SBNation.com User Blog: Zach (maestro876)

Bolts from the Past: Reboot!

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:31:37 -0000

Ok, so my last attempt at this didn't work out quite the way I had hoped. But that's ok, you guys are patient right? RIGHT?!?

Anyway, what I've decided to do is reboot the series and take a slightly different path. I'll still be going through the best and worst of various games of different periods as described last week, but rather than me just declaring one game or another the winner, I'll ay out the candidates, and then you readers will get to vote! This way, we'll have real live clashes of will for what the best and worst moments of recent Chargers history have been.

I'm going to go to a slightly different place this week, and wait a bit to re-do last week's look at bad pass defense. This time, we'll go the opposite direction and look at the best rushing offense performances by the Chargers. I'm going to divide this one into three different periods: LT as the featured back under Marty, LT as the featured back under Norv, and Mathews as the featured back under Norv. Don't like my divisions? Too bad, it's my series. We'll kick it off with the most recent period, Mathews as the featured back under Norv.

We have 4 candidates to look at this week, 2 from 2010 and 2 from 2011.

Week 8, 2010, Tennessee @ San Diego: This game sported the highest rushing offense DVOA from the 2010 season, at 33.5%. The Chargers as a group gained 156 yards on 34 carries, good for a 4.6 ypc. Both Tolbert and Sproles each had 30+ yard runs, and each found the end zone. It wasn't a day of spectacular big plays in the ground game, but it was a very efficient day.

Week 14, 2010, Kansas City @ San Diego: This match was another that lack big explosive plays in the run game, but was extremely efficient and productive. Tolbert and Mathews each ran for over 60 yards with a touchdown, Sproles ran for over 50, and all combined for a 4.8 ypc. The Chiefs were able to avoid surrendering big plays, but consistently gave up decent yardage.

Week 3, 2011: Kansas City @ San Diego: Here, we don't see a ton of domination in the raw stats. Mathews ran for a nice 98 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns, including this nifty little play here. DVOA liked the game though, and gave the Chargers a 34.4% rating for their ground offense.

Week 13, 2011: San Diego @ Jacksonville: Ryan Mathews just ran all over the Jaguars in this contest. Ryan carried the ball just 13 times, but racked up 112 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown. Mike Tolbert tacked on 24 yards on 6 carries including a 13-yard touchdown. In all, there was very, very little Jacksonville could do that day to stop the San Diego ground attack. For the stat-inclined, the Chargers' rush DVOA was 66.2%.

There are your choices. I won't vote (at least, not right away) so as not to bias you all. Next week, we'll tackle the next period in the list--LT under Norv. That should be fun, right?

Poll

Which game featured the best rushing offense by the Chargers in the Ryan Mathews era?

Week 8, 2010, vs. Tennessee

5 votes

Week 14, 2010, vs. Kansas City

3 votes

Week 3, 2011, vs. Kansas City

12 votes

Week 13, 2011, vs. Jacksonville

70 votes

90 votes | Poll has closed

Bolts from the Past: Best and Worst of the San Diego Chargers

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:01:44 -0000

I love going through old game records and re-living the past. Maybe that's why I wrote this column all through the regular season. As part of that, I like comparing. When was the best of this? When was the worst of that? So along that vein, I came up with an idea: I'm going to go through the stretch of recent Charger history (call it the AJ era, 2003-2011) and find out things like, "What was the worst pass defense performance in a game?" and "What was the best run offense performance in a game?"

And then I came up with a way to improve it even more. What if I found out the best/worst performances during different important individuals' tenure (for example, quarterback, head coach, or defensive coordinator), and pit them against each other cage match style to find out who is responsible for the best and worst moments of recent Charger history?

That's what I'm going to be doing this offseason. Maybe I'll even throw in some polls to find out if fans' subjective memories match up with the objective reality (for the objective measure, we'll be using Football Outsiders' DVOA). I'll go week by week and look at the different games before putting them in the bracket. Then I'll match them up and see where it leads us. Sounds like fun!

This week, I'm going to start by asking this question: What game featured the worst pass defense by the Chargers? We'll begin by looking at the short tenure of our most recently departed defensive coordinator, Greg Manusky. There are three candidates, and the winner will be revealed at the jump. Quick, without looking, which game do you think it was?

All VOA, DVOA, YAR and DYAR statistical values are developed, calculated and reported by Football Outsiders. Their explanation can be found here.

If you guessed "Week 11: @ Chicago", you'd be correct. That game featured a pass defense DVOA of 92.2%, just barely edging out the Detroit game (91.4%), and handily beating the New England game (68.7%). Remember, for defense positive DVOA is bad.

That afternoon, we saw Jay Cutler complete 18 of 31 attempts for 286 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, which was good for 9.2 yards/attempt and a 58% completion percentage. Now, I know what you're thinking: "That's not that bad! They did way better there than against Brady or Stafford!"

Here's the thing though: Chicago's offense sucked. Like, really sucked. Their overall offensive DVOA for the year was -15.7%, and the pass offense wasn't much better, at -15.4%. And yet the Chargers let them go up and down the field on them and hit numerous big plays. This is why it's important not to just look at raw yardage; you have to take the quality of the opposition into account. And the Bears were not very good at offense in 2011.

The Patriots, by contrast, were incredibly good at offense, so in retrospect what the Chargers allowed to them wasn't too out of the ordinary. Still bad, but not horrible given what they were capable of doing.

So there we have it: the worst pass defense game of Greg Manusky's short tenure was against our good buddy Jay Cutler and the Bears, and is our first entry in this little tournament. Next week, we'll tackle Ron Rivera's tenure, and see what game saw him the most embarrassed through the air. I hope you guys enjoyed the first installment. If I'm not lazy, I may even make a real bracket.

Poll

Which 2011 game featured the worst pass defense by the San Diego Chargers?

Week 2: @ New England

18 votes

Week 11: @ Chicago

16 votes

Week 16: @ Detroit

233 votes

267 votes | Poll has closed

Wild Card Saturday Open Thread

Zach (maestro876) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:46:03 -0000

So it looks like I'm the only person capable of starting the first Wild Card Open Thread. Woo hoo! Should be fun for Houston fans, as they get to watch the first playoff game in franchise history. If there's anyone in the AFC playoffs I'll root for, it's probably them as they're the least offensive of the bunch. Plus my wife's cousin is a Texans fan, and this one means a lot to him.

Then there's the evening game which everyone expects to have a 117-114 final score, which probably means it will be 6-3 with 25 punts and 11 turnovers. I don't really care for either of those teams or their players, so I don't care who wins. I know some of our users feel differently (coughwonkocough) and that's cool. It will probably be fun to watch. Have fun everyone!

Flashback: Oakland @ San Diego, November 10, 2011

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:09:27 -0000

This week sees our final 2011 edition of Flashback, ironically flashing back just a few weeks. We'll look at the last time the Chargers played, and lost to, the Oakland Raiders. It was in the middle of that six-game skid, and the third game San Diego would play (and lose) in the space of 11 days. Thanks, NFL schedule-makers. You're awesome.

This game brought newly-minted Raider quarterback Carson Palmer back to San Diego, where the last time he had played was in 2009 as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, in that game Nate Kaeding won with a last-second long field goal. Ah, memories. Palmer usually pulled out his best performances against San Diego, and this week was no different.

While the Chargers managed to force a 3-and-out on the first series of the game and kick a field goal on their first turn, the slim lead didn't last for long. Thanks to a long run by Michael Bush and a long pass from Palmer to Jacoby Ford, Oakland quickly jumped back ahead with a Bush touchdown run. The San Diego offense would flounder from thereon out, while Oakland would thrive. The Raiders repeatedly dialed up long distance and connected on long pass plays of 30+ and 40+ yards, building up a 17-3 lead at halftime.

The second half was more of the same. The Chargers managed to score on a long TD to Vincent Brown to cut the deficit to 17-10, but the Raiders came right back as Palmer connected on passes of 55 yards and 26 yards to go back up by two scores at 24-10. San Diego would again score at the end of the 3rd quarter to make it 24-17, but that would be the end of scoring. Turnovers reigned for the rest of the night, as Palmer lost a fumble and threw a pick, just as Philip Rivers did the same (though in reverse order).

The Chargers will be looking to avoid a 4th straight loss to the Raiders. We've come a long way from that 11-game winning streak, haven't we? There are compelling reasons for San Diego to lose this weekend however: draft position for one, and helping Oakland to lose yet another first round draft pick (the second rounder they gave to Cincinnati for Palmer becomes a first rounder if they make the post-season). But it will be difficult to hope for a loss in the face of all that silver and black.

Flashback: Detroit @ San Diego, December 16, 2007

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:31:40 -0000

Once again, dear friends, we step into our WABAC machine and look back to the last time the Chargers faced their upcoming opponent. Today, we're setting the dials to go all the way back to the 2007 season, when the Detroit Lions traveled to San Diego to take on the Chargers.

There wasn't a lot of hype to build up to this one, because it wasn't anticipated to be a terribly exciting game. The Chargers were on their way up, having already clinched the AFC West by virtue of Denver's loss the previous Thursday and were riding a three-game win streak. Detroit had begun the year 6-2 and turned some heads, but was by this time on a 6-game skid at 6-8.

