SB Nation - Larry English

Bolts & Dolts: Bengals at Chargers

John (obviousman) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:21:04 -0000

1 day ago: Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is caught by San Diego Chargers safety Kevin Ellison for a ten yard loss in the first quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Park)

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Alright, we're doing it a little different this week. I'm doing Bolts & Dolts without re-watching the game, because this is a team/game/post driven by emotion, and after re-watching I may come back and add or change something. S'alright? S'alright.

First, the game. This game ranks up there with the Giants game for me. It's an opponent of equal talent, and a lot of times in the past the Chargers have lost to teams that are just as good as them by not doing the little things. This season, through plenty of adversity (namely, injuries), the team has continued to do the little things that keep you in the game and give you a chance to win the game at the end. Because of that, today's first Bolt might be the most well-deserved one ever.

Bolts

Norv Turner. There's this recurring conversation I seem to have with my friends and family every year about Norv Turner. In a nutshell, the conversation is "The team just doesn't seem ready to play at the beginning of the season or at the beginning of games. That's coaching." Sure, fine, although the team has been much better this season at starting off games strong.

However, that's negative thinking. Three straight division titles, nine straight wins and seventeen straight wins in December (not all of thus under Turner, but still). That's coaching too. Three straight seasons where the team has started slow and could've quit on him but never did, that takes coaching. No coach is unblemished, and with Norv the good certainly outweighs the bad. I'm not ready to declare Norv the greatest Chargers coach ever, but if you look at where he is now it's hard to argue that he's not on his way to getting there.

Offense

Philip Rivers - 24/38, 308 yds, 3 TDs, 2 INTs. Only Philip would be able to manage a 92.9 QB Rating in a game in which he was picked off twice. This is why he's the active leader in QB Rating. It wasn't the best game for him, but he sporadically had some perfect throws and (as usual) came alive to save the day in the fourth quarter. His MVP resume is getting stronger while Brett Favre's is getting weaker.

LaDainian Tomlinson - 117 all-purpose yds, 3.7 YPC. It was a very efficient day for LT. He was used in the passing game when the Bengals were focused too much on the receivers, and he looked strong in the running game (as did the offensive line) nearly all game. It wasn't dominating, but it was efficient. By the way, has LT ever smiled this much in one season? He looks like he's having a ball this year.

Vincent Jackson - 5 catches, 108 yds, 2 TDs. First it was VJ that was free because of Antonio Gates, then it was Gates that was open because of VJ. Now, and credit Norv Turner for this, the team has found a perfect balance of both. Defenses have to find a way to cover both guys on every play otherwise there's going to be a big play. Credit Vincent for fighting through the little bit of adversity he's faced this year and coming back alive right when the team needed him most.

Antonio Gates - 4 catches, 33 yds, TD. Simply put, the best receiving TE in football. He cannot be covered by a CB, LB or most NFL Safeties. Unless you have somebody like Troy Polamalu or Tyvon Branch, be prepared to double-team Gates on just about every play. Gates almost lost his Bolt when he dropped the ball into Keith Rivers hands, but that ball was thrown behind him.

Malcom Floyd - 4 catches, 63 yds. I originally had Floyd down in the "Almost Bolts" and then realized that he had a better game than Gates (or at least close to it). I love how Malcom has become Philip's new favorite 3rd down target, and I love how there's never any doubt that he caught the ball if he's gotten his hands on it.

Floyd is a free-agent after this season, and a few days ago somebody said they thought another team would spend too much money on him and he wouldn't be back next season. I hope, for the sake of Philip Rivers and Malcom Floyd, that's inaccurate. These guys have been together since the start of their careers, creating chemistry on the 2nd string team in practice, and bring out the best in each other.

Defense

Tim Dobbins - 11 tackles, 1 forced fumble. Yes, yes, that was me saying "Dobbins sucks" in the first half. The truth is, the Chargers played Dobbins a lot because he's great against the run. The Bengals did the right thing in calling pass plays that would force him into coverage, where he's not-so-good. His tackle numbers are half because he was very good against the run and half because he was tackling his receiver after giving the guy an easy catch. What earned him a Bolt was getting the closest thing to a turnover on the most important play of the game.

Eric Weddle - 8 tackles. Great to see Weddle hasn't lost anything in his two weeks off. He was still in the middle of every play, and providing great downfield coverage.

Kevin Ellison - 6 tackles, 1 sack. I love Ellison's size. When the Bengals put a TE/RB out wide, Ellison always lined up with him in man coverage. He has the speed to stay with them, and the strength to give them a big bump on the line. I haven't seen him playing a lot of zone coverage (that seems to be Oliver's specialty), but in man he's stellar. I think he's earned the starting SS spot for 2010.

Defensive Line. Okay, none of them were really demanding a double-team (which is why the pass-rush was non-existent) so they weren't a huge help in rushing the QB. However, they were stellar at stopping the run. Alfonso Boone, Travis Johnson and Vaughn Martin each had periods of the game where they dominated their section of the line. If you take away the two "cut-back" runs (27 yards for Larry Johnson, 26 yards for Chad Ochocinco), the rushing numbers look significantly better. Holding Cedric Benson to just 53 yards (and no TDs) is something to be congratulated for.

Special Teams

Nate Kaeding - 2/2 FGs, 3/3 XPs. Was there even any doubt? There wasn't for me. The second Malcom Floyd caught that ball and put the Chargers on the 35 yard line, I knew they had won the game. Just as Gates is the best receiving TE in football (and arguably the best overall), Kaeding is the most accurate kicker in football (and arguably the best overall). Lucky for the Chargers, both guys are having career years at the same time.

