I Still Hate The Fucking Raiders

As I said after last week’s game, I felt worst of all for anyone that had to witness it firsthand.  At least when I suffered through Super Bowl XXIX, I was drunk as shit and 25 years old.  But longtime Justice Leaguer (and fellow Deadhead) Derek Sandoz was in attendance and confirmed it was just as horrific as I assumed it was.  My sympathy really went out to those standing up as the Saints were driving for the final touchdown.  They knew what was about to happen, but were powerless to stop it.  But Derek has seen enough heartbreak that he wasn’t all that surprised by the outcome.  None of us were.

As I said during the game, I couldn’t even fault the playcalling too much.  They were trying to run Gordon all day, but there wasn’t much there.  The blocking wasn’t great and he wasn’t very decisive or breaking many tackles.  They were relying heavily on the screen pass and found some success there.  He had some great second effort plays, including the one that got flipped on.  Shit, he did score two touchdowns.  But for him to fumble when he did was inexcusable.  After all those hard hits after which he held onto the ball, for him to cough it up for the first time right there was insane.  But for this team, it was probably right on schedule.  The fourth down in which the Saints scored the touchdown did look a little sketchy as it seemed like he was bobbling the ball a bit.  But you make your own luck and you earn the right to get the benefit of the doubt from the refs.  This team was clearly en route to another free fall, so they don’t get bailed out by the officials.  Benjamin fought for a couple of extra yards and then fumbled without getting him.  We all knew what was about to happen.  I doubt Pagano actually told the defense to let the Saints score because I doubt his ability to get them to do anything.  But Rivers said he wanted the Colts to score in the previous game do he could get a shot at the win.  We laugh (or cry) because of how many times he’s come up short in those situations but it wasn’t his fault Henry fumbled.  They should never have needed a 3rd and 22 to save the game last week, but Inman should have that even though it was tipped.  Of course, Inman made a crazy catch on 4th down in SF in 2014 and did have over 100 yards Sunday and a score.  But when you’re bound to lose, you do.

If you need any more evidence of Rivers’ unwavering belief that it can get better, listen to his interview here.  Of course, he was asked about LT’s comments about freeing him from this misery.  I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t think we should be letting another former Charger go elsewhere to win.  When people suggest trading him here to the Jets, I tell them they can come live on Long Island to see how that feels.  As you recall, FAITHFUL READER, I watched Road House as LT was stopped on the goal line as a Jet.  That’s how much I worried he’d get to the SB without us.  These days, I guess I’d deal better.  I’m slightly older and the Chargers have beaten a lot of optimism out of me.

With Verrett out, I fear that Deano will once again use the injury excuse as a reason to do nothing.  That has been his MO since 2014.  It’s gone beyond McCoy.  He won’t get a HC job after this one, that’s for sure.  B/R’s Jason Cole posted another source-less (and probably baseless) video that Spanos is unsure how firing coaches would affect stadium bid.  People would be ecstatic that he’s doing ANYTHING.  Right now, not only will they probably lose the vote but they might linger in San Diego for another year and try again.  That’s beyond pathetic.

Winning in Oakland won’t mean a thing for the rest of the season.  The Chargers haven’t taken advantage of their last-place schedule and now play two teams in five days that appear to be light years better than them.  They haven’t won a divisional game in almost TWO FUCKING YEARS.  If Bosa looks good, everyone wonders how he could have helped prevent any of the meltdowns of the last month.  If he doesn’t or gets hurt (or both), he’s a bust.  It’s an unwinnable position.  That’s the scenario we all find ourselves in.  But I’ll still be watching.  Our satellite dish is fucked up, so it might have to be on an iPad, but I’ll still be watching.  At the very least, I’ll be listening.  Normally, I’d save this for the Denver game, but here’s a crispy soundboard of the 1979 McNichols Arean show.  You can download it right here.  I’ll talk to you after Yom Kippur.  I know some of you are still out there.  I just wanted you to know I’m out here too.

JIC,

RLW