There really wasn't a whole lot of terribly exciting things that happened in this game. The Chargers took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and it was all downhill from there. Then-Lions quarterback John Kitna completed 26 of his 45 pass attempts for 302 yards, but also threw 5 interceptions. LaDainian Tomlinson broke 100 yards rushing yet again and scored a pair of TDs, and so did Darren Sproles. The Lions did nothing of note (except the aforementioned five-pack of turnovers).

Things are a bit different today. The Lions have actual talent at many positions, most notably wide receiver and defensive line. Their quarterback isn't too shabby either, when he's healthy. The Chargers are peaking right now, but it'll still be tough game, seeing as it's on the road against a physical team. It should be a ton of fun to watch.

Flashback: Baltimore @ San Diego, September 20, 2009

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:06:34 -0000

Another week, another trip through the looking glass into the past. This time, we'll examine the last (and so far only) time the Chargers have matched up with the Harbaugh-Flacco lead Baltimore Ravens. The game itself was incredibly exciting and fun to watch, though the end result was ultimately disappointing and extremely frustrating for San Diego fans.

This game was the San Diego home opener, and the Chargers were coming off a nail-biter win over the Oakland Raiders which left them somewhat injury riddled, losing center Nick Hardwick for what would be nearly the entire year, and highly-regarded rookie right guard Louis Vasquez. That left backups Scott Mruczkowski and Brandon Dombrowski, each with minimal playing experience, starting in the middle of the line against a ferocious Baltimore defense. The Ravens were looking to build on a season where they made it all the way to the AFC Championship game with a rookie head coach and quarterback.

The game started off well for San Diego. After the teams exchanged a pair of punts, the Chargers found themselves backed up on their own 1 yard line. After picking up a first down, San Diego faced 3rd and 3 on their own 19. On the play, Darren Sproles leaked out of the backfield completely uncovered, Philip Rivers hit him with a short pass, and Sproles did the rest, sprinting down the field 81 yards for a touchdown.

Baltimore responded quickly with a touchdown of their own, this one a Willis McGahee touchdown run from five yards out. The San Diego offense worked its way down the field, largely thanks to a 45-yard bomb from Rivers to Malcom Floyd, but were unable to punch it into the end zone. They settled for a short field goal and a 10-7 lead. That lead would be short-lived however, as Baltimore again methodically attacked the Charger defense, and scored on another McGahee TD run, going up 14-10.

San Diego tacked on another field goal, but Baltimore added a touchdown and their lead grew to 21-13. The Chargers did manage to answer back just before the half, when with less than two minutes left, Sproles returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Baltimore 42 yard line. Helped by a long completion to Vincent Jackson and a roughing the passer penalty, the Chargers were set up with first and goal at the Baltimore 1 with 19 seconds left in the half. Here, though, is where having an inexperienced interior offensive line proved costly-miscommunication between fill-in center Mruczkowski and Rivers lead to a delay-of-game penalty, backing San Diego off the goal line and preventing them from running any sort of quarterback sneak or FB dive play. The result was a pair of incomplete passes, and another short field goal, cutting the lead to 21-16 at halftime.

The second half saw the Ravens extend their lead, when on their first possession Rivers threw an interception to Dawan Landry, and with a short field Flacco hit Todd Heap for a 9-yard touchdown, giving Baltimore a 28-16 lead. The ensuing San Diego drive, while very ugly, ended in a work of art. The Chargers managed to get down the field in spite of holding and chop block penalties (again, thanks to the patchwork offensive line), but ended up facing 3rd and 18 from the Baltimore 35 yard line. Rivers took the shotgun snap, and lofted one of the most beautiful rainbow passes you will ever see. Vincent Jackson got behind the Baltimore secondary, and with three Raven defenders hanging onto him made a stunning touchdown catch. The Ravens' lead was back to one score, and 28-23.

San Diego managed to force a Baltimore punt, but again was only able to kick another field goal, leading to a score of 28-26. A couple drives later, Rivers would throw another pick, this one to then-Raven and current Charger Antwaan Barnes, and again the short field would lead to a Ravens score, though this time only a field goal, increasing their lead to 31-26.

The Chargers took over with just under three minutes to go and a chance to win the game. Things started off well when Rivers found Jackson on another deep ball, this one good for 38 yards. Several plays later, San Diego found itself facing 4th down and 2, on the Baltimore 15 yard line. The next play would decide the game. In what would turn out to be an incredibly controversial decision (and create a BFTB meme), Norv Turner decided to give the ball to Sproles for a run up the middle, rather than put the game in the hands of his best player, Philip Rivers. The play called wasn't a bad one, but again, the injury-riddled offensive line failed to execute, allowing an unblocked Ray Lewis to shoot a gap and drop Sproles for a loss in the backfield. Game over.

Frustrating, right? Rivers and the offense played about as well as could be expected given the circumstances, it just wasn't enough. Too many injuries and too good an opposing defense. At least this time, the patchwork offensive line has had more than one week to practice and play together, though it will be difficult, seeing as they're about to face a Baltimore defense with one of if not the best pass rushes in football. And, of course, this is a game they have to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Piece of cake.

Flashback: San Diego @ Buffalo, October 19, 2008

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:37:41 -0000

After a brief moment last week, when we were able to look back on a victory, now we head back to the doldrums of defeat. I'm talking about the last time the San Diego Chargers played the Buffalo Bills. In 2008, the Chargers were coming off a shellacking of the (Brady-less) New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football, were back at .500, and hoped to head east to build a winning record. The Bills had jumped out to an early lead in the AFC East, sitting at 4-1 and had everyone talking about how they might actually be good again.

This was a weird game. The biggest reason this was a weird game was because hardly anyone saw it. A few minutes into the first quarter, there was a massive power-outage at Ralph Wilson Stadium, and the power remained out until part of the way through the second half. Time had to be kept on the field by the officials, meaning no play clocks or game clocks. This resulted in delay of game penalties for both sides.

Both quarterbacks were incredibly efficient on the day. Philip Rivers completed 22 of 29 passing attempts, while Trent Edwards (remember him?) completed 25 of 30 passes. The big difference on the day was turnovers. Rivers was sacked twice and lost fumbles both times, and also threw an interception in the end zone late in the 4th quarter. The Bills, for their part, played mistake-free football.

The Chargers took brief leads of 7-3 and 14-13, but lost them both times soon thereafter. The play of the game happened with just over 6 minutes to go in the 4th, when the Chargers drove to the Buffalo 9 yard line, down 20-14. On first and goal, Rivers threw a pass that was picked off by linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who then returned it to the Buffalo 31. The ensuing drive by the Bills got them within field goal range, and Ryan Lindell gave them a two-score lead with a little more than 3 minutes to go in the game. That would end the scoring, as the Bills held on to win 23-14.

Today's Buffalo Bills are somewhat similar to 2008's version. They started off extremely well with big wins over the Raiders and Patriots and looked to have played themselves into the playoff picture. Five straight losses later, they've got the same 5-7 record as the Chargers and, like the Chargers, will probably be on the outside looking in. San Diego has actually won a game recently, albeit over the hapless Jaguars, and looks to continue that rebound at home. Current losing streak aside, Buffalo is not quite as inept as Jacksonville, and will likely give the Chargers a fight come Sunday.

Flashback: Jacksonville @ San Diego, September 19, 2010

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:46:24 -0000

Let's flash back to a better time. A simpler time, when injuries weren't prevalent and the Chargers actually had a good team. I'm talking, of course, about Week 2 of the 2010 season, when the Chargers opened up Qualcomm stadium against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was, suffice it to say, an odd game.

Oh, it started innocently enough, with the Chargers taking the opening kickoff and going down the field 74 yards for a touchdown. Things looked even better on the ensuing Jacksonville possession, when Antoine Cason stepped in front of a David Garrard pass. But then the turnovers started. From this point on, every single drive until late in the 4th quarter ended on either a score or a turnover.

Ryan Mathews fumbled on the Chargers' next drive. Then the Jaguars kicked a field goal. Then Philip Rivers threw an interception. Then two plays later Garrard threw a pick of his own. San Diego followed it up with a touchdown pass to Antonio Gates, and the Jacksonville response was to fumble away the ball again. Rivers declined to accept this gift, and gave the ball back to the Jaguars on an interception two plays later.

Not about to be outdone by his San Diego counterpart, Garrard decided he didn't want the ball either, and threw a pick of his very own. The Chargers, tired of simple fumbles and interceptions, decided they didn't feel like blocking for Mike Scifres and let an errant Jacksonville player through to block a punt. Jacksonville only got a field goal out of it, though.

The rest of the game was mostly scoring by San Diego and a comedy of errors by Jacksonville. The Jags lost fumbles, threw interceptions, and failed to convert 4th downs on their way to a 38-13 shellacking at the hands of the home team. It was nice to see the Chargers completely throttle an opponent after watching them get physically beaten up by the Chiefs the previous week. This also marked the first San Diego home game to be blacked out since 2004. Personally unable to watch it live, I avoided all contact with football-related things, and watched the game later that night.