Dolts

Offense

There were no offensive Dolts this week.

Defense

There were no defensive Dolts this week.]

Almost Bolts

Mike Scifres - The Bengals had time for one more drive to win or tie the game. Scifres punts, his gunners are blocked, and the ball still goes out of bounds on it's own at the Cincinnati 5 yard line. Any time you can force a team to go 95 yards to score the winning TD, you're making it very difficult for them. He would've been the hero of the game if the Bengals didn't go down the field and tie it.

Quentin Jammer - Jammer is one of the first plays that could've been a Bolt or a Dolt. His interception against Chad Ochocinco was beautiful, but overshadowed in my mind by the numerous times he was beaten on out routes. His goal-line play against the Bengals TE at the end of the game was a big reason why the Chargers won, but what will stick out to people is the easy interception that went through his hands on the previous play. It certainly wasn't Jammer's best game, but he responded well to being thrown at (which doesn't happen often).

Kris Wilson - Jeff will be able to better point this out in his post later this week, but I thought the team really came alive on Wilson's catch. For those that didn't see it, Kris has his helmet torn off and kept fighting for the extra yard. It got to the point where the defender literally pulled Wilson down by the back of his head (it looked like a for-sure neck injury), and Kris popped right back up with an angry stare. This all happened about a foot in front of the Chargers sideline, which went bananas after the play.

I like Wilson's toughness, blocking and soft hands. This is probably way too early, but I could see him replacing Brandon Manumaleuna next season as the team's backup TE/FB.

Kassim Osgood - Not just the best special team player in the league, but quite possibly the smartest. Nobody knows special teams better than him, and nobody works harder at it. I know it's not possible, but I really hope he's wearing a bolt on his helmet next season.

Almost Dolts

Steve Gregory - Just like Tim Dobbins, Gregory was targeted and thrown at all day. The Bengals were smart enough to not throw short-passes at his receivers, because that's Steve's specialty, and instead hit the receiver at the point where they've gotten past Gregory but before they've gotten to the safeties. It was a good gameplan that the Bolts are sure to see more of going forward. Unlike Dobbins, Gregory wasn't able to stand out with any big plays.

Pass Rush - I've been over this, but I'll go over it again. 2 sacks is not enough, but this is not the fault of Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips or Larry English. The defensive line needs to cause more of a disturbance for the QB when he's sliding up in the pocket. I think we may see more of Vaughn Martin in the next couple of weeks because, even though he's still not great or very consistent, there were times where he was pushing around offensive linemen like they were children. If he can force offenses to pay attention to him, you'll see the OLBs racking up the sacks in droves once again.

Bolts & Dolts: Chargers at Cowboys

John (obviousman) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:58:21 -0000

More photos » by Amy Gutierrez - AP

9 days ago: San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) pulls in a touchdown pass in the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The Chargers won 20-17. (AP Photo/Amy Gutierrez)

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When you factor in things like how the opposing teams have played in the games immediately before or after their showdown with the Chargers, you could make a case that this Cowboys team is the 2nd or 3rd best team the Bolts have faced all year. Although it's December, they're playing much better than they were in the beginning of the season (when the Broncos beat them) and it was going to take a complete game by the coaching staff and players to get a win.

Well, that was about as complete of a game as you can have in the NFL against a legitimate opponent. The defense, similar to the game against the Browns, seemed to play a soft zone in the beginning and end of the game. They struggled to stop any of the Cowboys three star RBs, and yet Dallas was only able to score one meaningful touchdown in the game. I have no idea how Ron Rivera keeps doing it, but he continually keeps points off the board.

The offense is currently unstoppable. It's clicking in a way it never has before, with Philip Rivers playing his best football and Norv Turner calling all the right plays at the right times. It helps when you have 5 guys on the field who are receiving threats on any given play. Even LaDainian Tomlinson, who isn't much of a feature-back these days, seems to become a better player near the goal line and whenever the Chargers need a big run for a first down.

It's a good time to be a Chargers fan. The division crowd, the playoffs and a first round bye are no longer just dreams.

Bolts

Offense

Philip Rivers - 21/32, 272 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT. Whomever is disappointed that Philip didn't have another game with a QB rating of over 130, please leave the room. This was not the Browns and it was not the Chiefs. This was a legitimate NFL defense with very few holes. The pass-rush was there all game, and kept Philip stepping up in the pocket and sometimes running for his life. The CBs played a great game, Mike Jenkins in particular. Rivers and his WRs were just better. Any time you can post a near 90 QB rating against one of the better defenses in the league, count it as a victory.

Vincent Jackson - 7 catches, 120 yds. Well, well, well....somebody's back. In reality, VJ never left. This game wasn't about him breaking out as much as it was the defense going with a different philosophy. In the last few games, the idea was to double Jackson on every play. That left things open for Antonio Gates. This game, the Cowboys did the opposite and VJ came through in a big way. Huge plays by him and Rivers are the reason this game wasn't lost. They kicked the team back into high gear after the injury to DeMarcus Ware.

Antonio Gates - 4 catches, 44 yds, 1 TD. Need a first down on third down? Need a TD from inside the 15 yard line? Go to the guy who is completely and totally uncoverable. Philip didn't need to force passes to him this game, and didn't, but when he needed that outlet to get the team out of a jam Gates was there. He always is.

