Further Musings

As an addendum to Ben's post, I would like to submit for your review the following post game quote from Norv "I am terrible" Turner regarding his game ending decision to punt from the New England 37 yard line with 9 minutes left to play: "Fourth and 10? Because, again, as I said, they had a pressure package, they came off the edge, they got us on third-and-10, we made the decision with nine minutes - we had the ball against Tennessee (during the regular season) down 14 points with 10 minutes and scored twice."1 This, folks, is why Norvall will not win our Bolts a Super Bowl. I'd like to break this down for a few minutes, if I may...

Now I don't pretend to be a football play calling expert, but I believe I've watched enough to know a few things. Norvall said that the Patriots were bringing pressure, and coming off the edge. Now if you knew this, then there should have been a readily apparent play call there. A screen. When the defense brings pressure, you call a screen. Not that hard to figure out. The Chargers are lucky enough to have one of the faster players in the NFL in Darren Sproles. Give him the ball in space, and let him run. Now the argument could be made, "well, on fourth down you shouldn't throw a pass shorter than 10 yards." Fair enough. Send Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers on 12 yard out routes and Antonio Gates 12 yards down the middle of the field. It takes them what, 3 seconds to go 12 yards? If you can't protect your quarterback for 3 seconds, you don't deserve to win the game. Now you have three options beyond the first down line. Instead Norvall (if you'll permit a blackjack reference) stayed on 16 with the dealer showing 10, and punted.

Now for the second part of his multi-faceted idiocy-laced quote. "...we had the ball against Tennessee (during the regular season) down 14 points with 10 minutes and scored twice." First of all, Norvy compared the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, God's Team, possibly the greatest team in NFL history, to a regular season contest against the Tennessee Titans and their 21st ranked offense. There's so much wrong with this, I don't even know where to start. To coach the AFC Championship game the same way you would coach a regular season game is funny to begin with, and then to compare the Titans (!!!!111!!!) to the Patriots is pure hilarity. As the people who I watched the game with can attest to, as soon as I saw the punt I said "they're not going to get the ball back." And what do you know, they didn't. The Patriots are a professional football team. They know how to do everything well. They are well coached, they execute well, and with the punt they had all the momentum. How did Norvall think they were going to give the ball back to the Chargers not once, but twice, in a 9 minute span?

When you combine the obvious stupidity of his quote with the two blown red-zone timeouts that Ben mentioned, and the other wasted timeout late in the 4th quarter when the Chargers defense was caught out of position even after the Patriots went into a huddle (another mark of bad coaching...), you can see how Norv Turner is not a Super Bowl caliber head coach. His tenure is already reminiscent of Steve Lavin's years as UCLA Men's Basketball coach. High quality, extremely talented players, baffling losses, shocking wins, and the ability to get close (sweet 16 every year for Lavin, AFC Championship game for Norv) and then have all of the coaching mistakes show themselves in a disappointing loss. But of course, Norv, like Lavin did for quite a few years, did enough to save his job. For now. As a Chargers fan, one can only hope he decides to spend more time with his family, because as long as he continues to have teams be good and not great, his buddy A.J. will never fire him. And the less-informed of the Chargers fan base won't care.

1 North County Times -1/21/08

Musings on the game

I suppose if the Chargers had to lose today, that was a good way to go. Brady had a bad game; Rivers valiantly battled on his injured knees; the Bolts played the Pats very evenly. The Chargers were outgained by 36 yards but got one more turnover, and the Patriots also had the only fumble of the game, which they recovered. The Chargers had too many 40 yard drives with field goals or short punts, while the Patriots wisely had either short drives or long touchdown drives. Health was probably the difference in the game. A healthy Rivers could have moved around a little better in the pocket on some of those red zone pass attempts, and a healthy Gates would have been a great red zone target. A completely healthy Jamal Williams maybe limits the Patriots' rushing success in the second half. It was a good game played by both sides, particularly both defenses, and the Patriots did deserve to advance (unlike last year, when the Chargers roundly outplayed them). A great day was had by Quentin Jammer bumping receivers at the line, making the great interception, and deflecting at least one key third down pass attempt. The secondary in general played very well, and the pass rush was solid as well. Rivers played well considering the extent of his injury, and Chris Chambers and Vincent Jackson were both excellent again (with the notable exception of Chambers' play on the first interception).

