How many of you have taken a look through the BFTB Apparel store recently? Go ahead, raise your hands. "One, two, three, four" ... wait, why am I counting? The store tells me how many of you have visited.

Anyway, since launching the store last week and putting out a call for ideas, we've loaded a few new items to the store in the last few days:

• We now have apparel sporting Bolts From The Blue's masterfully-crafted logos, thanks to QuesaDiaz. When looking at the logo apparel, be sure to check the front and back of all items as there are items on both sides.
• We have workout gear (running gear) emblazoned with "RUN MOAR" thanks to aesimpleton's suggestion. There are plans to expand the line and have a whole slew of running and workout gear with the RUN MOAR tagline. Our fearless leader plans to represent Bolts from the Blue with the RUN MOAR apparel in the Chargers 5K this summer - no doubt in an effort to burn all the calories he'll consume once he eats his hat - you should join him.
• We have a "Faith and Arrogance shirt", as well as a customizable "AJ's Ego" shirt where you can type up your own tag-lines and have it made. There's other stuff, but you'll have to go look for yourself.
• The shop is up to 11 distinct items for your perusal; with plenty more on the way. I'm still awaiting approval for some of the graphics I uploaded to the store. Expect more BFTB Logo apparel to show up once those graphics are approved.

In the previous thread, we were overwhelmed with your suggestions and ideas. You guys really are creative and I got a kick out of your suggestions. Just because you may not see your idea in the shop doesn't mean I didn't like it, I may not have had a chance to add it to the store yet, or figure out the best way to implement your idea.

That said, we're still open to suggestions or ideas. If you have an idea, throw it up in the comments below or post it to Twitter (making sure to address it to @BFTB_Chargers). If we like your idea, of course, you'll still get a commission. One thing I should point out though: something as simple as "you should put the logo on a polo shirt" won't warrant a commission. While we appreciate the suggestion, if a phrase/graphic/logo is already in the shop, then it's no longer subject to commission. We're looking for your original creative ideas.

So go ahead, take a look around at what we've added. I've also added a sidebar widget with a link to the store, now you'll always be able to get to it. It's kind of hard to miss since it's just a solid yellow "Faith and Arrogance" shirt. Keep sending us your ideas and you may end up with some cold hard cash.

Also, you can get free shipping on any order over $50, just use coupon code SHIPFREEUS at checkout.

So, some of you may know this has been in the works for about a year and a half now. I was put in charge of getting BFTB apparel - namely: shirts - designed and up for sale. Well, I have this incredibly bad habit of over-extending myself and volunteering myself for too many things at once. Usually in that case, something suffers and gets back-burnered. In this instance, it was the apparel store.

Well, you'll be happy to know I finally got off my butt and opened the Bolts From The Blue Apparel Store!

Right now, I'm working on getting the designs made and put into the store. As it is now, we have two (competing) shirts and I'm working on getting a hat into the store. Some of you may have already seen the hat idea, you can expect to see that in the store soon once Spreadshirt gets back to me answering my questions.

John and I have brainstormed and come up with a few designs we think are clever and you'd like. I'm still working on getting them down on (digital) paper, but they will be made and the products populated into the store just as soon as I get the designs made.

Did you read the title to this post? Wondering where your help is needed? Well, make the jump to find out how you can help us, and even make a little money for yourself in the process.

Continue reading this post »

Do you guys remember last week when Dean Spanos came out and told us all that he was not going to fire Norv Turner, nor AJ Smith? Do you also remember that a bunch of people on the internet argued that this was all part of Dean's master plan to move the team to Los Angeles? I contend a large contingency of those people were wearing foil hats at the time, trying to drown out the voices in their heads that the government planted.

The theory was that Spanos — or Sapnos, whichever you prefer — was going against the vocal public's opinion and sticking with his beleaguered head coach and General Manager in an effort to get ticket sales to tank. Then when ticket sales tanked enough, then he could use that as an excuse to move the team to Los Angeles, saying publicly, "see, people in San Diego don't care about this team!"