Monday night's rematch will probably be just as ugly an affair, with both teams struggling badly and little hope left for the 2011 season. My guess is there will probably be less scoring, and more fumbles/interceptions. MOAR TURNOVERS!

Flashback: San Diego @ Denver, October 9, 2011

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:58:05 -0000

We've reached that point. The point where we're flashing back to the last San Diego Charger win. Kind of hurts just to say it, right? The last time we Charger fans tasted victory was over 6 weeks ago. At least we get to say it was over the hated Denver Broncos and their God-Emperor Tim Tebow.

The Chargers were lucky enough to start the game off facing the now-Kansas-City-Chief Kyle Orton, who was pretty terrible this year. San Diego built a nice 23-10 halftime lead in this one, on the strength of three Nick Novak field goals, a Philip Rivers TD run, and a deep ball to Malcom Floyd as time was running out in the second quarter. The Broncos, for their part, put points on the board from a field goal and pick six.

The beginning of the second half saw the overthrow of Orton, and the rise of God-Emperor Tebow. The Chargers added to their lead thanks to another Novak field goal to go up 26-10, but from there out struggled offensively. Thanks to four sacks, a fumble, and some mostly poor execution, the San Diego offense went to sleep, and let Tebow the First run wild. The Broncos scored a touchdown, two point conversion, and touchdown to cut the Chargers' lead to 26-24.

The only thing that kept San Diego in the game was a 3rd down bomb by Rivers to Floyd, which set up yet ANOTHER Novak field goal, and gave the Broncos the ball with 24 seconds left, no timeouts, and needing a touchdown to win. The God-Emperor got Denver to the San Diego 29 yard line, but his last second Hail Mary attempt fell short, and the Chargers escaped with a win.

Since then, Tebow the First has completed his takeover of Colorado, and the Chargers have been completely decimated by injuries, and have yet to win another game. Only Tebow knows if the trend will continue this weekend.

Flashback: Chicago @ San Diego, September 9, 2007

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:09:27 -0000

At last! A flashback to a win! This one, like our other NFC North reviews, goes back to the stories 2007 season. Here, we're going to look at Norv's very first game as the Chargers' head coach, the season (and home) opener against the Chicago Bears.

Both the Bears and Chargers were coming off somewhat disappointing seasons--San Diego because they had compiled the NFL's best record in 2006 and then promptly blew their playoff opener, and Chicago because they had somehow made it to the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman starting at quarterback, and then blew it to the Indianapolis Colts, giving Peyton Manning his only Super Bowl Ring.

The Chargers were lucky enough to get to play the Bears before they benched Grossman in favor of Kyle Orton, and boy did he deliver. Grossman completed just 12 of 23 passing attempts for 145 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception, while taking three sacks and fumbling once. On the other side, things were a little better offensively (though not by much) for the Chargers. Rivers was almost identical to Grossman, except with a few more yards and a higher completion %: he completed 22 of 31 passes for 190 yards, no TDs, and one INT, took three sacks and fumbled once.

The big difference in the game, though, was LaDainian Tomlinson. While only getting 25 rushing yards on 17 carries, LT threw for a touchdown to Antonio Gates--the much loved halfback pass that would never be seen again after this play. That play gave the Chargers their first score--and lead--of the game, putting them up 7-3 in the third quarter. Tomlinson would also score on the ground, finding the end zone in the fourth quarter to give San Diego a two score lead at 14-3, and essentially ice the game.

There were a few notable moments in the game. The Chargers shut out Devin Hester--he had several fair catches and zero returns. Nate Kaeding had a field goal blocked in the first quarter. My favorite moment in the game, though, had to be the events that lead to the Rivers "fumble". With 8:13 left in the 3rd quarter, San Diego had 2nd and goal at the Chicago 1 yard line. In a run-heavy formation, a Tommie Harris jumped across the line about a half second before the snap and blew up the snap between Nick Hardwick and Rivers, resulting in a "fumble" that the Bears recovered. Replays confirmed that Harris clearly jumped before the ball was snapped. The problem was that no referee was actually watching the line of scrimmage at the time, and so none saw the obvious offsides. Rivers and coach Turner spent about five minutes screaming at the head official and pointing to the large replay monitor, but to no avail. They were pretty mad. It was amusing to watch, though infuriating at the time.

All in all, it was a sloppy game by both offenses, but the Chargers made fewer mistakes than the Bears and came out with the win. It would be the lone highlight of the first month of 2007, as San Diego would go on to lose their next three games. The Bears would go on to have an injury-riddled season and finish 7-9, with Rex Grossman getting benched in favor of Kyle Orton.

Things are a bit different now--Tommie Harris plays for the Chargers, and Jay Cutler quarterbacks the Bears. Pretty much every measure available shows that Chicago is a superior team, and they'll be playing at home against an injury-plagued Charger team with an iffy quarterback. Well, at least it's football.

Flashback: Oakland @ San Diego, December 5, 2010

Zach (maestro876) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:57:30 -0000

This is another rough one, folks. As we all know, it's (a short) Raider week, and that means re-visiting last year's series with Oakland. As I'm sure we all remember, the Chargers not only lost a game to Oakland for the first time since 2003, but were swept in the season series for the first time since 2001. Like always, we'll look at the last match-up with the Chargers' upcoming opponent, which means we have to look at last year's game in Qualcomm when the Chargers were pretty much handled by the Raiders on their own field.

San Diego came into this game on a roll. After another horrific start, the Chargers had won four straight, and were coming off a blowout on Sunday Night Football over the Indianapolis Colts, where they almost completely shut down Peyton Manning and company. Most Charger fans (and Raider fans for that matter) expected this game to have similar results. Alas, it was not to be. I'll repeat a bit from a flashback from a couple weeks ago: Of course the Chargers would suffer a sack and be forced to punt on their first possession. Of course the Chargers defense would force a punt on the ensuing Oakland possession. Of course Darren Sproles would muff the punt and give the Raiders the ball on the San Diego 18 yard line, and of course Oakland would convert an ensuing 4th down attempt for a touchdown.

It was pretty much all downhill from there. Rivers threw an interception on the next drive, and the Raiders converted two third downs and a fourth down en route to scoring another TD to go up 14-0. San Diego managed to hit a FG to get on the board, but the Raiders would again convert their next drive into a touchdown, taking a 21-3 lead. The rest of the half was turnovers galore--San Diego failed to convert a 4th down, Oakland lost a fumble, and the Chargers missed a field goal. The Raiders took a 21-3 lead into halftime. Ouch.

The Chargers did manage to make it a one score game briefly in the second half, when they kicked a FG and scored a touchdown to make it 21-13 with 10 minutes left in the game, but the Raiders went right back and scored a touchdown on a Darren McFadden run, and at 28-13 with 4:40 left in the game, that was all she wrote. The Chargers would rebound to absolutely crush Kansas City and San Francisco the next two weeks, but the damage was done. This game was yet another example of the Chargers' mistake-prone ways doing them in. Muffed punts, turnovers, and key penalties cost them a home game against a divisional opponent.

San Diego has a chance to reverse this trend with a win tomorrow night over Oakland. Jason Campbell, who gave the Chargers fits, is gone, and has been replaced with the interception-prone Carson Palmer. Darren McFadden has all but been ruled out for this game, meaning a heavy dose of Michael Bush, who is talented to be sure, but he's no McFadden. If the Chargers can't win this game, then they probably won't even win a weak AFC West. What that will mean for the beleaguered front office and coaching staff, is anyone's guess.

Flashback: San Diego @ Green Bay, September 23, 2007

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:09:11 -0000

This is another one of those flashbacks where we have to go back four years to find the last time the Chargers met their upcoming opponent. That's to expected, of course, with an NFC team. Here, we go back to the 2007 season to look at the time the Chargers traveled to Wisconsin to face the Green Bay Packers. This was an interesting game, in that the Chargers were coming off a pretty embarrassing loss to the Patriots on the road, while the Packers were off to a good start for the first time in several years.

This matchup would prove to be all about the quarterbacks. Brett Favre was in his last season with Green Bay (though we all didn't know it at the time), while Philip Rivers was only in his second year as the starting quarterback and was still making a name for himself. Both QBs were extremely accurate and efficient--Rivers completed his first fourteen passing attempts, and 15 of his first 16 including two touchdowns.

Favre, however, was just as accurate, throwing for two touchdowns of his own and giving Green Bay a 17-14 halftime lead. The Chargers weren't done, however, and took the opening kickoff of the second half 80 yards downfield, and capped it off with a third Rivers touchdown pass, this time a 21 yard screen to LaDainian Tomlinson. The two teams then proceeded to trade punts while San Diego attempted to protect a 21-17 lead. A key moment came when the Packers, facing 4th and goal from the San Diego 1 yard line, let Favre try to throw the ball into the end zone so he could tie (or break, I can't really remember which) Dan Marino's career TD pass record.

Thanks to some nifty coverage by Shaun Phillips, the ball fell incomplete, and San Diego took over on downs. It wasn't going to be terribly easy, though, as they were essentially at the 6-inch line, under the shadow of their own goalposts. To Rivers's credit, he picked up a first down on 3rd and 8 when he hit Antonio Gates for an 18-yard gainer up the sideline. Unfortunately, the Chargers weren't able to do much more after that and were forced to punt it away. They'd pay the price.