Malcom Floyd - 3 catches, 40 yds. First off, his catch on the sideline was absolutely ridiculous. Second, Floyd is a Pass-Interference machine....which actually makes sense. His speed is not that great, so it's rare that you see him more than a half-step ahead of his defenders downfield. However, he has a reputation for catching everything and is the king of jump balls. So any CB covering him is close by, and knows that just getting his hands in Floyd's face isn't going to do a thing. Add in the fact that he's skinny (so it always looks like he's the one that got pushed) and he could get PI called against a CB nearly every time if he tried. It's great that Norv has figured this out, and knows there's no risk in throwing it to Floyd one-on-one downfield, and calls it when a big play is necessary.

Offensive Line - 1 sack allowed. Say what you want about the run-blocking. It's at least three times more important to keep Rivers upright and healthy than it is opening holes for LT and Darren Sproles. That was a fierce pass-rush, with lots of blitzing (I miss Phillips' recklessness sometimes), and the offensive line gave Philip just enough time and space to make plays. Even that one sack, you could argue that it happened because Rivers didn't move in the pocket when he should've. Great showing by everyone, and specifically the tackles. I don't know where Scott Mruczkowski and Brandyn Dombrowski fit into the future of the offensive line, but with them and Jeromey Clary and Nick Hardwick it would appear the Bolts have a plethora of talent up front for next year.

Defense

Brandon Siler - 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss. That's it. Let there be no more doubt in anybody's mind. Brandon Siler is a Player, with a capital P, and has earned the right to start ahead of Kevin Burnett for the rest of the season. He makes the run-defense stronger, gets pressure on the QB when blitzing and is generally a force that can mess up any given play for the offense. Give him the most credit for the goal-line stand (his specialty), and give him credit for being strong in coverage all game as well.

Stephen Cooper - 3 tackles, 2 defended passes, 1 forced fumble. The best game of zone coverage Coop has played all season. I don't really care that he didn't pick off the passes he got his hands on, because I believe most of them were big 3rd down plays. Cooper had an OK game against the run as well, which is why you saw a lot more runs to the outside (away from him and Siler) as time went on.

Special Teams

Mike Scifres - 42.0 average, 2 (of 3) inside opposing 20 yd line. Follow this theory, dreamed up by my wife. With about 10 second left to go in the first half, Scifres came out for his first punt (that's kindof amazing). The punt landed inside the Cowboys' 5 and bounced into the end zone. When the camera showed Mike, he was screaming "Man, what the @#$&!" at somebody. I couldn't tell why, and my wife said "I guess he wanted somebody to down it. You know, for his stats." My response was "Screw his stats, it's the end of the half!" Well, if the following theory is correct, I'm the only idiot.

In the second half, Mike punted twice. Each time it was downed inside the Cowboys' 5 yard line by Kassim Osgood. After each time, Kassim stayed where he downed it, held the ball up and looked back at where the play originated from. I originally thought he was just doing it as a celebration, and to show the refs where he was. My wife was the one who said "I bet he's showing the ball to Scifres." If that's the case, and it makes the most sense, then good job by Mike to get on Kassim. That field position meant the world in the second half. Oh, and....

Kassim Osgood - 2 downed punts inside the Cowboys' 5. You could argue that, between Osgood and Mike Tolbert, the Chargers have two of the ten best special teams players in football. I'd certainly argue that point. The Bolts are going to have big shoes to fill on punt returns next season when Osgood is playing WR somewhere else.

Nate Kaeding - 2/2 FGs, 2/2 XPs. I love that stat that shows up every time he kicks now, the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL. Kaeding is everything that everybody thought Mike Nugent would be. If you're within 45 yards of the goal post, it's a guaranteed 3 points. Beyond that, you still have a good chance.

Dolts

Offense

There were no offensive Dolts this week.

Defense

Defensive Line - 4.0 YPC allowed, zero sacks. This probably isn't their fault. There just isn't enough talent on the line to dominate anybody anymore. Still, each guy on the line was getting pushed around with ease and I don't believe any of them were demanding anything more than a single blocker. This is a big reason why Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips were held in check as pass-rushers and run-stoppers. The defensive line allowed a lot of easy runs up the gut, and didn't take up the blockers to free up LBs to stop the runs to the outside either. Whether or not they can do it, the Bolts may need the defensive line to play better than that to win any playoff games.

Almost Bolts

Mike Tolbert - Quite a weapon on offense, and quite a hitter on special teams. I'm left scratching my head as to why he didn't carry the ball once all game, but I'm sure Norv has his reasons. Perhaps, like me, he doesn't yet trust him to hold onto the ball in a close game?
LaDainian Tomlinson - Just what we've come to expect from LT. Smart running, timely big plays and a knack for never fumbling the football. Has anyone else noticed that he never loses yardage anymore? A handoff to LT these days is a guaranteed 2 yards or more.
Antonio Cromartie - He's gotta be the best man-to-man CB in the league right now. In man, he was untouchable. In zone, he was good but not great. The Quentin Jammer-Antonio Cromartie tandem is playing at the highest combined level ever right now. That's why you see teams putting their star WRs (like Miles Austin) in the slot, to get away from those guys.
Safeties - Nobody mistook these Safeties for Eric Weddle or Troy Polamalu out there, but the same philosophies were in place and played out. Paul Oliver, Steve Gregory, Kevin Ellison and C.J. Spillman did not allow big plays through the air and prevented big plays on the ground with sound tackling. I personally can't wait until Gregory can slide back down to the Nickel CB spot again and Weddle can start roaming centerfield like always. It's my belief that the run defense, as well as the man-defense on the slot receiver, is a lot better with Gregory down near the line of scrimmage.
Tim Dobbins - The poor man's Brandon Siler. He played well in goal line situations.
Larry English - He got the closest to Tony Romo out of the OLBs. As with most of this season though, English was close but couldn't make the play.