Well, it was hogwash then and it's hogwash now, as Mayor Jerry Sanders and the Chargers announced today in a joint statement that the team would not be triggering the exit clause in their Qualcomm Stadium lease, and instead will play the 2012 season in San Diego. In the statement, the team also maintains that they "will continue to work together to explore publically-acceptable ways to build a new Super Bowl-quality stadium in San Diego."

Be sure to check out the full release on Chargers.com, as it contains a Q&A with team Special Counsel Mark Fabiani regarding the future of the stadium issue.

I apologize for the late posting of this column, and for not doing one last week. With all the holiday festivites and family visiting us, I didn't have much time to focus on the column as I usually do. Sadly, this is likely to be the last Power Rankings post for the season. I may do one following the draft, I'll just have to see how many sites put out their rankings.

Well, what an eventful week in Chargers land. Or more accurately, an uneventful week as so far there's really only been one major change on the team. We're sure there's more change coming, but we just don't know when or how.

Based on what fans in San Diego are saying, as well as the various pundits, you'd think this team was in shambles, on the verge of collapse. There are screams demanding wholesale changes and overhaul to this team. As you're going to see, things aren't quite as bad as it may seem. For instance, according to Football Outsiders, the Chargers still have a 7th-ranked offense. But this year their defense dropped to 29th. Their Special Teams improved to 23rd, but at just a -1.2% rating, they're not far from being average.

The biggest problem this year was with the defense, and the team has already begun addressing that with the firing of Greg Manusky and promotion of John Pagano. Now let's hope AJ focuses even more on the defense in this year's draft, specifically on the front 7. Both Norv and AJ are skating on thin ice this season, so let's all hope they find a way to bring this team to glory again. What's that saying? Winning cures all?

Notable Quotes

I have to say, I was disappointed this week as there wasn't really anything worth quoting this week; it's all stuff we've heard before. The one good quote I found was actually by a commenter on Reddit. Reddit user atrollsatan broke the season down for us and offers up this nice summary of the NFL:

Playoff Teams

Awesome Offense: Packers, Saints, Patriots

Awesome Defense: Ravens, 49ers, Steelers

Explosive Wildcard: Lions, Giants, Falcons, Bengals

One Dimensional: Broncos, Texans

Coulda Shoulda Woulda

Eagles, Cowboys, Jets, Titans, Chargers

Unjust Injuries

Raiders, Bears, Chiefs, Bills

Hopeful Late Surge

Cardinals, Seahawks, Dolphins, Panthers

Still Rebuilding

Redskins, Browns, Vikings

No Hope

Jaguars, Buccaneers, Rams

OH GOD WHY

Colts

Division Averages

Surprises

Disappointments

Continue reading this post »

The San Diego Chargers have just announced that Dean Spanos — owner and Chairman of the Board — has decided to keep Head Coach Norv Turner and General Manager AJ Smith for the 2012 Season.

In the midst of their 6-game losing streak, it seemed all but certain that one or both would be shown the door. But the recent successes off the team, and strong ending, have made Dean perform an apparent about face and keep both on.

Said Spanos:

Bottom line, I believe these two men give us the best chance to get back to the playoffs, A.J. Smith is the best man to improve our roster, and Norv Turner is the best man to lead that roster on the field.

In recent days, many fans had seemed to be split on how the team should go forward. The recent consensus seemed to be that Norv Turner should stay, but AJ Smith should be shown the door. The Chargers were quick to point out though:

During Smith’s nine-year tenure as general manager (2003-11), the Chargers have won 88 games and five AFC West titles. Only three teams (New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh) have won more games or division titles during that time.

...

Since Turner took over as head coach, he has earned an impressive 52-34 overall record (including 3-3 in the postseason), the highest overall winning percentage in franchise history (.605).

I think it's pretty obvious at this point though that should the Chargers fail to make the playoffs for a third season in a row, both men will be given their walking papers.