One play after punting, Favre found Greg Jennings for a 57-yard touchdown, giving the Packers the lead. San Diego had just over two full minutes and a pair of timeouts, however, so it was entirely doable for Rivers to lead the Chargers back. Four plays into the two-minute drill, though, Rivers was picked off by Nick Barnett, who returned it all the way back to the SD two yard line. Two running plays later, the score was suddenly 31-21 Green Bay with only a minute left in the game. The Chargers would manage to tack on a field goal, but the Packers recovered the ensuing onside-kick attempt, and the game was over.

I had the pleasure (displeasure?) of watching this game with my mother-in-law, who is a rabid Packer fan. By the end, I got to hear all about "#4!" and "we're going all the way!", and various other things. What's even more fun, is that I plan on attending this weekend's match-up, also with aforementioned mother-in-law. Yay?

Flashback: Kansas City @ San Diego, September 25, 2011

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:37:05 -0000

Wow, that was fast. I feel like we just played the Chiefs. Oh, wait, that's because we did just play them a month ago, in San Diego. I was at that game, so my memory/viewpoint may be a bit skewed as a result. I remember being very high up, being hot, and in general not as entertained as I hoped I would be.

That's probably because the Chiefs came into this contest as a terrible team, having been outscored 89-10 over their first two games, and I expected a blowout. This was back when I still thought the Chargers were a good team, and wasn't too upset about their losing on the road in Week 2 to one of if not the best team in football. I was hoping, nay, expecting a blowout. A laugher. A game similar to Week 14 of 2011, when San Diego won 31-0. Boy was I disappointed.

Of course the Chargers' first possession started off well. Of course they moved the ball deep inside KC territory. And of course Philip Rivers made a bad read and threw an easy pick that was returned all the way to the San Diego 20. Luckily enough, (and I mean, really lucky given the final score of the game), the Chiefs went three and out, and Ryan Succop missed the ensuing 38-yard field goal attempt.

Credit to the San Diego offense--they actually cashed in on the Chiefs' failure, going 72 yards on 15 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on a Ryan Mathews 2-yard touchdown run. The rest of the first half was sloppy by both sides. The Chiefs failed to get one first down, and the Chargers fumbled once and turned the ball over on another interception (this one is more on Floyd than Rivers, though). They did manage to tack on a field goal to take a 10-0 lead, and went into the locker room at the half with a lead.

The Chiefs, for their part, looked much better in the second half. Not only did they get some first downs, they scored a touchdown on their first second half possession when Matt Cassel hit Dwayne Bowe for a 4-yard TD. The Chargers came back and scored again on another Mathews run. The two sides exchanged field goals, and the score stood at 20-10 with 8 minutes to go in the game.

The Chiefs pulled within a score after Cassel hit tight end Leonard Pope for a touchdown just one play after connecting on a 43-yard bomb to Steve Breaston to set up first and goal at the 1-yard line. The next part was probably the most frustrating of the game. Given a lead and 5 minutes left in the game, the Chargers' offense was unable to nail it down. They succeeded in gaining one first down, but a few plays later were stuffed trying to convert 4th and 1 at the Kansas City 34 yard line.

Here, you just knew something bad was in the works. You knew the Chiefs, after being shut out of even getting a first down in the first half, would continue their second half trend of slicing through the San Diego defense and at least getting a FG to tie, maybe even a TD to win. And when on the first play of that drive Cassel connected with Pope again for a 23-yard gain taking Kansas City into San Diego territory, it looked like that was what was going to happen.

But then, Matt Cassel happened. On a screen attempt, Cassel threw the ball into a crowd, and Eric Weddle somehow ended up with the ball in his hands. Game over. ~60,000 fans collectively exhaled in relief. The Chargers, barely, survived a late Kansas City rally and got away with the win. It didn't really feel much like a win--Rivers continued to be less than stellar, the Chiefs' offense had their way for the most part in the second half, and the Chargers managed a meager 3-point victory over a team that had been outscored by a total of 79 points in its first two contests.

Things remain pretty much the same since then--Rivers is still struggling, the Chargers aren't looking much like a good team, though they've managed 4 wins out of 6 games. The biggest differences are that San Diego has huge injury problems, and the Chiefs haven't lost since then and are a mere game out of first. This one means a whole lot, folks.

Flashback: New Jersey/A @ San Diego, January 17, 2010

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:43:40 -0000

This one wasn't really a flashback I was relishing writing, but unfortunately it had to be done. For whatever reason, I seem to have blocked most of the specific details from the Chargers' last playoff loss from my memory, so I'll have to go more on what I read than what I remember (that consists mostly of dejected sighs and curses). Suffice it to say, here we go.

As far as playoff collapses go, this one wasn't entirely unpredictable. In fact, most of the people who looked at the way the Chargers and Jets were constructed knew that this was a really bad matchup for San Diego. The Chargers came into this game with a historically great passing offense that was paired with an atrocity of a rushing offense and a defense that was average on a good day. The Jets, on the other hand, had an atrocity of an offense on the whole, a terrible rookie QB, a historically great passing defense, and a mediocre at best rushing defense. It was a perfect case of strength matching with strength.

The opening drive of the game started well enough, with the Chargers getting a first down and appearing to move the ball at a decent pace. The drive busted, though, when Nick Hardwick, in just his third game back from injury, sailed a shotgun snap over Philip Rivers's head. Philip managed to fall on the ball, but not without losing 10 yards, putting the Chargers in third down and a mile. The teams then proceeded to trade punts. The Chargers had a scoring opportunity early, but failed to cash in when Nate Kaeding pushed a 36 yard field goal attempt wide left.

San Diego finally did strike first two possession later , when Rivers hit Kris Wilson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. And, for their part, the Charger defense held the Jets without a first down until their 5th possession, with only 8:25 remaining in the half. The Chargers even had a chance to extend their lead at the end of the first half on a 57 yard field goal, but unfortunately it fell short. This one you can't really blame Kaeding for, folks.

The Jets got on the board with their first possession of the second half with J. Feely hitting a 46 yard field goal. A couple possession later, the first turnover of the game came for San Diego, when Quentin Jammer picked off Mark Sanchez and ran it back to the New Jersey 38 yard line. It was not to last however. Several plays later, Rivers tried to go to Vincent Jackson on a deep route, and the ball was tipped into the air, bounced twice off Jackson's back and leg, and was plucked millimeters off the turf by Darrell Revis for an interception. This wasn't really anyone's fault as it was the result of some freaky bounces and a great play by Revis.

The Jets weren't able to make anything of the pick, and punted it away. In his first real mistake of the game, however, Rivers gave it back when he threw another interception, this time by safety Jim Leonhard who brought it back to the San Diego 16. Three plays later, Sanchez his Dustin Keller for a two yard TD, giving the Jets their first lead of the day.

The biggest play of the game happened two possessions later, when Shonn Green broke loose for a 53 yard TD run. We don't need to rehash this one more, do we?

San Diego tried to rally, tacking on a TD with 2:20 left in the game, but New Jersey was able to burn what was left of the clock on their last possession, ending the Chargers' season.

For whatever reason, this latest playoff loss didn't bug me as much as others did. Perhaps it was because this time, I was well aware of San Diego's strengths and weaknesses (strong passing, not much else), and that they didn't match up well with those of the Jets. For whatever reason, I don't harbor lingering resentment over this one, like I do the losses against the Patriots after 2006 and the Steelers after 2008.

The present Charger team is worse in just about every way than the 2009 one (except rushing offense, which is better, and overall defense, which is about the same). Rivers is having a down year, Gates and Jackson are both hurt, and the defense is again struggling to find any kind of consistency. The Jets have gotten better, through experience and drafting. Mark Sanchez isn't great, but he's not absolutely terrible like he was in 2009. Their offense is no longer an abomination, and their defense and special teams are both excellent. Unpleasant though the thought might be, especially given that it's in New Jersey, the Jets have the edge in this rematch.

Flashback: San Diego @ Denver, January 2, 2011

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:18:36 -0000

Ok, I'll admit it. I didn't watch this game. Not live, at least. The last game of the 2010 season, unfortunately, mattered only for draft positioning for the San Diego Chargers. On one hand, I wanted a better pick, but on the other my psyche viciously rebelled at the thought of pulling for a Broncos win. I solved the problem by not watching the game live, reading about the result afterward, then catching the game on my DVR.

This game was notable because it was the first time since 2005 that the Chargers were playing out the string. It was also Tim Tebow's first career NFL start. The Chargers fell behind early, as usual, when the Broncos intercepted Philip Rivers, and Tebow lead the Broncos on a drive capped by a pass to Brandon Lloyd.

The Chargers caught up and won thanks to Ryan Mathews having a career day. He carried the ball 26 times for 120 yards and three touchdowns. The Chargers clearly came into the game with the goal of seeing how Mathews would respond when asked to carry the load for a full game, and he responded well. His one down moment came on a drive in the second quarter when he fumbled. It didn't hurt the team though, because thanks to the Gods of Fumble Luck (GOFL from now on), he fell on his own loose ball.