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.

Game Preview: San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns

John (obviousman) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:45:46 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Bombs Away! (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Hey fellas. Sorry about the lack of posts from me this week. It's been one of those weeks, probably because of the Thanksgiving holiday last week, where no matter how much work I did one day I never seemed to get caught up for the following day. Luckily, I finally feel caught up and things should be smooth from here one out.

As I mentioned a few days ago, this article at Dawgs By Nature does a good job of matching the teams up statistically. For me to do my usual game preview would mean just repeating a lot of what Ryan Kelsey wrote. Also, it's not as if somebody is going to be surprised at the Chargers being ranked better than the Browns in offense and defense.

So this week I thought we'd try something new.

Worst-Case Scenario

A trap game mixed with injuries. The closest thing I've found to a trap game during Norv Turner's tenure as Chargers head coach is the game in Buffalo last year. You know, the one where the power kept going out and so nobody really has any idea how the Chargers lost by 9. It's not something the Chargers are known for. They're known for being undefeated in December and hopefully that streak continues, but that doesn't mean they can't lose.

The Raiders game in week 1 is an example of how a loss could come. One or two big injuries along the offensive line and now Philip Rivers can't even get the ball out of his hand. An injury to one of the few healthy pass-rushers and suddenly Brady Quinn has 5 minutes to make every throw. Staying healthy is key today, not just for the future but for the victory.

I like the stories I read this week about Norv playing crowd noise at practice, changing practice times and generally shaking the players up to keep them focused. It sounded a lot like good coaching to me. Which brings me to....

How to avoid it: This is a young Browns team. Any time you're facing a team, late in the season, that's been this bad and is this young you have to close the door on them early. If it's 10-10 at the half, the Browns' belief in themselves will be through the roof and it could be a game lost.

The key to avoiding the trap is to not mess around in the first quarter. Throw deep. Throw to Antonio Gates on third down even though everybody knows it's coming. Don't force the run if it's not there. Treat the first half like it's the second half, and build a lead big enough that you can take most of your starters off of the field in the second half.

Best-Case Scenario

Does anybody else remember this game? It was the last game of the 2004 season, and it meant nothing to the Chargers (who had already clinched the division). Marty Schottenheimer treated it like a preseason game, keeping his starters in (minus Brees) just long enough to knock off any rust and get a lead. Then the kids/projects came in.

Malcom Floyd - 3 catches, 49 yards, 1 TD. In his first game being "active" in the NFL, the lanky kid wore number 13 and seemed to be the best WR on the field all day. He had an immediate connection with that day's starter, a young Philip Rivers.
Michael Turner - 15 rushers, 87 yards. Up to this point, Turner had carried the ball all of 5 times in his NFL career. At the end of the season, Jesse Chatman (65) and Drew Brees (53) each had more than double the amount of carries Turner had for the season. This game was the reason Chatman was not brought back.
Ryan Krause - 5 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD. Don't even get me started on Ryan Krause. I've never seen anybody dominate a game the way he did that day. Maybe it was because the Chiefs knew it meant nothing, but it seemed like nobody could bring this bruising TE down and his hands were as soft as any WR's. I had high hopes for Krause, but after this game he never seemed to be able to stay healthy long enough to make an impression in the NFL.
Philip Rivers - 5/8, 33 yards, 1 TD. In his first real NFL action (he had played in a previous game, in garbage time, and was not allowed to throw), Philip showed signs of what was to come. He was efficient, showed a strong and accurate arm, and led the team on a drive down the field for a TD before getting replaced by Doug Flutie.

That game changed a lot about the team. Floyd and Turner were finally taken seriously. Rivers showed that he was every bit as good as they thought he was. A game like this today would make me monumentally excited. By the end of the game, players like C.J. Spillman and Michael Bennett should be getting plenty of playing time. The stars of the team should feel as though they played a game in their backyard, and hopefully won't even be sore tomorrow morning.

So that's your best-case scenario. Big win, no injuries, and promise shown from some of the kids (Larry English and Vaughn Martin, we're watching you).

Is Larry English Ready to Start?

John (obviousman) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:13:40 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

San Diego Chargers' Larry English, right, drags down Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, left, for a loss. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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Larry English will most likely get the start at OLB this week against the Browns, standing in for Shawne Merriman (who has missed very little time considering all of his injuries this season). Since the Chargers are in the second half of their schedule and it's now "Undefeated Month", this is just the right time to find out what kind of player their first round draft pick is.

Let's start out by seeing where English is in comparison to his peers. I'll be the first to admit that I've kept an eye on all three USC rookie linebackers, and they have all impressed me. Brian Cushing is every bit the player he was in college, Clay Matthews uses his speed to fly around and make plays, and Rey Maualuga is the missile-like force we all thought he'd be when we talked about drafting him.

MLB has not been an issue though, so Maualuga can be forgotten about, and we can take out Cushing because he's playing in a 4-3 and not as a pass-rusher. Besides Matthews, the only other 3 first-round pass-rushers drafted by teams running a 3-4 defense are English, Robert Ayers and Brian Orakpo. Let's compare.

