unofficial weblog of the S.D. Chargers

The last few weeks have been deplorable and frustrating.

What's happened to our defense? Where has our pass rush gone?

Our defense can't stop anyone and shouldn't have given up that TD in the 31-24 loss to Green Bay today.

Last week, Brady was hardly touched. This is the same defense which racked up a league leading 66 sacks last year?

I can't believe Wade Phillip's departure plays that much into it since he was replaced by Ron Rivera and he took the Bears' d all the way to the Super Bow last year.

Someone please tell me how we can drop 2 games and play so bad in back to back weeks when we only lost 2 all year last season! 

There was a moment in  Sunday's game against the Bears in which the game could have gone either way and the outcome could have been decided by the refs, which is a shame. Of course I am referring to the fumble at the goal line by Phillip Rivers which was caused by the fact the Bears were over the neutral zone. They got away with one because that led to them retaining possession, fortunatelly their own turonvers and the brilliant play of the defense bailed the Chargers out.

So the marquee matchup of the NFL weekend turned into a huge defensive battle which was fine by me because even though the Bears were NFC champs, I happen to think that our defense is better.

A lot was made over the fact that Tomlinson was contained to just 25 yards rushing by the Bears' defense, yet you can contain him but you can't altogether take LT out of a game as evidenced by his TD toss to Gates and his rushing TD which put the game away late in the 4th.

The Chargers, who had one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL last year also have a great defense which led the NFL with 61 sacks. Not to take anything away from the Bears who played great defense themselves, this game was won by the Chargers' defense wich stuffed the Bears of 4th and 1 with just under 7 minutes to go to ice the victory. So we get the Patriots in New England next week, should be another great game and another challenge for the Chargers as they look to match their success of 2006 in the regular season and hopefully have more success in the playoffs. 

The NFL preseason is over (finally!) and we get to play for real starting thurday sept. 6.

The Chargers finished off with a 16-13 win over the 49ers at Qualcomm, though I didn't bother to see the last 2 quarters of the game.

Source: San Diego Union Tribune

Unlike last season, where i intently watched all 4 pre season matchups and even reported on them on this blog, this preseason I didn't feel the need to. Watching the games last season I came to realize that we were going to win a lot of games with that defense. I was proven correct, though I never would have imagined 14-2.

This year, most of the same players are back, and we even get Darren Sproles back in action from last year's injury. I guess I figured I already know the Chargers are good, now it's just a matter of performing during the year. The expectations are high but I think the team is poised and hungry for another championship run.

I've complained about this before but I think the NFL preseason is way too long. 4 or 5 games seems excessive to me, why not have only 3? 3 weeks should be plenty of time for coaches to assess their talent pool and to prepare for the regular season. There are also less chances of injuries with fewer games. Some NFL players were asked and they concur, seeing as they season is already pretty long. 

With the NFL season opener merely 11 days away, I am getting excited for the new season. Here's a recap of the Chargers' latest pre-season game vs. Arizona on Aug. 25

Nate Kaeding's 37-yard field goal with six seconds to play lifted the San Diego Chargers to a 33-31 win over the Arizona Cardinals in preseason play.

It took me almost a full 48 hours to get over San Diego's disappointing loss in the NFL playoffs. Despite the fact we went 14-2 on the season and were obviously the best and most prolific offensive team in football this year, the Chargers were victimized by bad breaks, turnovers and a bad second half of Sunday's game against the Patriots.

What's worse is the loss brought our overall playoff prediction record to 5-3 one game behind the New Agency blog's 6-2 record. I went 2-2 picking the winners while they were 3-1 thanks to the Patriots inprobable upset.

A lot will be said about New England having more experience than the Chargers but I want to go on record saying that the Patriots didn't beat us, as much as we beat ourselves. Eric Parker, relibable most of the season fumbled a kick return and despite picking off Brady to seemingly secure the win, the Patriots made a good play on special teams to rip the ball away and to cause the turnover which turned the game around.

It was a very disheartening way to end a brilliant season.

We think that the Patriots will get crushed by Indianapolis in the upcoming AFC title game, though we probably won't be around to see it. The Colts' resurging defense playing at home in the RCA dome will be too much for New England.

We have no recourse other than to root for our former quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints against the Bears in the NFC. Rex Grossman should have another subpar performance and the Bears' defense and special teams won't be enough to bail them out this time against a potent New Orleans offensive barrage.

Our super bowl pick: New Orleans beats Indy to win their first ever NFL title.