On less optimistic, more whiny note, Norv Turner continues to not be a very good head coach. In both halves, an early timeout was burned in the red zone, and the resulting play was unsuccessful and ugly. The decision to punt with 9 minutes left inside the Patriot 40 yard line effectively ended the game, even before the Patriots ran the remaining time off the clock. He called a few too many runs right up the gut on first down for minimal gain and not enough short passes designed to put the team in favorable second and short situations. At least there weren't any delay of game, false start, or too many men in the huddle penalties today.

Continuing the whining theme, officials need to start calling holding. I wasn't watching the Chargers' line as intently as I was watching the Patriots', so I can't tell whether or not the Chargers were taking advantage of the officials' leniency as much as the Patriots were, but the number of uncalled holds was ridiculous. Several 10+ gains on wide receiver screens and an end around were set up by holding or blocks in the back by the wide receivers. This issue isn't specific to this particular game though, as throughout the playoffs the refs have been ignoring holds. David Garrard's long run to set up the game winning field goal in Pittsburgh was set up by an obvious hold. So, yes, refs should start calling holds. That would have been helpful for the Chargers' defense today. Whether it would have been the same amount helpful to the Patriots' defense, I cannot say.

Overall, it was a good game. There's always next year. Hopefully next year they can reach the playoffs and face the best teams in the league with their three best players (Rivers, Tomlinson, Gates) healthy.

A postscript: I blame myself for the loss, as I forgot to compose tv network signs for this game. They clearly were the good luck charm that carried them to the win over Indianapolis.

Death of the Glow

It's Friday now, so I can move on past the glow and acknowledge the inevitable: the Chargers are in serious trouble against New England. With a completely healthy offense and excellent play-calling, they could engage in a shootout and maybe win with a couple of sacks of Brady and generated turnovers. But Rivers, Tomlinson, and Gates were going to be beat up when they played, in a best case scenario. Now Rivers is listed as doubtful, and the Union Tribune is reporting that Rivers has a partially torn ACL. Gates is also listed as doubtful. The Chargers can't hope to come out throwing and outgun the Patriots with Billy Volek running the show, throwing to Brandon Manumaleuna (as awesome as he is).

It's not looking good. It's going to take a miracle.

Still basking in the glow - and basking in the glow of all the previous failures

It's far too early to look ahead to the upcoming steamrolling the Chargers are going to receive from the Patriots. Wednesday through Saturday will bring plenty of time for that. For now, I'd like to continue to bask in the glow of the Chargers victory over the Colts yesterday. I still cannot believe they pulled it out. San Diego sports teams have a glorious history of choking in the clutch, of getting screwed by the officials and lady luck but failing to rise above those challenges and persevere to victory. Ok, maybe they don't have a particularly glorious history of that, but the last few years have been pretty brutal in those regards. To recap:

A (recent) history of violent failure
In 1998, the Padres reached the World Series. In Game 1, they reached the bottom of the seventh in Yankee Stadium with a 5-2 lead. A Knoblauch homer tied the game, and with two outs and the bases loaded in the 5-5 game, Tino Martinez stepped to the plate against Mark Langston. They reached a 2-2 count, and Langston threw a fastball over the outside corner. It was clearly a strike. Langston knew it was a strike. The NY Times describes the Yankees bench as having gone quiet because they knew it was a strike. And yet somehow, it was a ball to Rich Garcia. Martinez homered on the next pitch, and the World Series was over for the Padres.

Time elapsed, and the Padres and Chargers mainly sucked too much to choke in key situations. Finally, in 2004 the Chargers returned to the playoffs. Drew Brees led a great fourth quarter comeback that ended in a touchdown to tie the game. It was aided by a roughing the quarterback call on the Jets on a fourth down failure that would have ended the game, but that was pretty clearly the correct call. The defender had driven his arm into Brees' helmet; you're not allowed to do that. In overtime, the Chargers got the ball and drove down the field for what should have been a routine field goal. Nate Kaeding pushed his 40 yard attempt wide right, and the Jets responded to their second chance by driving down the field to make their own game winning field goal.