The Chargers are on a roll, eh? Everything the Chargers needed to happen this past week, did happen. Their playoff hopes are up to a staggering 14.67%. Could this be the start of another magical run by Norv and the boys? Who knows, but it still would be nice to see the Broncos continue to be dominated by other teams; let's hope that trend continues too.

With an absolutely dominating performance against the Ravens — dubbed the "Best team in teh AFC" and "Best Defense in the League" by more than a few pundits — you'd think the Chargers would be skyrocketing up the charts, wouldn't you? Well, I wouldn't call it skyrocketing, but climbing an average of 3.1 spots in the subjective rankings this week, they are certainly heading upwards.

Also of note this week, the Chargers have fallen off the "Disappointments" list; they've been replaced by the Chicago Bears. But I suppose you're going to underperform a bit when you lose your starting quarterback.

Notable Quotes

Team Efficiency

Every AFC West team is still in playoff contention, and San Diego's recent surge has them ranked the highest out of the bunch. Oakland isn't far behind, but division leader Denver is ranked 25th this week. In our hearts, Denver is clearly number one.

Sports Illustrated

This Chargers late-season run should only underline how much San Diego underachieved during the course of its six-game losing streak, not serve to put a happy face on a 9-7 near-miss and protect the status quo. This is the Chargers team that should have shown up all season, not just at the beginning and the end.

SBNation

Here come the Chargers. After apparently taking half the season off, they're playing like they usually do in December. The question is whether it's come too late.

Division Averages

Surprises

Disappointments

Continue reading this post »

Well would you look at that: the Chargers have strung together a nice little two-game winning streak. What's more, they're actually blowing-out the teams they're supposed to; and the rankings this week reflect the glimmer of hope in San Diego.

However, enough about these underperformers. The big story this week is TEBOW. You think it's bad living in San Diego having to hear about him? Try actually living in Denver. As you'll see shortly, everybody and their mother has hitched their wagon to Tebow; however, the stats don't quite back it up. Maybe all the objective sites need to add in a metric for "Tebow Factor" or something along those lines, because frankly, the Broncos still aren't that great when just looking at their performances objectively.

Ahh crap, even I can't get away from talking about him. Okay, back to the stats. This week, the Chargers take on the Baltimore Ravens. Going by the rankings alone, this will be their biggest test since playing the Packers, and a bigger test than when they played New England. The Chargers are climbing the rankings again, after bottoming out in the upper-20s. After it looked like the AFC West was going to be a two-team race between the Raiders and Broncos, well now the Chargers and Raiders appear to be going in opposite directions. There is still hope, but it's going to be ridiculously frustrating from many different angles if the Chargers end up winning out, but miss the playoffs.

Notable Quotes

ESPN

Back to life, but it's likely too late for them to salvage the season and prevent overhaul moves.

Fox Sports

Believe it or not, the Chargers still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs. With the Broncos playing their toughest opponent since Tim Tebow took over as starting QB, and the Raiders' continuous downward spiral, don't count out the Chargers. It will be a long shot, but it's not uncommon for the Chargers to find a way to pull this type of scenario off.

Sports Illustrated

Sorry Philip Rivers and your fellow Norv-men. You woke up at least one week too late this time. Looks like you've all been Tebowed. But join the crowd. And hey, it's almost a status symbol at this point.

On to the numbers!

Division Averages

Wow, even with the Colts and Jaguars in the same division, the AFC South couldn't quite match the NFC West's futility.

Surprises

With the 49ers slipping a bit lately, Denver takes over the top spot as the biggest surprise thus far this season.

Disappointments

Woot! The Chargers have almost fallen off the "disappointments" list.

Continue reading this post »

Hey, the Chargers won! The last time that happened, we hadn't even celebrated Columbus day yet. It may have been against the lowly Jaguars of Jacksonville, but there's one steadfast rule about winning: feels good, man.

Okay, there are those of us around here that think winning is the last the these Chargers should be doing. We need to climb the draft board as much as possible at this point, pride be damned. I don't really fall into either camp, I can certainly see the merit in throwing in the towl and making the best of a crappy situation. On the flip side, I like to win.