Matthews - (541 plays) 29 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 5 defended passes, 1 defensive TD.

Ayers - (297 plays) 14 tackles, 0 sacks, 1 defended pass, 1 defensive TD.

Orakpo - (635 plays) 37 tackles, 7 sacks, 2 defended passes.

English - (338 plays) 20 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 QB pressures, 1 forced fumble. Keep in mind that I got the numbers from the guys above from unbiased stat sites, but I got English's numbers from the Chargers coaching staff (thus the extra "QB pressures" stat). The stat sites have him in about 40 less plays and credit him with only 17 tackles.

Since I like to even the playing field, let's find some averages.

Matthews - .05 tackles per play, .009 sacks per play

Ayers - .04 tackles per play, 0 sacks per play

Orakpo - .05 tackles per play, .01 sacks per play

English - .05 tackles per play, .005 sacks per play

So, has he been the complete bust that Ayers appears to be in Denver? No. When you factor in the way he's been used (sporadically, with very little rhythm), you can say he's actually been pretty good.

This week needs to be his coming out party. I know he'll be going up against Joe Thomas, one of the best LTs in the league, but Larry English needs to make everyone stop worrying about whether or not Shawne Merriman is going to play against Dallas or after that. The storylines we need to hear, heading into the playoffs, are the ones about the Chargers "3-headed-monster" at OLB. English's performance, up to this point, has not lived up to that.

In the past couple of years, the Bolts have been "stacked" enough that their first day picks don't have to make a contribution until towards the end of the season and the playoffs. Eric Weddle came on strong at the end of 2007, just like Antoine Cason and Jacob Hester did towards the end of 2008. Louis Vasquez has been pretty good all season, but with the OLBs dropping like flies it's absolutely necessary for Larry English to start contributing more and soon.

Now, let's step away from the stats a little bit. Allow me to vent. Larry English looks small to me. Not just short, but he seems to have a very short wingspan. That worries me. The more I see him on the field, the more he looks like he should be a MLB instead of an OLB. I stumbled across a pre-draft scouting report on him this morning, and here's what it said (I'll highlight the parts that stand out to me)....

Positives: Solid linebacker build, with more than adequate upper-body strength and legs for the position. Good motor, hustles down or across the field until the play is completed, even if initially blocked. Changes direction in space well. Secure wrap-up tackler when man is in his area. Can use his arms to keep linemen and fullbacks off him when standing up. Stays balanced and upright most times on stretch plays. At times he can bounce off a block using his punch. Has quick, violent hands to stay free. Stays at home on option plays until last possible moment. Able to drop back off the line in zone blitzes and stay with tight ends. Strong week of practice at the Senior Bowl eliminated many of the concerns regarding English's level of competition.

Negatives: Lacks the bulk to play with his hand down in the NFL, which he did in college. Gets engulfed by better left tackles on inside pass rush moves, lacks the strength to bull rush and doesn't quite have the speed to get the corner consistently (but has good closing speed when standing up). Fails to hold his ground when directly out of his stance and can't get off the block quickly enough to get to the ball. Will need to prove he can handle coverage duties against better tight ends and that he has zone awareness. Needs to get lower in his backpedal, as he stands a bit tall.

I don't understand. He can't rush inside, he can't bull-rush and he can't speed-rush. What the heck can he do? Even English's big plays this year came mostly off of plays where the coverage was good and he kept his motor going. As much as I'm rooting for the guy, he hasn't shown me anything yet. The fact that he has good speed, strength, intelligence and linebacker size doesn't make him a good pass-rusher.

You can point to Elvis Dumervil and say "There's a short guy who's getting it done!" Actually, both players ran similar 40 times at the Combine, both are about the same weight and Dumervil is at least 2 inches shorter. So yes, you're right. Larry English I guess has the potential to be Elvis Dumervil, and that would be great. I just don't know if I see that happening. Even Elvis had 8.5 sacks his rookie season.

State of the AFC West Week 12

Sam (sdsuaztec4) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:32:40 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

LT protecting his baby.(AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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State of the AFC West is back this week after taking the holiday week off because I was out of state without my laptop. Actually, I had something prepared for last week but it's good that I didn't publish it because it would make me look less than prescient about the Chiefs and Broncos. On the other hand, Raiders suck-age is easy to predict no matter the circumstances.

I have to say that I didn't give the Broncos much of a chance against the Giants; although I will say I think that game probably said more about the Giants than the Broncos. The New York media is all saying how the Giants looked flatter than they've seen all season and that the team has lost its passion.

On the other hand, I was going to say how the Chiefs had improved; that was until the annoying Chief trolls came. It's a good thing that they did come because the Chiefs didn't really improve, they still suck; maybe just slightly less so with the release of Johnson. Jamaal Charles looks like the only good player on that team though.

Anyhoo, the Chargers are the first team in the division to finish division play, completing the tour with a 5-1 record. The Raiders and Chiefs still have a chance to play spoiler and affect the playoff picture; the Chiefs still have both games against the Broncos and the Raiders also play the Broncos once more.

One thing that I thought was interesting is that if you look at points allowed San Diego and Denver are almost identical when earlier in the season there was a wide gap. I wonder if its San Diego's defense improving or Denver's regressing. With the emergence of Vince Young, the Chargers have three tough games left: @Dallas, vs. Cinci, and @Tenn. The Broncos have two tough games left @Indy and @Philly. The tiebreaker scenario may end up to be important so I think it will also be difficult for Denver to sweep the 3 remaining division games.