The Padres made the playoffs in 2005 and 2006, yet did nothing either time. At least they finally managed to win a game in 2006 against a bad Cardinals team that they should have easily taken the series against. Instead, they lost in four games. The Chargers also made the playoffs in 2006 after a dominating season in which they finished 14-2. In one of history's all time epic choke jobs, they lost to a clearly inferior Patriots team 24-21 after: five fumbles in the game, all recovered by the Patriots; one solid drive by the Patriots all game, occurring right before half time when Wade Phillips made the incredible decision to play a prevent defense with plenty of time left on the clock; an interception of Brady late in the fourth quarter with an 8 point lead; a subsequent fumble back to the Patriots on the return of that interception; numerous dropped passes throughout; going for it on fourth and 11 instead of kicking a long but very makeable field goal; a stupid personal foul penalty committed by Drayton Florence, giving the Patriots an easy field goal when a sack had pushed them back out of range; a 54 yard field goal attempted with 8 seconds left (plenty of time left to run a play to gain 5 more yards to make the field goal much easier). Yes, that was a bad game.

In 2007, the Padres put together a good season and were a win or a Rockies loss away from clinching a playoff spot with two games to go. They were one strike away from beating the Brewers, but Tony Gwynn, Jr. tripled off of a Trevor Hoffman changeup and the Brewers ultimately won the game. They defeated the Padres the next day, and the D-Backs rolled over and gave their final two games to the Rockies, leading to a one game playoff in Colorado for the wild card. The Padres and Rockies played the best baseball game I've seen, a back and forth battle that lasted 13 innings. Special commendation should be given to Heath Bell, who pitched a season high 2 2/3 innings with 5 k's and no hits allowed. He entered with runners on first and second and one out in the seventh innning and struck out Ryan Spilborghs and Yorvit Torrealba to end the threat. In the 13th, Scott Hairston struck a two run homer, scoring Brian Giles (who had worked a walk), and the Padres looked headed to the playoffs yet again. They just needed three outs from the second greatest closer of all time. Yeah, those outs never came, though. Well, one of them did. A second one should have. But instead, the umpire ruled Holliday safe, despite him never touching home plate, and instead of a tie game with two outs and a runner of first, the game was over and the Rockies had won. So yeah, that was kind of a tough loss to take.

The Chargers game Sunday seemed to be imitating the Padres game against the Rockies. San Diego's best player (Peavy, Tomlinson) had a so-so game and was out of it at about the halfway mark. Their most important player down the stretch (Bradley, Rivers) was hurt for the most important part of the season (the last week of it for Bradley, the fourth quarter for Rivers). A huge call went against them (the play at the plate for the Padres, the interception return for a touchdown called back on a phantom hold for the Chargers). The backup to the most important player (Hairston, Rivers) accounted for the go-ahead scores (Hairston's homer, Volek's qb sneak). I was fully expecting David Binn (the longest tenured Charger) to snap the ball over Mike Scifres' head on the Chargers' last punt of the game, mirroring how Hoffman (the longest tenured Padre) had blown the Rockies game. Instead, Binn was clutch, delivering a beautiful snap, allowing Scifres to get off a booming kick, and sprinting down the field to make the tackle on the returner.

So somehow the Chargers held on and won, defying 10 years of San Diego postseason tradition. And it was glorious. If only previous San Diego athletes had been more like David Binn.

Disclaimer: I'm not really as bitter about these moments as I appear, except perhaps at Rich Garcia. I also don't believe in clutch as an ability - studies have shown that in baseball performing better in the clutch is a very small and unimportant skill. The best clutch players are the best players in every other situation.

Great poster ideas for the Colts-Chargers game

Everyone loves the people that come to games with their hand-made signs spelling out the station that the game is on in a clever acronym. It's apparently a great way to get yourself on tv, because tv loves creative original works like these signs. Here are some good ones to employ this week for the Chargers-Colts game.