Anyway, what's interesting this week with regards to our beloved Chargers, despite the fact that they blew out the Jaguars, some of the subjective rankers still dropped them in their rankings &emdash; sometimes as much as 4 spots as in the case in CBS's rankings. How does one explain that? Overall, they did climb the rankings, albeit slightly. They did climb the Objective rankings a bit more.

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

The Chargers finally played like the team I predicted to win the Super Bowl, but let's not forget it was against the Jaguars. Inside the locker room, they are still hoping to win out and make the playoffs, but that is a long shot, even for the Chargers.

SBNation

We've seen the Chargers at 4-7 turn around and qualify for the playoffs. Just sayin', crazier things have happened.

Sports Illustrated

It doesn't seem remotely fair that the Chargers could have unearthed another receiving weapon named Vincent. I mean, Vincent Jackson would be plenty enough for most teams, but now San Diego has rookie Vincent Brown to pair with him. Brown, a third-round pick out of San Diego State, has come on of late, catching 14 passes for 256 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his past five games. Two big-play receiving Vincents just begs for a nickname of some sort.

Division Averages

Surprises

Disappointments

Continue reading this post »

Everyone have a good Thanksgiving holiday last week? All rested up and fattened? Excellent. It's likely that none of you noticed I didn't do my usual Power Rankings from Around the Web post last week. My in-laws were visiting us so I was a bit preoccupied, not to mention you all were preoccupied and wouldn't have seen it anyway.

So, 2011 is turning into a hell of a season for our beloved Chargers, isn't it? I couldn't tell you the last time the Chargers played this poorly and were ranked this low. Maybe 2003? 2005? We sure got used to being a top-12 team and perennial playoff contenders. The Chargers continue their tumble down the rankings, while the Raiders and Broncos are climbing. Who saw that coming?

In fact, it's that very question that led me to crunch the numbers and come up with a new chart: Most Surprising and Disappointing Teams. I took the Subjective Averages from Week 1 for all 32 teams and compared their Subjective Averages this week to see which teams are performing better and worse than they were expected leading into this season. You can find that chart after the jump.

In the meantime, let's take a look at some notable quotes this week and also how the various divisions stack up.

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

So I picked the Chargers to win the Super Bowl. I was wrong.

Sports Illustrated

Under the heading of stuff you just can't make up, I'm sure there are a thousand lines that flood to mind when you think of the sideline bathroom break taken by Chargers kicker Nick Novak and the state of San Diego's down-the-toilet season, but I'm going to take the high road and resist them all. Or most of them.

ProFootballTalk

22. Cardinals (No. 26; 4-7): This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.
23. Chiefs (No. 22; 4-7): This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.
24. Chargers (No. 23; 4-7): This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.
25. Dolphins (No. 24; 3-8): This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.

Division Averages

Continue reading this post »

Well, not that I'm calling myself a prognasticator, but a few weeks ago the Chargers were significantly overranked when it came to the Subjective vs Objective rankings. I said one of two things would happen: they'd play well and the objective ratings would rise eventually, or they would fall down in line with their objective rankings. Sadly, the latter happened; are we all that shocked?

This week, the Chargers are the definition of mediocre: not really that great, kind of stuck in the middle. They're still in the thick of it, and get to play against Raiders again, in the last game of the season. Hopefully we'll have an offensive line again by then.

I'm going to forego the Notable quotes section this week, as really, there's nothing more to say than we don't already know. Also, I'm not posting my observations much because the charts speak for themselves this week.

Division Averages

Continue reading this post »

After a pretty promising start, the Chargers head into the locker room on the short end of a 17-3 halftime score.

Tonight's game is the tale of two quarterbacks. One is 8-for-10, with 169 yards and a TD (for a 152.1 passer rating). The other is 4-for-11 for 44 yards and zero TDs (for a 49.1). Yep, former is Carson Palmer, in just his third game with the Raiders.