Honestly, that's all I remember from this game. I think Tebow had a couple long runs, the Chargers built a decent lead then let the Broncos chip away at so the final score (33-28) looked closer than the game actually was. I'm curious. How many people actually watched this game? I'll throw a poll down on the bottom to see. Anyone have any anything particularly insightful to say about this game? Let us know in the comments.

Poll

Did you watch this game?

Yes.

125 votes

No.

51 votes

176 votes | Poll has closed

Flashback: Miami Dolphins at San Diego Chargers, September 27, 2009

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:45:00 -0000

This week on Flashback, we'll hop into the Wayback Machine and look at the last time the Chargers met the Miami Dolphins. Turns out it wasn't that long ago, in fact. The erstwhile Florida squad traveled to San Diego for a Week 3 contest in 2009. San Diego was 1-1, coming off contests against the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens that left the squad riddled with injuries, and saw Brandyn Dombrowski starting at guard, Scott Mruczkowski starting at center, LaDainian Tomlinson on the bench, and nose tackle Jamal Williams on injured reserve. Miami, on the other hand, was winless, having dropped contests against the Falcons and Colts to start the season.

The Dolphins started noted Charger-killed Chad Pennington at quarterback. Derided for his lack of arm strength, Pennington nevertheless possessed laser-like accuracy and excellent decision-making skills, and this game was no different. After a Charger punt to open the game, Pennington dinked and dunked the Dolphins down the field on a 16-play drive that got them to first and goal on the San Diego 1-yard line. Fortunately, the Chargers had the Gods of Fumble Luck on their side for once. Ronnie Brown fumbled on his way across the goal line, the ball popping out and rolling all the way out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. Threat averted!

The Chargers followed up the fumble by doing something good for once--driving down the field and kicking a field goal. Sure, it wasn't a touchdown, but we can't have everything, can we? The Chargers lead 3-0. Miami punted on their next possession, but quickly got the ball back when Joey Porter forced a Philip Rivers fumble, and with good field position the Dolphins were able to tie the game at 3. With just over 3 minutes to go in the half, the Chargers executed their two-minute drill well, and Rivers guided them to the Miami 22. Unfortunately, Nate Kaeding missed the ensuing 41-yard field goal (one of the only two regular season FGs he'd miss all year), and the team went into the locker room tied at 3.

The Dolphins' first drive of the second half was notable because Chad Pennington left the game due to injury, despite not really suffering a hard shot. I guess that shoulder could only take so much. In came Chad Henne, rookie quarterback. Henne turned out to be not-terrible, and lead the Dolphins on a 12-play drive in the 3td quarter that saw them kick another field goal and take a 6-3 lead.

Then Philip Rivers happened. El Capitan hit Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates on successive big passing plays, and then ran the ball in him self on 3rd and goal, giving San Diego their first red zone touchdown in two weeks and a 10-6 lead. The Chargers tacked on another pair of field goals to go up 16-6, and with 5:53 remaining in the game, Eric Weddle stepped in front of a Henne pass and took it in for the score, giving the Chargers a 23-6 lead that would prove insurmountable. Miami would score a touchdown in garbage time to make the score 23-13, but that's as close as they would get. The Chargers carried the day.

Today, things actually aren't terribly different. Ronnie Brown isn't on the Dolphins anymore, but Chad Henne is the starter now and is still throwing passes to Davone Bess and Anthony Fasano. Joey Porter is gone, but Cameron Wake is doing his best to terrorize quarterbacks in his stead. The biggest addition the Dolphins have made is trading for Brandon Marshall of prior Denver Bronco fame. Things are kinda lukewarm between Marshall and Miami fans at the moment.

On the San Diego side, we've replaced an aging Tomlinson with up-and-coming Ryan Mathews, but other than that the players are essentially the same on offense. The Chargers still have a ton of injuries that they are trying to overcome, and are hoping it will be enough against a winless Dolphin squad traveling cross-country again. Time will tell if that's the case.

Flashback: Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers, December 12, 2010

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:20:30 -0000

This week, Flashback features the first POSITIVE retrospective on the last time the Chargers faced their upcoming opponent. The last time the Chargers faced the Kansas City Chiefs was Week 14 of the 2010 season. The Chargers were coming off an embarrassing game where they were dominated at home by the Oakland Raiders at the tune of 28-13, and lost control of their own destiny in the AFC West. The Chiefs were coming off a win at home against the Broncos, where both sides struggled to score, and Kansas City scraped by Denver 10-6. The biggest news for the Chiefs was the fact that quarterback Matt Cassel had come down with appendicitis after the game, and the resulting surgery forced him from the starting lineup.

The Chargers knew that to have any shot at winning the division, they had to take care of business at home against the Chiefs. And take care of business they did. Kansas City backup Brodie Croyle had no shot to do anything positive whatsoever in this game. About the only thing he accomplished was to avoid throwing an interception. He finished the day completing 7 of 17 passes for 40 yards (still better than Donovan McNabb!) and was sacked four times. Jamaal Charles managed 40 yards on 10 carries, which lead to so-so 4.0 yard per carry average, but the Chiefs had the ball so little (19 minutes and 50 seconds, compared to over 40 minutes for the Chargers) that he didn't have much in the way of opportunities.

For the Chargers part, they scored early and often, leading 21-0 at the half. Philip Rivers was efficient, completing 18 of 24 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns (though he did throw one interception). Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert mirrored each other almost exactly--each carried 16 times, Mathews for 65 yards and a TD, and Tolbert for 66 yards and a TD. Despite Malcom Floyd and Rivers each fumbling once, the offense controlled the game from start to finish, and the Chiefs limped home from Qualcomm Stadium without managing a single point. The final score was 31-0 San Diego.

So what's changed now? The Chargers are almost exactly the same team, with a few differences here and there. The Chiefs, on the other hand, will have Matt Cassel this time. But on yet another hand, this time they're missing Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles, and Tony Moeaki. The Chiefs have been outscored this year to the tune of 89-10. If the Chiefs lose this game, their season is essentially over. Let's make that happen, what say?

Dear Chargers Fans: The Importance of Perspective

Zach (maestro876) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:31:26 -0000

Like most of you, I was frustrated and disappointed not only with the fact that the Chargers lost to the Patriots this past weekend, but with the manner in which they lost. Poor coaching, poor execution, and inexplicable mental errors lead to losing a game that they might have won. At the same time, I think it's important to try and maintain perspective and not attach too much importance to one loss. Some of the overreaction to one game in Week 2 (!) of a 16-game season borders on the manic.

The obvious: the Patriots are probably the best team in the NFL right now. They certainly were last year, and things don't appear to have changed. The Chargers had to go on the road, in Week 2, to play in the Patriots' home opener on a day in which they honored the memory of Myra Kraft. All these factors pointed to a game that would be near impossible for San Diego to win. And they didn't win. But you know what? It wasn't as terrible as it could have been. Despite all those factors going against them, the Chargers had their chances late and didn't get blown out. They lost by two touchdowns--a solid defeat to be sure, but not a blowout. And the things that lead to the loss--poor gameplanning and mental errors, are eminently fixable. Sometimes they get fixed (like in 2007 and 2009), and sometimes they don't (like in 2010), but it's far easier to deal with those things than with an overall lack of talent, which these Chargers certainly don't have. After all, we could be the Chiefs.

Let's look at some other teams who have suffered losses as bad or worse than the one the Chargers just endured:

In 2004, the Pittsburgh Steelers were 15-1 and the #1 seed in the AFC. The one loss, however, was a Week 2 smackdown at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens (who would finish 9-7; hardly world-beaters) where they lost 30-13. Pittsburgh didn't lose another game until the AFC Championship.

Also in 2004, the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the New England Patriots, finished the season 14-2, one game behind the Steelers. Despite this, they suffered a stunning loss at the hands of the 4-12 Miami Dolphins in Week 15 on Monday Night Football. Such eminent names as A.J. Feely and Derrius Thompson handed New England their second loss of the year.

In 2007, the New York Giants dropped their home opener to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 35-13. The Giants would, of course, go on to defeat the Packers in the NFC Championship game.

In 2010, the New England Patriots finished the season 14-2 and were the AFC's #1 seed. Their two losses were a Week 2 contest at New York against the Jets, which they lost 28-14, and a game at Cleveland in Week 9, where the 5-11 Browns would win handily by a score of 34-14.

Also in 2010, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, lost at home in Week 10 to the Patriots 39-26 in a game the Patriots dominated.

Lastly, right now in 2011, the Steelers were utterly destroyed in Week 1 on the road against the Baltimore Ravens, a game they lost 35-7. Despite this, the Steelers remain a heavy favorite in the AFC, and no one thinks they're going to miss the playoffs or threaten to return to the Super Bowl.

The point of this exercise is to illustrate how it's important not to get hung up about one loss, on the road, in Week 2, to the best team in football. The Chargers may not see the Patriots again. If they do, it'll be a new day and a new game, one in which perhaps they make fewer mistakes, or the Patriots make A mistake.