Jump the break, yo.

AFC West Standings

	W	L	PF	PA
San Diego	8	3	312	219
Denver	7	4	196	189
Oakland	3	8	115	258
Kansas City	3	8	183	282

(updated 12.1.2009 at 1:12 AM PST)

I'm not going to post the injury widgets anymore because they suck and are inaccurate.

Oakland Raiders: A week after a big upset win the Raiders returned to their getting blown out ways. They gave up 24 points to the Cowboys who have had an enormous struggle with scoring points in recent weeks. Bruce Gradkowski similarly regressed and simply didn't play very well. It seems like neither Russell or Gradkowski is the answer at QB and they will have to look at the draft and try not to fail. Again. *cough* Russell, Heyward-Bey, McFadden *cough* DE Greg Ellis re-injured his surgically repaired knee in the loss and is questionable to play against the Steelers. The only other important injury is Justin Fargas who also is questionable. It looks like Ben will be back on Sunday so the Raiders will have their hands full with the Steelers and will try to play wildcard spoiler as well.

Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs thought that one win turned around the franchise. Think again. Its going to take a lot more than that to turn that mess around. That being said, Charger fans are definitely Chief fans for the rest of the season. Well, I guess they are getting better in that case. The only two games they have been blown out in were the two against the Chargers. If they limit the mistakes and stick to the run maybe they can help the Chargers out in the playoff picture. The Chiefs didn't sustain any additional injures, just the same ones as last week (Vrabel, Rogers, Savage, Herron). Bowe is still out from his PED suspension. With the Chiefs season over, the only story worth thinking about besides being spoiler is Charlie Weis' firing from Notre Dame. There is a strong possibility that Weis may take over as offensive coordinator at Kansas City given his connection with Scott Pioli and Haley request to focus more on overall game management. We'll have to see how it plays out.

Denver Broncos: After their embarrassing 4 game losing streak, the Broncos absolutely laid wood on the G-Men who looked like little girls on Thanksgiving. What does this mean for the Broncos? Probably a first round playoff loss. We'll have to see how they respond against a weak opponent in the Chiefs on Sunday. Either way, I still think teams have figured out how to scheme against them and the defense is going to play old. Eddie Royal left the game with a thigh injury and I haven't heard anything else about that. Losing Royal for any amount of time would be a huge loss. They are only 4.5 point favorites right now so the rest of the world hasn't regained their confidence yet. Not much else going on in Bronco land right now as things seem to have settled down after the win although Brandon Marshall has been real ornery lately.

San Diego Chargers: Another week, another win, another injury. The only thing stopping the Bolts right now from making a deep playoff run is injuries. Good thing we have a bye week to rest the walking wounded and let Hardwick and Runyan settle in. From what my inside sources tell me, Eric Weddle is out for probably two weeks, Luis Castillo and Shawne Merriman will likely rest against the Browns. Everyone else looks ok. Larry English will probably get alot of playing time and we might be able to see what he can do in that role. I just got the exclusive scoop that OLB Marques Harris is re-signing today. That should help with depth at that position. The DL by committee shuffle win continue as is without Luis; we are definitely weaker against the run without him but we will manage. Hopefully he can return for the Dallas game because they have some dynamic backs. At safety, Oliver and Gregory should do the job just fine with Cason in the nickle and Ellison in on running downs.

Hopefully everyone will be rested up and healed in time to make a playoff run. I don't think this Cromartie thing is going to distract anyone with Phil and Norv at the helm and he'll play at least until he gets suspended or convicted. We'll have to see how it plays out but I assume Cason would take over if it comes to that. Let's hope his teammates who are saying he didn't do anything are telling the truth.

Bolts & Dolts: Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers

John (obviousman) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:11:13 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

22 days ago: San Diego Chargers Antonio Gates, right, and Kansas City Chiefs Chris Chambers, left, talk after an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in San Diego. The Chargers won 43-14. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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As the Dolphins game proved earlier this season, any time the Chargers defense can start getting turnovers the game becomes very easy for San Diego. The offense typically turns those turnovers into seven points, and the fear of doing it again plays right into Ron Rivera's hands.

True, the first matchup against the Chiefs was a more dominating one for the Chargers. At least in this game the Chiefs offense showed some spirit (in the form of Jamaal Charles and Chris Chambers). What's different in this victory against other recent ones is that instead of a full team effort of greatness, the Chargers really won on the back of some big individual performances. That should make this week's Bolts & Dolts a little more interesting.

Bolts

Offense

Philip Rivers - 21/28, 317 yds, 2 TD. This six game winstreak for the Chargers has had a few games mixed in where Philip didn't have to win the game himself, and it's allowed him to be smarter and more efficient. Because of that, his QB rating for the season has been getting better each week. After yesterday's game, he has the 5th best QB rating in the NFL. Just below Peyton Manning and just above Tom Brady.

Antonio Gates - 7 catches, 118 yds, 2 TD. Remember a few weeks ago when Antonio was dropping big passes and everyone was talking about how he needed to work on his hands? His 7 catches, including a one-handed one for the first TD of the game, came off of 7 throws his way. An absolutely perfect, dominant game by Antonio Gates. (Random Sidenote: I was thinking this week. Antonio Gates was a Center at Kent State and everyone makes it seem like he was crazy for pursuing football instead of basketball. He's 6'4"! He's shorter than Michael Jordon (6'6") and significantly short than LeBron James. With his height, he'd have to become a shooting guard or somehow figure out how to become Charles Barkley. Football was the right move then and it is certainly the right move now for any short basketball player.)