Surprisingly, it's looking like Special Teams are the Chargers' best asset in this game. Good coverage and a successful lateral on the first punt of the game have been the few bright spots for the Chargers in this game. Michael Bush is running all over the defense, and the offensive line is more porous than a sponge, and Carson Palmer is even having success throwing the ball deep.

Not to be super pessimistic here, but it seems the Chargers' best chances of winning this game are to hope the Raiders keep making mistakes. After Marcus McNeill went down in the 1st quarter with a Stinger, Brandyn Dombrowski came in and the offensive line instantly looked worse. McNeill is out for the rest of the game, so there's little hope in the offensive line getting their act together.

Here's hoping Norv and Manusky have some tricks up their collective sleeves and can pull out a victory in a game that, quite frankly, sees the Chargers as completely outmatched.

This week is just flying by, I can't believe it's already time to write up everyone's favorite column. And not to mention, we have Chargers football to watch again tomorrow already! Awesome.

So how are we feeling about the Chargers' season now that we're half way through it? Kinda medicore, right? Well you're not far off. Ever since coming off the bye, the Chargershave been consistently sliding down the rankings. For most the season, their Objective Ranking has been lower than their Subjective Rankings. Well, that discrepency has been corrected, although in the wrong direction for us fans. The best thing you could say about this Chargers team right now is they're about average (if not slightly worse).

Division Average Rankings

We're going to try something a little new this time. I'm going to include a little chart that shows the average ranking the team in a particular division has. This should be a good way to show which are the strongest and weakest divisions in the league. You'll be please to know the AFC West is not the weakest division in the NFL, and not even the weakest AFC division. That said, stop calling it "AFC Worst!"

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

The Chargers got dealt a bad hand having to play three games in 11 days. They are missing some key people in RB Ryan Mathews, WR Malcom Floyd and DE Shaun Phillips, but fortunately for them they are in the right division to be dealing with midseason struggles. A win against the Raiders on Thursday night will make for a quick rebound with the weekend to rest.

CBS Sports

Three consecutive losses has them reeling, and now they have a short week to get ready for the Raiders. They have to quit imploding.

Sports Illustrated

Amid all the questions and hand-wringing over Philip Rivers' disappointing and puzzling season, why haven't we heard more in the way of answers and potential fixes from Norv Turner, with his long track record of quarterback coaching and offensive expertise? Isn't that part of Turner's forte, the passing game and how to get it going? So Norv, a lonely Chargers nation turns its eyes to you.

Continue reading this post »

That one stung, didn't it? No, that's not what she said, I'm talking about this week's loss to the Chiefs. Something is seriously off with this Chargers team, and no one seems to be able to put their finger on it. Was it the shortened off-season? Is it the new coaches? Did the players all work out incorrectly during the lockout? Who knows?

This was a certainly a week of shake-up. Plenty of surprise victories and losses — the Chargers notwithstanding in that group. On average, the Chargers dropped about 6 spots this week compared to last week. I can only imagine the immense cluster of dumbfounded pundits and fans alike should the Chargers pull off a victory against the Packers on Sunday.

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

Philip Rivers doesn't look like the Rivers we are used to. After Monday night's OT loss to the Chiefs, he leads the NFL in interceptions thrown (11) and the Chargers are in a three-way tie for the divisional lead. Too bad for them, they face the Packers, while both the Raiders and Chiefs have favorable matchups in Week 9.

Sports Illustrated

If the Chargers thought the fourth-quarter meltdown at the Jets was painful, how to describe the late-game self-destruction in Kansas City Monday night? The Halloween cliches must have been flying fast and furiously in the press box. San Diego's lack of killer instinct is still readily apparent, and now here come back-to-back short-week games against the powerful Packers and the talented Raiders. The Chargers' season is officially on the brink.

Reddit

The AFC West Champions asserted their dominance tonight. To look at the numbers, you would think that San Diego was the better team, however that was not the case. Play calling has become predictable, too many injuries on key players, and a quarterback who frankly is a shadow of himself.

