the opposition. During obvious passing downs (like 3rd & long), I would sometimes see the Dolphins block him with two guys and have a RB standing by watching him in case he got by the offensive linemen. They knew that if the Chargers were not coming with the blitz, Castillo was the main guy to worry about. It's great to have such a dynamic player on the line still, and things will get better for the defensive line as Ogemdi Nwagbuo continues to improve and Jacques Cesaire gets healthier and in game shape.

Defensive Secondary - 9 passes caught by WRs for 67 yards. The strength of the Chargers is in the passing game on both sides of the ball. The Bolts' WRs are fantastic and the CBs are just as good. Antonio Cromartie may not have an interception this season, but that's because defenses are starting to throw away from him the same way they did with Quentin Jammer. Analysis time! Let's look at how often opposing QBs have been avoiding throwing to their WRs and how successful they've been when they've tried to:

In 3 games, Chargers opponents have targeted.....

Wide Receivers 38 times. They have completed 21 of the passes to WRs (55%). 25 of the passes to wide receivers have been thrown at a player defended by Cromartie or Jammer. They have completed 10 of those passes (40%).
Running Backs 27 times. They have completed 21 of the passes to RBs (77%).
Tight Ends 12 times. They have completed 8 of the passes to RBs (66%).

Do you see now why opposing offenses might try throwing to the RBs, TEs or slot receivers more when they play against the Chargers? After 3 weeks of games, statistics say that you only have a 40% chance of completing a pass to one of your top 2 receivers against San Diego. If you don't count the Louis Murphy 4th quarter TD, where Cromartie and Clinton Hart were standing around pointing at each other, Antonio and Quentin have yet to give up a receiving touchdown this season.

Dolts

Offense

Darren Sproles - 18 carries, 41 rush yards, 2 catches, 14 rec yards, 6 kick/punt returns, 76 returns yards. I know some people won't be happy about this. "It's not his fault, it's the offensive line's fault." I get that, and I agree with you. However, I cannot go another week pretending that Darren Sproles is a suitable #1 running back. I gave him the benefit of the doubt going into Baltimore because his only other time starting was against Pittsburgh in the playoffs. Darren's abysmal 2.4 Yards Per Carry is starting to wear on me though. While I appreciate the weapon he is and wouldn't want to see anybody else returning kicks for the Chargers, I'm left wondering where the initial "Michael Bennett Plan" went. You remember it. It was when the coaching staff told us that if anything happened to LT, Bennett would take over as the starter and Sproles' role would remain unchanged. It hasn't exactly played out that way.

By comparison, and it's a legitimate one because they're running behind the same mangled offensive line, Michael Bennett is averaging 3.1 Yards Per Carry. Does that make him an All-Pro? Heck no, but it makes him an improvement over Sproles. I wouldn't want the offense calling run plays every time Bennett comes on the field, because then it becomes obvious, but I would like to see him used more when the offense is trying to run time off the clock or get short-yardage. There's really no downside to it. Bennett has proven to have soft hands, went nuts with screen passes in the preseason and is a bigger, stronger runner with great speed. Why not keep Sproles fresh and useful?

It'll never happen but if I was Norv....Darren would get taken off of punt returns. I'm sorry, but when the ball is bouncing 10 feet in the air and there are 5 defenders within a foot of it...LEAVE IT ALONE. Who care if it's going to bounce back to the 10 yard line. Don't jump on it at the 15 and risk fumbling it with no teammates in sight to bail you out. Also, has nobody ever explained the term "fair catch" to Darren? I think they may want to before he gets killed or loses and game by trying a field a punt on the 7 that he has no business fielding.

I didn't think I'd be saying this, because I love the philosophy of throwing all of the time, but I really cannot wait until LT comes back.

Chris Chambers - 0 catches, thrown to 3 times. I'm left unimpressed by Chris Chambers this season. I don't know if he's just so beaten up that he cannot be effective anymore, but for the amount of money he's getting paid he should be able to contribute something. He's so bad that while I was taking notes during the game I started writing down when he was not on the field, which thankfully was quite often. Just about every time the Chargers spread out with 3 or 4 WRs, and specifically on their drive at the end of the first half, Chambers was sitting on the bench. Even when he had the ball thrown to him, it was the same thing we've seen already against Baltimore and Oakland. Instead of making a play for the ball, Chambers seems to try to get a flag thrown for defensive pass interference. Right now, although he's paid like a top 10 WR in the league, Chambers is the 4th best WR on the Chargers.