Happy new year everyone. I apologize for the lack of updates but the busy holiday season prevented it. I am happy to report that the Chargers having won out their regular season schedule in December with impressive victories over Seattle and Arizona and a few others wrapped up homefield advantage througout the playoffs. SD became the first seed in the AFC playoffs and had a bye week and homefield for the first time since 1980 with a league best 12-4 record.

And to think some people said we would only win 4 games this season!!

Now the Chargers are poised to get into the super bowl with two more wins. Up next is a tough New England Patriots team which beat the Jets in the wild card round in these past weekends playoffs.

I have confidence that with NFL MVP LaDanian Tomlinson and our ferocious defense we can get one more home win and advance to a championship date with either Baltimore or the Colts. Tom Brady watch out, pro bowler lights out Merriman and the Chargers "d" is gunning for you!! Hang on to your lighting bolts Chargers fans, this oughtta be loads of fun.

It's starting to look a lot like 2004. Remember this image from the last time the Chargers won the Western Division in 2004? That season we went 12-4 but lost to the Jets in the first round.

I have to believe following wins over Oakland, Buffalo and Denver over the past few weeks that the Chargers have a better team than the team which captured the title 2 years ago. It looks like the rest of the so called football experts are also starting to jump on San Diego's bandwagon.

Why wouldn't they? I don't have to tell you about L.T.'s record, we all know how he shattered the single season touchdown record set a year ago by Seattle's Shaun Alexander with 29. But if you haven't followed SD all season then you may not also be familiar with these numbers:

0- that's the number of defeats the Chargers have this season at home, unbeaten at home and playing two out of their final three games in San Diego.

1-The number of NFL players which may have ended their careers as a result of a vicious hit by linebacker Shawne Merriman (Priest Holmes KC last season)

12.5- The number of sacks perpetrated by Lights Out on opposing quarterbacks, tied with Aaron Shobel of Buffalo. The difference? Merriman was suspended for four games this season and he was leading the NFL in sacks prior to his suspension! Don't get me started on the number of fumbles he's forced, ask rookie Bronco quarterback Jay Cutler

But the number which may be the most impressive at the end of the season might be the win-loss column which can earn San Diego a bye in the first round and home field throughout the playoffs. Baltimore, Cincinatti and those other clubs better watch out if the road through the Super Bowl goes through San Diego! Go BOLTS!!!

Well, there isn't enough I can say about L.T.'s performance on Sunday. I have run out of superlatives. We all know he is the best back in football and have known for a while and after sunday night's game vs. Denver, I think the entire nation knows.

I also think that we are poised to contend for a Super Bowl championship. Before the season got under way, I read in at least one prognosticator site that the Chargers made a mistake getting rid of Drew Brees and that under Phillip Rivers' helm, the team would be lucky to win 4 games.

Ha! I love it when they're wrong. So now the Chargers are sitting atop the AFC West with an 8-2 record when most of the so called football experts predicted they would finish next to last or below Denver and K.C.

Of course, there is still a lot of football to be played but I think the schedule favors the Chargers. If we beat Oakland on Sunday, we will have won all 4 games in which Shawn Merriman was suspended.

In addition, I think we can beat the Broncos at home with our defense playing (hopefully) at full strength. 2 head to head wins against Denver and (hopefully) a late season swoon by the Chiefs
will give us the division crown. Well, let's not count the proverbial chickens, but I think that if we continue to play like we have, we are primed to make a good run for the title. GO bolts!!!

Great teams can come from behind to win.

Having overcome a 21 point defecit in the first quarter, The Chargers got the big defensive play they had been looking for all week and for a brief glimpse, the Charger defense resembled the Number one rated, dominant unit it had been prior to Merriman's suspension and prior to all the injuries.

Shaun Phillips returned from an injury when the Bolts needed him most and he came up with the one defensive play which they desperately needed to put away the pesky Bengals.

On 1st-and-10 from the Cincinnati 20-yard line, Phillips sacked Carson Palmer, forced him to fumble and recovered the loose ball, leading to another Tomlinson touchdown and a 42-38 lead which put the Chargers ahead for good.  

I cannot say enough about L.T.'s performance. His 4 touchdown game should eclipse any doubt he is the best back in all of football. He has 15 touchdowns in a 5 game span and leads the NFL with 18 total touchdowns scored.

I cannot say enough about the resiliancy and heart of this team. It would have been easy to give up, but instead they fought back and came up with the biggest comeback in Chargers' team history.

This thanksgiving, Chargers fans have a lot to be thankful for, not the least will be L.T.'s awesome abilities which he brings to the team year after year.

Watch out Denver, we're gunning for you next.