Continue reading this post »

So, forgive me if my preamble is a bit brief here. You see, last night I sliced my right index finger open on a kitchen knife and had to get it glued shut by a doctor. Said finger is now all wrapped up in gauze so I'm making fat-finger typos all over the place. Oh, and my right arm is throbbing from the tetanus shot they gave me.

Alright, enough whining -- well, at least whining about my arm.

The Chargers suffered their first real frustrating loss this season, and it didn't take many fans long to start whining about the team and the Fire Norv chants to come out. Given how much hate was coming out of San Diego this week, I expected the pundits to hitch their wagon to the same movement and drop the Chargers way down. Thankfully, cooler heads have prevailed a bit and they only dropped 4 spots this week. As you'll see in later charts, this is both good and bad.

Notable Quotes

Sports Illustrated

The Chargers have themselves a Philip Rivers problem. In five of San Diego's six games, Rivers has had as many or more turnovers than he has touchdown passes, and that's not the ratio you're looking for. In the second half against the Jets, the Chargers were shut out, amassed just 117 yards of offense, went 1 of 7 on third down, and Rivers threw a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions, both of which led to New York scores. Rivers has been the least of the concerns in San Diego for the past five seasons, but he's in one of the worst six-game stretches of his career.

Fox Sports

Have to drop the Chargers, but there is no shame in losing on the East Coast to a good team. It was disappointing to give up an 11-point lead, and totally botching the two-minute drill is curious. The Chargers' secondary got eaten up by Plaxico Burress in the red zone.

SportingNews

Didn't seem to have a clue what to do on their final drive.

Continue reading this post »

Our long San Diego nightmare is nearly over! Chargers football returns this week. I don't know about you guys, but this has been one long 10 day stretch.

This week, the Chargers benefited with the bye in two respects: their players are getting rested and healthy, and they actually managed to climb in the subjective rankings by sitting idle. Last week, the Chargers averaged a 6.451, this week they average a 6.000. Not bad.

But as you'll soon find out, not all is well in Chargerville. First some notable quotes this week, then on to the tables!

Notable Quotes

Reddit

Much needed bye came this week. I hope the Chargers rested and got healthy, because this next stretch is nothing like the first 5 weeks.

Sports Illustrated

The Chargers have won the games they were expected to win so far, and that passes as progress in San Diego. But now the degree of difficulty spikes a bit. In their coming four games, the Chargers travel to the Jets and Chiefs, then draw glamor matchups with the Packers and Raiders at home. We'll know where this season is headed in San Diego after that month-long stretch.

Fox Sports

With tight end Antonio Gates dinged up and a beat-up running back corps, the bye week came at the perfect time for this team. They benefit from a couple of losses and move up two spots, but have their work cut out for them with the Jets and Packers on the horizon.

Continue reading this post »

I bet you all thought I forgot about this post. Ha-ha, the joke's on you! I didn't forget, I just was too busy today to get everything written up. Darn those day jobs and their money and junk.

Anyway, this week finds many-a-Chargers-fan conflicted about their team. On the one hand, this team is 4-1 heading into their bye. This is uncharted territory for any team under the helm of one Norv Turner. On the other hand, the team has appeared a bit off so far this season, especially El Capitan. Hopefully they shake off whatever is affecting them and come out of the bye stronger than ever.

You will soon see, though, that those concerns aren't completely unfounded. I don't want to spoil anything, but the truth is in the numbers.

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

The Chargers continue to prove they actually can win in September and October, but they need to start creating more seperation between themselves and the average teams. Just when they begin to run the ball the way Norv Turner wants they get pretty banged up at the position. QB Philip Rivers misses his favorite target in TE Antonio Gates, and they will only get better when he returns from injury.

Sports Illustrated

Running back Ryan Mathews has produced five consecutive games of at least 100 yards combined rushing and receiving this season, after managing that just once as a rookie in 2010 -- with that coming in Week 17. He ran for a career-best 125 yards in Sunday's win at Denver, and this is the weapon San Diego envisioned when it spent a first-round pick on Mathews.