Offensive Line - 2 sacks allowed (4 tackles for loss allowed), 2.5 team YPC. I was tempted to do an individual Dolt for everyone except Clary, but decided against it. They all deserve it though.

I can't hate on the -ski brothers too much because they're backups, and Brandyn Dombrowksi is playing backup on a completely different position. However, there are certain plays where they look lost. The Kendall Langford sack happened because he threw Dombrowski to the side like he was nothing. The hit on Rivers that looked like it might knock him out of the game happened because Dombrowski was beaten and Scott Mruczkowski lost his assignment and was left blocking air while a blitzer ran free. I was really hoping Vasquez would be back for this game because I think it'd be a big help, but no such luck. Hopefully he's back for Pittsburgh.

Marcus McNeill does not deserve the big contract he's probably going to get. His feet are slow and his balance isn't great. I'd love to say that Joey Porter bull-rushed past him to get to Rivers on his sack, but in reality he just hit McNeill in a way that made Marcus lose his balance and fall backwards. He is not looking like a Pro Bowl Left Tackle these days, and the fact that Norv Turner told the announcing crew that he's been disappointed in McNeill this season speaks volumes. To put it simply, there's constant pressure being put on Philip Rivers by whoever McNeill is trying to stop.

Kris Dielman......I feel like I should wait before I say anything. He's lost a lot of his consistency. He has a good play followed by a bad play, and visa versa, a lot. He also may have lost a step because his blocks to open holes for the RBs always seem late. I don't know what it is with him, but I don't see what I used to see from him. He's not holding blocks, he's not pushing people around. I'll wait until I really say whether or not he's having a bad season, because he's getting a lot of the brunt of Nick Hardwick not being there. The penalty to forearming the defender's helmet was a sign that Dielman is frustrated though, so at least he knows there's an issue.

Defense

There were no defensive Dolts this week. Everyone played at either a level expected of them or higher.

San Diego Chargers Week 3 Injury Report

John (obviousman) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:35:30 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson will miss his second straight week against the Dolphins on Sunday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Out (0% Chance of Playing)

Nick Hardwick (Ankle)

LaDainian Tomlinson (Ankle)

Travis Johnson (Groin)

Doubtful (25% Chance of Playing)

Antwan Applewhite (Hamstring)

Louis Vasquez (Knee)

Questionable (50% Chance of Playing)

Kevin Burnett (Knee)

Shawne Merriman (Groin)

Probable (75% Chance of Playing)

Stephen Cooper (Ankle)

Kris Dielman (Illness)

Kevin Ellison (Illness)

Marcus McNeill (Illness)

Mike Scifres (Groin)

Brandon Siler (Illness)

Eric Weddle (Illness)

Keep in mind that any player that missed any part of practice during the week needs to be put into one of these categories. So even though McNeill, Dielman and Weddle were good enough to practice on Thursday and Friday, just by missing Wednesday the highest they could be listed as is Probable.

Joey Porter is listed as Questionable with a bad hamstring and Justin Smiley, a starting Offensive Guard, is listed as Questionable with a bad shoulder.

Is it Time to Panic or Not?

Stephen (shaynes41) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:16:58 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

3 months ago: San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, right, fumbles the ball and is brought down by Oakland Raiders defensive end Greg Ellis (99) during the first quarter of their NFL football game Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 in Oakland, Calif. The Raiders recovered the ball. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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All right, so on Monday I was a big proponent of panicking. I have had a few days to cool off and I thought I should take a look at this a little more methodically. After all, if we're going to start panicking, at least we should have a reasonable justification for it.

We began the season with high hopes, but we did have some areas of concern after the off season and through the preseason. I figured I'd start by looking at each one of those areas of concern after two real games against a decent opponent and a very good opponent.

Area of Concern #1 - The right side of the Offensive Line

Jeromey Clary had received his fair share of lumps, and the unknown of the RG position was a little concerning. We all agreed that losing Mike Goff was going to help a bit, but were we not sure how much. Was Kynan Forney an upgrade? Could the rookie Louis Vasquez learn the ropes in time to contribute? How much of Clary's problems last year were due to Goff's inadequacies and how much were due to his own abilities and ceiling?