So vent to your heart's content. But remember, there are still 14 games to go. This was the absolute hardest game on the Chargers' schedule, period. It only gets easier from here.

Flashback: New England @ San Diego, October 24, 2010

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:24:47 -0000

I, for one, am glad that the Chargers managed not to choke away the game last weekend and came away 1-0. It means that the Chargers aren't staring 0-2 in the face heading across the country to play one of the best teams in football. That, of course, would be the New England Patriots. The Chargers' recent history against this team has not been good--since 2006, the Chargers are 1-4 against them, their only win coming in 2008 when Matt Cassel (you know, this guy) started at quarterback for them.

Last year, the two teams met in Week 7 in San Diego, and the result was one of the most frustrating game's I've yet witnessed. The Chargers were a disappointing 2-4, having lost two in a row, the last at St. Louis in a nightmare game that saw Philip Rivers get sacked 7 times. The team was under enormous pressure to find a way to win at home against a very good team. The Patriots, on the other hand, were still somewhat of a team in flux. They had recently released Randy Moss, and were still working out the kinks in their new offensive scheme. Despite this, New England was an excellent 5-1 coming off an exhilarating overtime win against a good Baltimore Ravens team.

The Chargers began the game with massive injuries on offense. Vincent Jackson was unavailable due to holdout, both Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee were out with hamstring injuries, and Antonio Gates somehow managed to be active despite only having one good foot. San Diego's starting wide receivers for the game were Patrick Crayton and Craig Davis, with Richard Goodman as the #3. The game started innocently enough, with the two sides exchanging punts, and the Chargers scoring first with a FG by Kris Brown, who had been signed the previous week to replace an injured Nate Kaeding and was active for his first game.

The first of a cacphony of errors occurred with 4:29 left in the first quarter. Having been pinned deep in their own end, Rivers threw a dump-off pass on third and long to TE Kris Wilson. He was hit several yards short of the first down marker, and while in the process of being tackled lost control of the football. The Patriots picked it up, and a few plays later Tom Brady hit Rob Gronkowski in the end zone for a touchdown.

Another offensive possession for the Chargers, another inexplicable mistake. Richard Goodman, a special teamer forced into the game because of injuries, made a catch for a first down at the New England 41. He then proceeded to make the Vincent Jackson mistake--falling to the ground while making the catch, Goodman was not touched. He then got up, and left the ball on the ground. Patriot defensive backs immediately recognized the mistake, fell on the ball, and killed a promising drive. New England was forced to punt, but the damage was done.

Not about to be outdone by Goodman, Rivers and Jacob Hester decided to one-up him. On the ensuing Charger possession, after achieving 1st and 10 at the New England 32 yard line, Rivers made an ill-advised attempt to dump a pass off to Jacob Hester, who was several yards to his right. Hester was unable to haul in the high toss, but rather deflected it to the ground in front of him. All the players on the field assumed it was an incomplete pass. All, that is, except New England linebacker Rob Ninkovich, who fell on the loose ball and returned it all the way to the San Diego 8 yard line. Only a tackle by Philip Rivers prevented him from scoring a touchdown. That proved important, because on the ensuing Patriots possession back-to-back sacks by Shaun Phillips and Antwan Barnes forced them to settle for a field goal.

The bumbling continued. The next series saw Rivers throw an interception to Devin McCourty, which completed a stretch of four consecutive San Diego possessions that ended via turnover. Two punts later, the Patriots ended the first half with another field goal, making the score 13-3. Why wasn't the score worse than that, you ask? Because the Charger defense played its heart out. Lineman and linebackers were hitting and hurrying Brady on nearly every play. Defensive backs knocked numerous catchable balls away from New England receivers. If not for the valiant effort by the Charger defense, it would not have even been close.

The second half brought an end to the comedy of errors, but the Patriots padded their lead with a TD and FG drive, and the Chargers could answer only with a FG, making the score 23-6 halfway through the 4th quarter. The game appeared essentially over. And that's when the Chargers decided they weren't done. With 7:25 to go in the game, the Chargers finally found the end zone when Rivers hit Gates for a 4 yard TD pass. But then rather than kick it away, the Chargers special teams tried to do something positive and went for the onside kick. The ball was recovered by none other than Richard Goodman, and the Chargers proceeded to drive down the field again and scored another touchdown, this time a 1 yard run by Mike Tolbert. Incredibly, all this took little more than three minutes, 20 seconds. The Patriots took over at their own 40 yard line with four whole minutes left in the game, the Chargers in possession of all three of their timeouts, and a suddenly slim 3 point lead at 23-20.

The Patriots managed to move the ball 9 yards, and faced 4th and 1 at their own 49 yard line. Despite taking heavy criticism for a similar move in 2009, Bill Belichick decided to leave his offense on the field and try to keep the ball by converting on 4th down. The play called was a simple run up the middle by BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and it was blown up in the backfield by a combination of Shaun Phillips and Antwan Applewhite.

At this point, all the momentum was with San Diego. They had all three timeouts, two minutes, and the ball in New England territory having just sliced their way through the Patriot defense on two consecutive drives. The Chargers moved the ball, but only to the New England 27 before facing 4th down. A false start by Luis Vasquez made it the NE 32. At this point, I'd like to point out a statement made by our fearless leader in the days leading up to the game. Numerous Charger fans were expressing distaste with Kris Brown, Nate Kaeding's injury replacement. In response, we were assured, and I quote:

This game is not going to come down to a Kris Brown field goal in the final seconds.

Alas, there we were, with less than a minute to go a needing a field goal to tie. Back went the snap, boom went the kick, and clank went the ball off the right upright. Game over.

This was one of the most maddening, frustrating, pull-your-hair-out excruciating games the Chargers have played in recent memory. They got a near dominating performance from their defense against an elite offense, but thanks to some of the dumbest mistakes you'll ever see on a professional football field found themselves trailing by three scores late. Then they got everyone hopes up sky high by mounting a furious comeback, stuffing said elite offense on 4th down with minutes left to play, and blew the game at the last second by clanking a field goal.Suffice it to say, I'm a bit jaded about the whole thing.

Regardless, this weekend is a new day. The Chargers have real live wide receivers this time--Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd both, along with a mostly healthy Antonio Gates. The Chargers (probably) won't commit the same boneheaded mistakes again. The ones made in last year's game were enough to last a lifetime, thanks. The Chargers will be lucky to get another such performance out of their defense, but if the offense does its job this time they won't have to. Even on a neutral field this would be a tough game for the Chargers, and the fact that it's in New England makes it even harder. But something resembling health and intelligence on offense makes me think we have a chance that's as good as, if not better than, last year.

Flashback: San Diego @ Minnesota, November 4, 2007

Zach (maestro876) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:54:37 -0000

Welcome to Flashback! As we saw a couple weeks ago, this feature will take a look at the last time the Chargers played their upcoming opponent, what happened that day, and what's changed since then. Today, we'll take a look at a meeting most Charger fans likely will want to forget--November 4, 2007 when San Diego traveled to Minnesota to play the Vikings.

On the surface, everything leading up to this game looked good for San Diego. The Chargers had reeled off 3 straight wins and looked to put their dismal 1-3 start behind them by rolling over the hapless Vikings. Minnesota was just 2-5 and riding a two-game losing streak. Most fans on both sides felt this game had a foregone conclusion--the Chargers were getting things figured out at the right time and the Vikings would simply be their next victim. There was even one article in a Minnesota newspaper that pointed out how terrible the Vikings were at covering tight ends, and wondered how they could even hope to slow All-Everything Antonio Gates. End of story, right?

Well, as it happens, things began well enough for the Chargers. On their second possession of the game, Rivers and company were handed some decent field position and a couple nice pass plays to Legedu Naanee later had first and goal at the 1 yard line. The Vikings' run defense was stiff, but after three tries LaDainian Tomlinson found the end zone and the Chargers went up 7-0.

The lead, however, was short-lived. The Vikings ran the ensuing kickoff all the way to the San Diego 39 yard line, and a few Adrian Peterson rushing attempts later the game was 7-7. The rest of the first half involved pretty much nothing happening. After that touchdown, the two teams exchanged nine (9!) punts before the Vikings took over with 2:24 left at their own 20. That's when things got interesting. During the drive, Tavaris Jackson managed to get hurt, again, and left Brooks Bollinger to take over at quarterback. He and Peterson drove the Vikings to the San Diego 39 yard line, where Ryan Longwell attempted a 57 yard field goal. The attempt fell short, and Antonio Cromartie outran the entire Minnesota FG unit and scored a touchdown on the longest play in NFL history--109 yards, a record which can only be tied, and never broken.

The incredible play put the Chargers up 14-7 heading into halftime, but unfortunately that would be the last good thing to happen for the Chargers that day, as things fell apart in the second half. The Vikings took the opening kickoff, and scored when Peterson broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 14-14. On the first play of the next drive, Rivers and back-up center Cory Withrow botched the snap, and the Vikings took over at the Charger 20. The Vikings fumbled themselves, however, on the San Diego 3, saving the Chargers from their mistake and allowing the visitors to at least move the ball a little before punting again. This drive saw Rivers break a stretch of 11 consecutive incompletions. Yeah, it was that kind of day.