SBNation

They're winning, but they're not blowing anyone out. For some reason, I think that's actually a good thing.

Continue reading this post »

Three-and-one. Mmmmmm, drink it in. It always goes down smooth. Wait, what?

Heading into Week 5 has the Chargers sitting at 3-1; a record not seen since the days-of-Schottenheimer. While 3-1 seems impressive, those three wins have come against teams with a combined 1-11 record. Not exactly something that instills massive amounts of confidence. As you'll see in this week's analysis, the pundits like the 3-1 record, but the Chargers stats don't quite back it up.

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

If anyone hasn't noticed, we are through the first quarter of the season and the Chargers are 3-1. Now, they begin a tough three-week road trip at the Jets, Broncos and Chiefs. They can slam the door on the division if they play well in this stint.

Sports Illustrated

We've killed the slow-starting Chargers for years now over their tendency to sleep-walk through September and early October, but now that they're off to a solid 3-1 beginning, I'm not hearing a whole lot of credit directed Norv Turner's way. That's a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of scenario, but I suppose it's to be expected. San Diego is 3-0 at home, but this week the Chargers embark on a three-game road trip that is interrupted only by their Week 6 bye.

ProFootballWeekly

Quietly playing well, even with a bunch of injuries.

Continue reading this post »

That marks two games in a row now that have been iced by an Eric Weddle interception. With 2:53 remaining in the game and a 10-point Chargers lead, Eric Weddle intercepted Matt Moore. The Chargers would go on to get a first down, and with Miami having no more timeouts, the game was over.

Much like last week, the Chargers won, but many fans are no more confident in this team. By many factors, Miami is not that good a team this year yet, so there was the expectation that the Chargers would be able to blow out the Dolphins today. A blowout seemed all but certain once Chad Henne was knocked out of the game on the Dolphins' second drive of the game. But it wasn't in the cards as Matt Moore kept the Dolphins in the game, even coming into the game and leading them to a touchdown, putting Miami on the board first.

The Chargers offense had trouble finding their stride throughout most the game. It wasn't until the 4th quarter did it appear that Philip Rivers decided to hoist the team upon his shoulders and lead San Diego to a win. The team played sloppy throughout the whole game, racking up 8 penalties for 80 yards.

Ryan Mathews did finally get some success in the second half. On their first drive of the second half, Rivers connected with Mathews on a screen that saw him take the ball 42 yards downfield, which set up a Tolbert leaping touchdown. Mathews would then later break off 2 rushes for 33 yards. 

The Chargers ended up getting 2 interceptions, and not giving up any turnovers of their own, albeit some luck was involved. Both Michael Tolbert and Ryan Mathews fumbled the ball, but they were lucky to not lose those fumbles. Randy McMichael fell on Tolbert's fumble, and Mathews was able to fall back on the ball he fumbled.

Injuries were a big issue again. Vincent Jackson was on the sideline half the game, Antonio Garay, Shaun Philips and Randy McMichael all dealt with time on the sidelines. On the good side though, Larry English had two sacks in the game, and Donald Butler was disruptive yet again.

Next week sees the Chargers heading to Denver, who got obliterated by Green Bay today. If the Chargers can get a win in Denver, they would go into the bye week with a 4-1 record; easily their best start in a long time.

Are Miami's quarterbacks cursed against the Chargers? In the second consecutive meeting between these two teams, Miami's starting quarterback has been knocked out of the game. Chad Henne — who came in to fill in for Chad Pennington when he was knocked out of the game in 2009 — was knocked out of this game when he injured his shoulder on a broken-up play and ran it himself.

So that brings in Matt Moore. All is not lost for Miami, however, as Moore came into the game and immediately led the Dolphins on a 51-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 0.5-yard touchdown run by Lex Hilliard.