Turns out Vasquez did come along quick enough to earn the starting job in week 1. Vasquez's ability, Forney's average play, and some injury problems in camp actually lead to Forney surprisingly not making the 53 man roster. Unfortunately Vasquez didn't last past the 1st half of the first game and we have seen Mruczkowski and Dombrowski in that spot since them. Surprisingly, the right side of the line has held up pretty well. Clary has done pretty well against some decent pass rushers. He had a little trouble in the Raider game, but overall has done well. It will be interesting to see him against the Steelers in a few weeks to compare his play to his lackluster playoff game last year. Dombrowski has taken the majority of the snaps at RG and has looked really good, especially considering he is a second year guy who was on the practice squad all last year. All in all, I'd say this area of concern isn't worrying me too much right now. I may change my might after the Steelers game (even the Dolphins have Joey Porter and Jason Taylor and will present a good challenge)

more after the jump...

Area of Concern #2 - Running Game

Last year we couldn't run the ball if our life depended on it. Despite a moderately successful season from LT, we were in the bottom half of the league in rushing. A lot of reasons contributed to that including a relative shortage of offensive plays, playing from behind, the emergence of the passing game, etc., We were hoping some improvements along the offensive line, a healthy LT, and another year under the belt of Hester would contribute to a reemergence of the vaunted Charger running game.

It hasn't quite worked out like that. LT is injured again, and didn't look that good for the 1.5 quarters he was healthy. It is still early and we have faced two relatively strong teams against the run, but I think this is still an area of major concern. We are all happy to see Rivers have 400+ games, but more often than not, you end up losing those games. Without a strong rushing attack, you will have trouble in the red zone and in short yardage situations (like 4th and 2, for example). I know the offense as a whole is explosive, but I'm afraid that we are going to have an easier time scoring from the 40 yard line than we will from the 10 yard line.

Area of Concern #3 - Pass Rush

We all hoped The Return of Shawne Merriman would solve all our pass rush woes. Plus, the evil genius of Ron Rivera would employ Larry English in new and exotic packages that would bring wreak havoc on opposing QBs. Perhaps we were a bit ahead of ourselves.

Well, Shawne has yet to get a sack and English's motor has been apparent even if his rudder has not been as he has appeared somewhat lost at times. However, there has been good pressure if not a lot of sacks to show for it. There has been lots of blitzing and exotic blitzes at that. Last year we rarely saw the ILBs involved in blitzes. This year (and especially last week against Baltimore) the inside guys were blitzing a lot. Lot's of twist and 6 man rushes. I feel that this area of concern is not so concerning anymore. Aside from the lack of actual sacks, I think it has been going pretty well, and I think one week soon, we are going to get a bunch of sacks.

One surprising development has been Luis Castillo getting pressure from the LDE spot. I think part of it has to be due to the flurry of activity around him. With all the twists and blitzes from different angles, it has been easier to Luis to get some pressure. He has 1 sack so far and I've seen him chasing QBs from the pocket on several occasions.

Area of Concern #4 - Safety Play

Clinton Hart should be shipped out of town. Steve Gregory is too slow to play safety. We should start Kevin Ellison, the rookie 6th round pick simply because he has not yet disproven himself. Eric Weddle is a bust. Or so the preseason talk went. An interesting development in the preseason was Hart playing SS on the running downs and Gregory playing SS on the passing downs. Same as at the end of last season, but it seemed to work much better. Weddle's role was able to change because we had an ILB who can cover people (Kevin Burnett), so Weddle can play more of a "center field" position, rather than the "in the box" safety position he played last year on passing downs.

So far, this seems to have worked. It's a little hard to tell if our improved pass defense is truly because of improved safety play, combined with a little more pressure, or if it's simply because other teams find it easier to run on us. I will say that I have seen Hart making plays in the running game that I haven't seen him make in a few years. And I think Gregory has played a decent coverage SS. I am going to tentatively say that this area of concern has been addressed. I don't think it will really get tested anytime soon by the Dolphins or Steelers so I'm not going to worry about it until it actually shows itself as a problem.

Area of Concern #5 - We can't cover TEs

Stupid TEs. Last year I was offended at first when the fantasy football experts told you to start any TE facing the Chargers. Then I came to the realization that it was actually sound advice. We all loved to blame Wilhelm for the TEs having career days against us, but I wasn't so sure. Burnett is a clear upgrade, plus an improved pass rush and improved safety play was how to improve this.