Chargers
Be
Superbowl bound (or just generally super)

Manning
Never
Beats the
Chargers - or at least he doesn't most of the time

can't Escape
Shaun
Phillips
caN you, peyton manning

Freaking chargers
Outrunning
X-rays

Chargers
Never lose to
Nobody!

America
Melts
at the sight of the Chargers

Superbowl
Under
Neath
Dead
Apples
Near
Chargers
Excellence

Every
conteSt
Pitting the chargers against the colts
eNds with the chargers winning by
2

Tomlinson
Lurks,
Colts beware

Tomlinson
Eats
Love
Every
Morning
Unless
Nobody
Does
Origami

Thanks to Justin for the idea and to David for some great sign ideas.

13 Years of Mostly Futility (but ultimately one beautiful victory) Condensed into one 60 minutes

It was 13 years between the Chargers' playoff victory over the Titans last Sunday and their prior postseason win, against the Steelers on Jan. 15, 1995. In that time, the Chargers have had 6 coaches and such luminaries as Craig Whelihan and Ryan Leaf as their starting quarterback. They experienced a glorious 1-15 season (but passed on drafting the dog killer with the first pick the next year, which really would have added to the ignominy). Another first overall pick refused to play for them, forcing them into a blockbuster deal that somehow still ended up as a great trade for them. And then the last four years, they have been pretty darn good. They're still getting bad breaks and choking, but at least a solid successful foundation has been laid. Maybe the playoff victory drought will only last one week. Maybe we can condense 13 years of wandering in the wilderness into one game, which will culminate in a victory. Here's what that game would look like.


Early in the game, the Chargers are shredded by an all-time great qb. They are bummed to be down Colt - 26, until they realize Colt isn't a point total like 49 is. Things continue poorly from their, until they are given second choice of whom to add to their team among anyone outside of the one particular playoff game. The Colts have first pick and add Manning (Eli), who played in college in the SEC. He's really awesome. The Chargers add Leaf (Brady), who played in college in the Pac-10. He's awful whenever he plays, is hated by teammates, and at halftime sneaks out to play flag football instead of joining in the team meeting in the locker room. Right before halftime, the Colts score 11 straight points and look like they're going to score 16 straight. However, kicker Nate Kaeding makes a 48 yard extra point to give the Chargers one point, but everyone in San Diego misses it when CBS cuts away from it to give a presidential election update. The Colts do go on to score the final 3 points before halftime.


Coming out of halftime, the Chargers still suck, so they're given a chance to add Darren McFadden to the team. They opt to keep running plays for Tomlinson instead. McFadden joins the Colts and is awesome for a few drives, but then kills a few of them with terrible turnovers. Ultimately, he's kicked out of the game for killing not drives but dogs. Still, the Chargers struggle, so they get to bring Eli Manning onto their team. Eli Manning refuses to join the Chargers, so instead the Chargers get to take Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders, and Adam Vinatieri. This seems to work out better for them than Eli would have. With Peyton Manning now on the team, Rivers suddenly starts playing much better and has a series of awesome drives. Unfortunately, Vinatieri misses a key field goal after one great drive, leading to great disappointment in San Diego. Another drive is sabotaged when the Chargers fumble several times and drop a couple of passes. On their next drive, the Colts luckily recover two fumbles and get the ball back when Marlon McCree fumbles an interception. It allows them to score a touchdown, prompting more stories on how their QB is a clutch god, even though THE CHARGERS GAVE HIM THE GAME!!!!!1ONE!1SINPI/2!1, er, I mean, drive, they gave him the drive.

At the end of the game, the Chargers have the ball on their own 20 with little time left, down 6 points. After three Tomlinson runs for -6 total yards, Rivers converts on fourth down with a long pass to Jackson. After another long completion to Chambers, Rivers hits Jackson for a 30 yard touchdown pass to ultimately win the playoff game.

Unfortunately, the victory means Norv Turner will keep his job.