Everything just sort of went downhill after that. The Vikings scored a touchdown on a 40 yard pass from Bollinger to Sidney Rice, and on a 1-play drive consisting of a 46-yard Peterson run. The Chargers continued to give up big plays on the ground, to both Peterson and Taylor, and managed only a field goal themselves. The final score saw the Chargers on the short end, 35-17.

A look at the numbers illustrates just how thoroughly the Chargers were outplayed. Rivers completed only 19 of 42 passes for 197 yards, no touchdowns, and 1 interception. San Diego as a team had only 42 rushing yards on 20 attempts, good for a whopping 2.1 yards per carry. On the flip side, we know how good the Vikings looked--Peterson rushed for an NFL record 296 yards on 30 attempts, and San Diego allowed Bollinger to complete 7 of 10 passes for 95 yards and a TD, which is pretty good for a backup, especially when you consider four of his 7 completions either converted 3rd downs or scored a touchdown.

The overall game stats were just as ugly. Minnesota gained 528 net yards to the Chargers' 229, and dominated the time of possession 34 minutes to 26. It was, all in all, a perfect storm of suck for San Diego.

So what's changed? Why should hapless Charger fans expect anything different this time around? Well, a lot has changed, actually. For starters, it's exceedingly unlikely Philip will complete less than 50% of his passes and that he'll throw 11 straight incompletions. He's come a long way from the inexperienced youngster he was in the first half of the 2007 campaign. It's also highly unlikely Adrian Peterson will take over the game like he did four years ago. Will he break 100 yards? Probably. Will he break 200? Probably not.

The Vikings could not be more different from the team they were in 2007. They've got a new quarterback, a new head coach, new coordinators, a new offensive line, a new defensive line, new receivers, etc. and so forth. There is almost zero chance that this game will resemble anything close to what happened back then. And that should make Charger fans very, very happy.

Flashback: Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers, October 3, 2010

Zach (maestro876) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:22:39 -0000

This week I'll be kicking off a new weekly feature here at Bolts from the Blue--a look back at the last time the Chargers met with their upcoming opponent. I'll recap what happened in the previous meeting, talk about potential storylines, and bring up what's changed about each opponent between their last match-up and the coming one. Today, we look at Pre-Season Opponent #3, the Arizona Cardinals.

The Chargers and Cardinals last faced off in Week 5 of the 2010 season. The Chargers had fallen to 1-2, coming off a maddening loss at Seattle (which we need not discuss in any further detail) and hoping to get the ship righted at home. The Cardinals were still trying to figure out how to replace Kurt Warner at quarterback, giving playing time to both Max Hall and Derek Anderson. Despite the uncertainty, however, the Cardinals were 2-1 having managed close wins over St. Louis and Oakland.

Unfortunately for the visitors, however, the day was going to be all San Diego. The Chargers jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter and, despite a fumble-return touchdown for the Cardinals, completely dominated the game from start to finish. Philip Rivers was his usual efficient self, completing 15 of 20 passes for 241 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Mike Tolbert rumbled his way to 100 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 16 carries, and even Ryan Mathews got a taste of the end zone.

Perhaps most impressive was the performance of the San Diego defense. Altogether, Charger defenders collected nine (9!) sacks of the hapless Arizona quarterbacks, and picked them off twice. Together Hall and Anderson completed 15 of 28 passes for just 146 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. Cardinal running backs managed only 47 rushing yards on 14 carries.

Game stats complete the picture of dominance. The Chargers outgained the Cardinals 419 net yards to 134, and held the ball for almost 35 minutes. All in all, this one was never in doubt and the Chargers carried the day easily.

What's changed since the last time these two teams met? The Cardinals think they've finally got an answer at quarterback: Kevin Kolb, the erstwhile Philadelphia Eagle who, despite being named the starter leading up to 2010, lost his job to a rejuvenated Michael Vick and was sold to Arizona for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. How things will work out for him once the regular season begins is anyone's guess, but reports so far out the Cardinals' coaching staff have been glowing.

What will make Kolb's job a lot easier is the knowledge that Larry Fitzgerald will remain a Cardinal for many, many years to come having just signed a mammoth contract extension. This caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth amongst Charger fans (like myself) who hoped to see San Diego make a run at the pass-catcher in free agency. Alas, 'twas not to be.

What all this means going into this weekend is relatively little. This is a pre-season game, so neither side is really trying their hardest to win. We'll get to see the starters for a little more than two quarters, so that will be at least fun to watch, but there isn't really much in the way of storylines, beyond two teams still trying to work out the kinks in a shortened off-season.

Blogging the NFL Rule Book: 2011 Changes

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:04:32 -0000

Blogging the NFL Rule Book: 2011 Changes

Here's a nice breakdown of all the rule changes going into effect for the 2011 season. A lot of them are tiny things that don't have a large impact, but here are some notables:

- Kickoffs from the 35 yard-line.
- An attempt to clarify the Calvin Johnson rule about maintaining possession while going to the ground. It fails.
- The reintroduction of the "football move" requirement for completing a catch.
- A tweak to the rules for kickoffs that go out of bounds.

A Look at the New NFL CBA

Zach (maestro876) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:39:17 -0000

Now that training camps and pre-season football are in full swing, all the acrimony and uncertainty of the summer's negotiations and legal battles are nothing more but a distant memory. For the most part, football fans can forget the whole thing ever happened, and get on with discussed player moves, who looks good, who doesn't, and so on and so forth. But you should be concerned with the result of all those negotiations-a brand new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will govern how the NFL works for the next ten years.

The new Agreement is roughly similar to the old one in structure and many of its terms, but there are numerous differences that have a real effects on how teams will operate. What I'm going to do is break down some of these provisions and talk about how they'll affect things in the future. I'm not going to analyze the entire document-it's 318 pages long and much of it doesn't really concern the everyday fan. If you have any questions about areas that I don't cover here, just ask in the comments and I'll do my best to clear it up.

Scope of the Agreement

The CBA covers all relations between the NFL and its players. The agreement will remain in effect for 10 full years, meaning we won't have to revisit any of these issues until the 2021 offseason. Unlike previous CBAs, there are no opt-outs for either side. The agreement is essentially the law of the land for a minimum of 10 years, and nothing can change that.

Rookie Draft and Compensation

The structure and conduct of the draft remain essentially unchanged. The biggest change here is the introduction of a rookie wage pool which operates to limit the amount of money offered to rookie draft picks. There is now a Total Rookie Compensation Pool, which limits the total amount of money all teams can spend combined on draft picks. For 2011, the Pool is $874.5 million. There's also a pool for Year One of rookie contracts, which again will limit the total amount of money teams can offer draft picks in the first year of their contract. The 2011 Year One Pool is $159 million. Each club gets an individual allocation of that pool, which they cannot exceed to sign their draft picks. The amount of the pools will increase or decrease from year to year at the same rate as the overall salary cap.

Further, the new CBA provides a set structure for rookie contracts, whether drafted or undrafted. Remember back before the 2009 season when Kevin Ellison, a 5^th rounder, tried to hold out and prevent an extra year from being tacked on to his rookie contract? That is now a thing of the past. The length and structure of rookie contracts are now set in stone and cannot be negotiated. First round draft picks receive four year contracts, with a fifth year as a team option. The option year has to be exercised by the team after the end of year three, but before the start of year four. Draftees taken in rounds 2 through 7 receive four year contracts, period. Undrafted free agents get three year contracts, period.

Another big change is restrictions on contract renegotiation. In the past, if a player is an immediate star, they sometimes feel they have outperformed their rookie contracts and will either hold our or threaten to hold out in order to receive a new payday. Now, rookies cannot renegotiate their contracts until they have a certain amount of service time. Drafted players need three years, and undrafted players need two.

Hold Outs

We are all familiar with hold outs. The player doesn't feel that his contract adequately compensates him for the production he provides on the field, so he refuses to report to the team until the organization agrees to re-negotiate his deal. We've already discussed the new prohibition against renegotiation by rookies without enough service time. But the CBA also throws in another provision increasing the risk for players who want to hold out. Now, if a player fails to report to his team a minimum of 30 days before their first regular season game, the entire season will not count towards his service time. That means that players such as Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins would no longer be able to hold out for 60% of a season, then report and still get a year towards free agency. If they aren't on the roster a month before game 1, they lose the whole season no matter when they report. This just recently went into effect for Chris Johnson of the Titans-he's holding out for a new deal and did not report 30 days before the first game, so he now loses the entire 2011 season for his service time.

Veteran Free Agency

The rules for unrestricted free agency are mostly the same as they have been in the past. The new CBA provides that four years of service time are sufficient for a player to become an unrestricted free agent, just as the rules were before the weird 2010 season. There is a little, interesting wrinkle however. If an unrestricted free agent does not sign a new contract by July 22, his old team can tender him a 1-year deal worth 110% of his previous year's salary. That player then becomes prohibited from signing with any other team for the rest of the year. If he doesn't sign his tender by two days after Week 10, he is then prohibited from playing at all for the rest of the year. If his old team doesn't tender him, then he remains free to sign with any other team for the entire year.