Malcom Floyd - 3 catches, 85 yds. These numbers would be even better if he had not dropped that easy pass at around the Chiefs 10, and also if he had landed in the end zone instead of on the one yard line. Vincent Jackson was blanketed all game, and Floyd stepped up to become "the man" on third downs and down the field.

Offensive Line. Zero sacks allowed and it wasn't even close. That's the way to win football games. The running game wasn't as good as it was against Denver, but it was good enough to pick up key first downs. Also, Jacob Hester didn't help matters by falling forward every time he got the ball.

Defense

Brandon Siler - 9 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovery. It's funny how many moving parts this defense has. If the opposing offense is one that loves to throw the ball (like the Broncos), Kevin Burnett and Paul Oliver will see a ton of time. If it's one that prefers to run the ball (like the Raiders), Brandon Siler and Kevin Ellison will get more time. Those are just two examples of switches in starters/personnel that happen based on the team the Chargers are going up against. I like that.

Anyways, Siler is proving himself to be a beast against the run (as expected) and good enough in coverage to be on the field in non-goal line situations. This game, in which the Chiefs were trying to ride Jamaal Charles to victory, showed that Siler is probably the best ILB on the team at blowing up a run play.

Quentin Jammer - 5 tackles, 1 pass defended, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble. I'm glad to see the hit he took in the Broncos game hasn't slowed Jammer down. He played his typical good coverage, got the interception when it was there for the taking and forced a fumble with his exceptional tackling. While there may be better coverage CBs around the league, I doubt there is another CB as complete as Quentin.

Paul Oliver/Larry English - 7 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 defensive TD. I said it earlier this year, when I began to worry about English's lack of production. Teams that have good seasons and are strong in the playoffs are ones that get contributions from their role players. Oliver and English are good players, but at the moment they're playing only according to their specific roles. Oliver filled in for the injured Eric Weddle without much drop-off (that's a huge compliment) and English was pestering Matt Cassel all game, before and after he beat him to the fumbled snap.

Special Teams

Nate Kaeding - 2/2 FGs (longest: 55 yds), 5/5 XPs. Simply put, the best FG kicker in the NFL when you're within 50 yards of the goal post. Not resting on his laurels, Kaeding has definitely improved this season at kickoffs and long FGs.

Dolts

Offense

Jacob Hester - 3 carries, 3 rush yds, 1 catch, 3 rec yds. Everybody who was complaining about Darren Sproles getting all of the fourth quarter carries, listen up. Those carries should've been Jacob Hester's. Is he the starting FB? Not really. Is he the best Special Teams player on the team? Nope, 2nd or 3rd best. Mike Tolbert couldn't have taken every carry, because that would be risking injury to a player just as important as LT or Rivers. His 4 carries for 19 yards was fine. It was Hester, and his 1 YPC, that forced Norv Turner to try running the ball with Darren Sproles instead.

You could argue that, heading into a potential blowout, Michael Bennett should've been active for this role. You're probably right, but I imagine the coaching staff had some faith in Hester getting it done since he did it last week.

Also, I should note that Hester was almost a Special Teams Bolt this week, as he usually is.

Darren Sproles - 9 carries, 17 rush yds, 5 catches, 66 rec yds. This is a Dolt for his return bobbling/fumbling again. In B&D, players get rewarded for improving and fixing their flaws. This is a flaw that is not getting any better. If anything, it's getting worse. Also, the Chargers need to give up running Sproles. It's no use. Pretend he's Terrell Fletcher, use him only on 3rd downs and only as a blocker/receiver. 9 carries for 17 yards is ridiculous, when you think of the type of runner he is.

Defense

There are no defensive Dolts this week.

Almost Bolts

Mike Tolbert - I know eventually I'm going to have to start expecting it, but every time Tolbert catches a few balls for some yards and runs the ball better than anyone else on the team I'm surprised. What a tremendous player, and an incredible find for AJ Smith.

LaDainian Tomlinson - This is not for stats. This isn't for the fumble, the two touchdowns or the 3 YPC. This is because LT is looking better than he did earlier in the season, and is taking what the defense gives him. This is the "smart runner" that I talked about earlier this season. LT running smart, plus plenty of rest (only 14 touches!) should equal a more successful playoff experience for him.

Time of Possession - Usually, when a team struggles to run the ball and wins because of turnovers, they lose the time of possession battle. The Chargers won the TOP battle by more than 10 minutes! This offense is capable of doing whatever they want right now. Need a big play? There it is. Need a long drive to rest the defense? Sure thing.

James Holt - Welcome to the league, kid.

Shaun Phillips - That guy sure knows how to fill up a stat-sheet. He's been really good against the run. Unfortunately, you can see the dip in his pass-rush whenever Shawne Merriman is out of the game.

Almost Dolts

Vincent Jackson - I don't think it took this long for teams to gameplan for stopping VJ, but apparently somebody somewhere came up with one that works. He's been held without a TD for 3 straight games, and hasn't been over 100 receiving yards for 4 straight games. In yesterday's game there was at least one jump ball he lost that he probably would've gotten earlier this season. He has to figure out what the defense is doing and adjust.

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.