Did it work? Well, Oakland's TEs put up over 100 yards on us in week 1. Todd Heap had one catch for 9 yards and 1 TD, plus a 30 yard PI call that put the Ravens at the 1 and lead to a walk in TD. Overall, I'd say this is still a concern. If we make Anthony Fasano look like Tony Gonzalez this week, I am officially going to be picking up/trading for the TEs going against the Chargers in fantasy football every week from here on out.

Area of Concern #6 - the Defense can't get off the field

Last year the Chargers were 29th in total offensive plays. This is partly because our offense was explosive and scored quickly, and partly because our defense gave up a lot of long drawn out drives. It is really way too early to judge here. I think in general we've looked pretty good, but we've face two offenses that were not highly regarded before the season began and they have looked pretty good against us, which is not a good sign. As far as plays from scrimmage so far this year, we are middle of the pack, so that is an improvement. I'm still going to worry about this, especially when we pick up dumb running into the kicker penalties that give the opponents a fresh set of downs (I don't care if it was a blown call by the refs, if you aren't close to blocking the punt, you need to never touch the kicker... period).

Area of Concern #7 - Cromartie of 2008 or of 2007

Cromartie was hottest thing ever after 10 picks in just over 1/2 a season of starting in 2007. Expectations were off the charts for 2008 and he proceeded to stink the joint up. Who is the real Cromartie? Well, so far the jury is still out, although by this time last year, Cromartie had already been exposed twice, and so far this year we haven't heard his name much (although there was that Raider TD where he and Hart decided not to cover Murphy). I'm going to go on record as saying a good CB is the one who you never hear of. I will gladly live with 3-6 picks and 16 solid games from Cromartie, as opposed to him making SportsCenter highlights with a few athletic interceptions and a bunch of spectacularly bad outings.

Places we thought were not a concern, but actually are a concern... Go Figure

The left side of the offensive line... What happened here? Last year we had Hardwick's and McNeill's injury excuses. This year, between our healthy offensive line and LTs healthy toes, we were going to run the ball again! Everyone take LT high in your fantasy drafts, he is a man on a mission... I'm beginning to think it's not LT degrading as much as it is the left side of the offensive line not being as good as advertised. Even for the 2 quarters where everyone was healthy, these guys were getting pushed around. They single handedly made Al Davis look like a genius with the Richard Seymour trade (and that is saying something). And listen, I can understand that McNeill is never going to be a dominant run blocker, he is a pass blocker, a 350lb man with the feet of a ballerina who is able to go an entire season without giving up a sack to the league's elite, so I don't really blame him. But Kris Dielman is playing like a very mediocre player. Such is not what we expected from our all-pro. Honestly, I think it has been going on for longer than just this year. I think last year he was little soft too. He gets beat too often on pass rushes and isn't the dominant LG you need for a dominant rushing attack. I'm not sure why... Did he get figured out? Has his technique slipped? Some injury we aren't aware of? Half a dozen baby-mamas demanding his time and financial support? I don't know, but he hasn't been the same since signing that big contract (there... I said it).

Places we thought we were strong, but we are actually much stronger...

We knew our passing game was nails; Rivers, Jackson, Gates, etc. But it has been even better than I thought it was going to be. As expected, Rivers has kept up his game. But somehow Vincent Jackson has picked his up to another level. His game against Baltimore was ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. How many times did he have three guys around him and he came down with the ball anyways? I'm reminded of that old NFL films clip of the Chargers' OC talking to Fouts about his pass progressions and what to look out for on a third down play. Don Coryell steps in, interrupts, and yells, "Just throw it to JJ!!" (John Jefferson). That is exactly how I feel with Jackson, just throw it to VJ!

And Antonio Gates. I do believe he is back from his injuries and is as good as ever. I had almost forgotten what is was like to have a dominant TE. The only thing that is going to keep him from putting up all-world numbers are the other options around him.

So, that's about all I can think of. I think there are only two things that really concern me: 1) complete and utter lack of a running game, and 2) inability to get off the field on defense. I can't seem to muster up a lot of concern about other areas and even the injuries don't strike me as an insurmountable problem. Those two concerns are the things that are going to keep this team from going deep into the playoffs, and of those two, the running game is the biggest problem. I know some of us were calling for more passes and shootouts, but those won't take you far once the playoffs come around. We need a balanced offense, and by that I don't mean we need to have equal run and pass plays, but that we need the threat of a run, and we need to be able to get 2 yards when we absolutely have to have 2 yards. If that doesn't get fixed, we can go ahead and panic.