Franchise and Transition Tags

The rules of the franchise and transition tags are unchanged. Despite attempts by the players to institute limits on the number of times one player can be franchised, there remain none. Transition tags remain useless.

The rest of the changes and modifications between the old system and the new have to do with the intricacies of the salary cap, insurance, injury and non-injury grievances, player discipline, etc. The things I outlined above are the changes that most affect the ability to put a team on the field, and things that concern fans the most. Again, if there is something more you have a question about, please ask in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.

Chargers Sign Dante Hughes to 2-Year Deal

Zach (maestro876) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:40:16 -0000

The Chargers' front office has made yet another move today, this time to shore up depth in the secondary. The Ace reports that San Diego has signed cornerback Dante Hughes to a two year deal. Hughes performed acceptably in limited snaps in 2010, and the team appears to have liked what they've seen enough to invite him back.

For those of you who do not know, Hughes was originally drafted by the Colts back in 2007. He spent a couple of years there before being released in 2009, and picked up on waivers by the Chargers. He has been released and signed back a few times, but appears to have impressed enough in 2010 to earn a multi-year contract. Acee had this also to say:

Dude played really well last year in slot. Not going to Pro Bowl. As one of 5 CBs, excellent.

CB Dante Hughes is coming back. Agreed to two-year deal.less than a minute ago via OpenBeak Favorite Retweet ReplyS.D. U-T Chargers
sdutChargers

How the Brady Lawsuit Affects the CBA Negotiations

Zach (maestro876) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:06:00 -0000

As we've all been paying close attention (snicker) to the negotiations going on between the NFL and NFLPA, we all know that a new deal is likely on its way very soon and this whole labor dispute thing will be in the past. What some may have forgotten, however, is that there is still litigation pending in the federal courts. The Brady et. al. v. NFL lawsuit remains on calendar.

As a procedural matter, this doesn't mean a whole lot. Once the two sides come to an arrangement, they simply enter the settlement with the court, and file a joint request for dismissal, which will be granted assuming the court approves of the settlement. Where potential problems could arise is that each of the named plaintiffs in the case, including our own wayward Vincent Jackson, must approve of the settlement for it to be entered.

Why would Jackson, or any of the named plaintiffs refuse to approve of the settlement? Because they could possibly hope to extract some kind of special benefit. For example, in the aftermath of the 1993 labor dispute, the named plaintiffs in the players' anti-trust suit against the league were able to secure perpetual freedom from franchise tags. It's theoretically possible that Tom Brady or Drew Brees or Vincent Jackson could block resolution of the matter in order to gain free agency.

Will one of the plaintiffs do this? My gut says no. If the NFLPA and NFL agree that no special treatment is forthcoming, I don't think one of these guys would break from the pack and block the deal just to try and force it. They'd earn public ire, as well as ire from their teammates who would blame them for prolonging the crisis. If any of them is crazy enough to try it, though, Jackson would probably be the one. So everyone hold your breath.

New Collective Bargaining Agreement Taking Shape

Zach (maestro876) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:03:15 -0000

Last week, we wrote that meetings between the owners and players were starting to bear fruit, and that a deal could be reached as early as mid-July. Now, sources have begun to leak details of the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement being negotiated between the owners and players. The new arrangement is expected to mirror the previous one, with some fairly significant changes.

Revenue Sharing

Old: The players received about 60% of total revenue, but "total revenue" wasn't calculated until after the owners took $1 billion up front for costs.

New: Players will now receive approximately 48% of total revenue, a number which will vary but never dip below 46.5%. The owners will no longer receive $1 billion off the top before division, but they will still get various expense credits to fund building new stadiums and the like. This will greatly simplify accounting and audits that needed to be done under the old regime.

Rookie Wages

Old: There were no controls over how much new draft picks could receive. It was simply whatever the market would bear.

New: There will be a rookie wage scale in the new agreement, though exact details have not yet been finalized.

Game Schedule

Old: We're all familiar with the old schedule formula, correct?

New: No additional regular season games are mandated by the new agreement. Both sides are keeping an 18-game schedule as an item open to negotiation, but not necessary for a new CBA to be finalized. What WILL be new, however, is a full-season Thursday Night Football slate. These additional prime time games will help produce additional revenue to pay for the changes in how the money is eventually split.

Salary Cap

Old: Through the 2009 season, teams had a maximum and minimum they could spend on player payroll. For the 2010 season, there was no cap or floor at all.

New: Under the proposed new deal, the salary cap will return, however the floor will be increased, such that teams will be mandated to spend close to 100% of the cap. This will prevent teams from spending the least possible and pocketing the difference.

Free Agency

Old: As we are all well aware, the 2010 season saw players require 6 years of service time before becoming unrestricted free agents. We are also all well aware of what the consequences were.

New: The service time requirements for free agency will return to 4 years, as it was before 2010. That means players such as Eric Weddle and Malcom Floyd will be unrestricted free agents.

In all, these terms seem like a nice series of compromises. Both the owners and players have given ground, each mollified by the promise of even greater future revenues to make up for what they are surrendering. There is also talk that this deal could have a ten year term, meaning that if this deal does happen, we could see a long, uninterrupted period of labor peace in the NFL.

Lockout Ending Soon?

Zach (maestro876) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:10:05 -0000

Multiple reports are starting to filter out that the NFL owners and players are starting to get very close to an agreement that would end the labor dispute and allow the 2011 NFL season to begin on schedule. Over the past several weeks, representatives of the owners and players have been holding "secret" meetings to attempt to hammer out a deal before the courts get too heavily involved in the process. This is likely a good thing.

Yesterday, reports began to emerge that the sides are very close to getting a deal done. One even went as far as to claim that the deal is "80-85% done". This should be welcome news to all of us NFL fans, who are really the ones who will be shafted if the work stoppage continues into the regular season. It seems that fear over the course of the litigation process, as well as fear of missing games, has caused the two sides to come together and really try to get something done.

In order to avoid missing any games, they probably have until, say, mid-July to get an agreement in place. That would allow for a two-week free agency period, leading into the beginning of training camp at the start of August. That would be the best-case scenario, and would mean the only things really missed as a result of this process will have been minicamp and various OTAs. That will hurt the rookies the most, but for a team with established systems and lots of veterans in place like the Chargers, the effects should be minimal. That's a good thing, right?

For now, it's still a waiting game. This morning, numerous new reports have attempted to manage expectations, claiming there is still much work to be done and that the idea that everything will be smooth sailing from here on out is "naïve". But for the first time in a while, it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Labor Dispute Update

Zach (maestro876) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:21:34 -0000

Since the 8th Circuit issued a permanent stay of the injunction lifting the lockout, there hasn't been a lot of movement on the legal front. The parties have exchanged briefs, and appeared for oral arguments last week on June 3rd before the 8th Circuit. In terms of events of substance, there hasn't been a whole lot.

For now, we await the 8th Circuit's ruling on the injunction. In light of the Court's opinion when they issued the full stay, it's a safe bet that they're probably going to side with the owners. However, it's not for certain, and as a result of the uncertainty we've seen the resumption of mediation and negotiations. The bottom line is, we should all hope that the negotiations lead to a settlement, because the courts will take their time, and whatever they come up with probably won't be the best solution.

San Diego Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo is on a tear for Triple-A Tucson, hitting...

Zach (maestro876) — Sun, 29 May 2011 02:34:06 -0000

San Diego Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo is on a tear for Triple-A Tucson, hitting .361/.465/.889 in his last 10 games including five homers and four doubles. On the year, he has a .370/.448/.728 line, with 24 walks and 43 strikeouts in 173 at-bats. Some of this is PCL stat inflation from his friendly home park at Tucson, where he's hitting .408/.494/.816, but even in the road he's at .340/.411/.660. Scouting reports from PCL observers indicate that Rizzo is showing outstanding bat speed and has the strike zone well under control right now. He's even improved against left-handed pitching, which was a problem for him in the Red Sox system.

Defense needs work: although he is mobile around the bag and is good at scooping throws, he's error-prone, committing eight gaffes already this year for a .980 fielding percentage, not good for a first baseman. Nevertheless, the Padres won't worry too much about the glove if he keeps hitting like this. They will need to find him a spot in the lineup soon.

John Sickles believes in Anthony Rizzo.

Lockout News: 8th Circuit Grants Full Stay

Zach (maestro876) — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:56:22 -0000

As multiple outlets are reporting, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the NFL owners' motion for a full stay of the injunction lifting the lockout. Practically, nothing changes. The lockout was already in effect under the appellate court's temporary stay. However, the court's decision to grant a full stay pending appeal of the lockout is a large blow to the players. Essentially, it indicates that the 8th Circuit is extremely likely to side with the owners on the ultimate appeal as well.

Now, the next major development will happen on June 3rd, when the 8th Circuit will hear arguments on full appeal. Again, based on their reasoning in granting the stay, it seems very unlikely that their approach will change. This will probably kill OTAs, minicamps, and other workouts and practices designed to help get rookies acclimated. Free agency won't happen for some time yet. The good news is that the sides are back at the mediation table and supposedly progress is being made. There's still time for the 2011 season to be salvaged, but of course every week that ticks away without a new deal is one week closer to missing games.