If there's one major criticism of this Chargers team, it's been turnovers. Things started to look promising for the Chargers when Marcus Gilchrist — starting in place of Quentin Jammer — intercepted a Chad Henne pass. The interception was basically wasted, however, as the Chargers offense went three-and-out for the second time in the game. But, at least they got a turnover, right?

Mike Tolbert did the best he could to equalize the turnover battle when he fumbled the ball mid-field, but thankfully Randy McMichael fell on the ball to recover it for the good guys.

You can tell this defense is trying to create turnovers more, as the defenders are playing to strip the ball more and more on tackles. One of these times, the football is bound to pop out.

The Chargers offense has had some trouble at times finding their stride. Ryan Mathews has been relatively quiet in the gameThe best play of the first half came when Philip Rivers aired out a 55-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson, which tied the score at 7. Both teams would trade field goals before the Chargers managed to drive 49 yards and Nick Novak hit a 48-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining in the half.

So San Diego goes back to the locker room with the lead, albeit barely. Hopefully Norv can make his usual second-half adjustments and the team can put the game away.

This week finds the Chargers at 2-1. But as you'll see in a moment, that's not really reason to celebrate in San Diego just yet. We have a long season ahead of us, and a team that doesn't quite have it all together yet.

With two powerhouses losing this week — the Jets and Patriots — their stock has fallen this week, but only slightly. However, their opponents — Oakland and Buffalo, respectively — have made some waves and are climbing the rankings.

Notable Quotes

Fox Sports

The loss of Antonio Gates was detrimental for the Chargers, as they never looked to be in sync against the Chiefs. Any win in September is big for the Chargers. RB Ryan Mathews is beginning to look like he was worth trading up for in 2010.

Sports Illustrated

Philip Rivers has always trusted his right arm implicitly, but it's starting to betray him at times. Rivers has thrown two interceptions in each of his three games this season, and that's the kind of career first the Chargers could live without. Rivers has never topped 15 picks in his six seasons as the starter in San Diego, but he's well on this way to doing so. With six interceptions already, he only needs 10 more in the coming 13 games to go where he's never gone before.

ProFootballTalk

A winning record for the month of September should get these guys some sort of a commemorative paperweight.

A few surprises await you, after the jump

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This seems like deja vu all over again, doesn't it? Last year it was Donald Butler, this year it's Jonas Mouton; the San Diego Chargers seem to have trouble keeping their rookie linebackers healthy. Although it's Mouton's shoulder that's the issue, thankfully he didn't blow up his Achilles like Butler did last year. It would appear that another linebacker drafted by AJ Smith isn't exactly panning out early. Has AJ drafted a good linebacker since 2005 when he drafted Merriman? 

Mouton injured his shoulder late in the preseason and the team was hopeful they'd be able to treat it and he'd see some time on the field this season. His shoulder wasn't responding to treatment as well as they had hoped, and surgery is a possibility. Naturally, the team wanted to free up his roster spot since it wasn't looking like he'd make it back, so they brought in veteran Safety Paul Oliver.

If that name sounds familiar to you, good. Oliver spent 4 seasons with the Bolts - from 2007-2010 - and left the team as a free agent during the offseason when the two sides couldn't reach a contract agreement. He joined the New Orleans Saints, but was released on September 2nd after suffering a concussion and has been a free agent ever since. Oliver started in 8 games for the Chargers last season, and has 3 interceptions in 44 games played with the Chargers.

By replacing a linebacker with a safety, the Chargers seem confident having Stephen Cooper, Na'il Diggs and Andrew Gachkar backing up Takeo Spikes and Donald Butler.

Bob Sanders did not practice on Wednesday, suffering what the team calls "knee soreness." But this move supposedly isn't in response to Bob's sore knee. Sanders played all but 5 of the team's 72 defensive snaps in New England this past Sunday; more than the Chargers would like considering his injury history. By bringing Oliver in, the Chargers now have more depth at Safety and can hopefully give Bob Sanders more reprieves in games, limiting his injury potential.