Chargers Stat of the Day: Defensive Ratings

John (obviousman) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:05:35 -0000

by Chris Park - AP

The San Diego Chargers defense swarms Brian Westbrook during the Chargers 31-23 victory in a NFL football game Sunday Nov. 15, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Park)

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Attention all nerds. Do you head straight to Football Outsiders when you're looking for better-than-average stats? Well, I found another website that you're going to want to bookmark. (Editor's Note: This is not a paid advertisement. I've never even talked with the guys from this website. So if this sounds like a sales-pitch, it's not.)

ProFootballFocus.com is a website that football stat-geeks have been dying for without knowing it. Just about any question you have about the team can be answered within their stats. Want to know who has played the most defensive plays for the Bolts? Eric Weddle, with 544. How about which player has the most QB Pressures? It's a tie between Luis Castillo and Shaun Phillips (both have 10). Wondering who the best MLB on the Chargers is? You'll be surprised.

Let's delve into some of PFF's defensive stats and player ratings...

I was taught a long time ago to never argue with someone who was smarter than me. I almost never abide by this rule, but today I'll make an exception. These guys have done such a great job at collecting stats, that I'm going to assume they do just as good of a job comparing them.

In terms of defense, it appears they look at all of the stats (sacks, QB hits, QB pressures, tackles, penalties, missed tackles, stops) and compare them relative to the number of plays the player had played. So a played like Brandon Siler, who has 10 stops on 104 plays, would be looked at as a more efficient player when he's on the field than Stephen Cooper (22 stops in 454 plays).

Each player is rated based upon their work rushing the passer, stopping the run and in pass coverage. Also factored in are things like Penalties being called against that player (surprisingly, leading the Chargers D in penalties is a tie between Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips and Larry English) and Missed Tackles.

The missed tackles stat also needs to be looked at proportionally against actual tackles. For instance, Stephen Cooper leads the team with 10 missed tackles to go with his 48 tackles on the season. However, that's probably not as bad as Antonio Cromartie's 6 missed tackles with only 15 tackles to his name.

So, follow me down the rabbit hole as we look at PFF's ratings of Chargers defensive players by position group. The number next to each player is their PFF Rating, which is roughly explained here. In a nutshell, zero is average across the league and any number above that is above average. Any number below is obviously below average. Also, for the sake of this not being too confusing, I'm leaving out any player who has been on the field for less than 75 snaps.

Defensive Line

Travis Johnson -1.5
Ian Scott -3.0
Alfonso Boone -3.1
Ogemdi Nwagbuo -3.1
Jacques Cesaire -9.5
Luis Castillo -10.3

How about that trade for Johnson? The Castillo number is a bit jarring, but appears to be accurate. Although he's near the top on the team in terms of defensive stops and QB pressures, apparently relative to the number of plays he's played it's just not as impressive as it has seemed. Also, according to their individual rankings he's fairly average at rushing the passer and well below average at stopping the run. For those looking for a comparison, Castillo's 2008 was ranked at 0.8 (or just a little above average) and Jamal Williams' 2008 was ranked at 27.4. 27.4! In 2007, Castillo was well above average at 7.7 when he was on the field.

Linebackers

Brandon Siler 5.8
Shaun Phillips 2.7
Kevin Burnett 2.6
Stephen Cooper -2.4
Tim Dobbins -2.7
Shawne Merriman -3.3
Larry English -12.2

I told you this stuff was interesting. As mentioned above, Cooper is killed by his missed tackles and by being below-average (-1.5) in pass coverage. Siler is actually the only LB that ranks as above average against the run and in pass coverage this year. Phillips would probably be #1 if it weren't for the 4 penalties he's picked up this season. This group is greatly improved from 2008, when no LB ranked as average or above average (Wilhelm was -16.9 if you were wondering).

Cornerbacks

Antoine Cason 1.4
Steve Gregory -1.0
Quentin Jammer -3.8
Antonio Cromartie -5.6

Jammer is actually playing better than he did in 2008, when his season ranking was -5.9. The stats seem a little off for cornerbacks in terms of what's "average", but at least they appear to be consistent. Cromartie's 2008 rating? -27.4. He was the anti-Jamal Williams.

Safties

Eric Weddle 3.7
Paul Oliver 0.5
Clinton Hart -1.8
Kevin Ellison -2.7

Before you start screaming about Hart being rated ahead of Ellison, listen up. Here's what I gather as the explanation by looking at the stats they're presenting. Both players are equal against the run (0.5), and the rookie actually better in pass coverage (-2.3 to -3.7), but the main two factors that catapult Hart above Ellison is penalties (zero for Hart, 2 for Ellison) and pass rushing (1.4 for Hart, 0.1 for Ellison). I can't entirely disagree with that, and considering these guys are charting the plays and I'm not....I'm going to believe them.

Still, it was the right move to get rid of Hart. Ellison is an improving player and Clinton was a declining one. Also, it has opened up plenty of playing time for Paul Oliver (who is obviously playing well).

So what do you guys think? Interesting stuff, right? Obviously, like all stats, these are not perfect. From what I can tell, these ratings do not factor in the level of competition being faced (which explains why Gregory would be higher than Jammer and Cromartie) nor do they factor in double-teams (which explains why Luis Castillo is down this year and why Shaun Phillips had such a poor rating in 2008). Still, in terms of judging who is making the most impact with their time on the field....it's intriguing.

Stats and rankings taken from ProFootballFocus.com do not include information from the Week 10 match-up against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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)

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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.