It’s been over a week since the Denver game. I’m glad that people think Jatavis Brown and Joey Bosa have made the defense more formidable. However, I’m not entirely sold. The Falcons lost in Seattle after a big comeback and were denied on a very questionable non-call on 4th down. Dan Quinn went batshit as it was the final nail in the coffin against his former team. I’m sure Atlanta will be ready and the Chargers will have to play their best and most complete game of the season.
I’m not too confident they can do that for the same reason they lost four games already. Pagano should have been fired years ago and Heyward/Mager isn’t exactly the secondary I want out there. But Matt Ryan isn’t perfect and can be pressured into mistakes. The coaching (or lack thereof) that I’m most afraid of is Mike McCoy.
Yes, he actually went for it on fourth down early in the Denver game. But the absence of their head coach undoubtedly made it easier on the Chargers to win. It’s not just the gutless playcalling that is the issue. McCoy doesn’t inspire players to win. I don’t care if he has his head in his hands at the end of the game. I care that guys fumble and can’t recover onside kicks. He’s a joke and I still don’t believe for a second that he would have been fired regardless of the outcome. If that image made people realize that he’s not a real coach (maybe he’s still a passable coordinator), then I’m glad it was on the screen. But to suggest that this guy was coaching for his job and that we somehow should feel bad for him is yet another slap in the face.
I saw a stat today that Melvin Gordon is touching the ball over 40 percent of the time. Yet his YPC is awful. If you take away his 40 plus yarder against Denver, his average was under two yards. I am not one to watch games after the fact, but I know some bloggers have mentioned that there were big holes that he missed early on. Peter King tweeted during the game that Gordon isn’t a big time back because he can’t break tackles. I’m more disturbed by his inability to be decisive still. He seemed so much better early on. I bitched and complained that he needed more carries and not out of the shotgun. The more he’s been used the worse he’s looked. This post gets into that. Of course, Todd Gurley’s average per carry isn’t that good this year either. But I won’t suggest that McCoward or Whiz were right to go away from Gordon early in the year. I don’t think they are that good at their jobs at all. However, Gordon had chances to win or seal wins against Indy, New Orleans, Oakland, and Denver. He didn’t get it done any of those times. I don’t give a shit if the spot was wrong against the Traitors. He wouldn’t have made it regardless.
That’s frightening. If Gordon is really bad we’re stuck. I don’t know much about Atlanta’s pass defense, but I have a hard time imaging Tyrell Williams and Dontrell Inman frightening them. Yes, Williams has been good and Henry’s been great. I don’t know if Benjamin will be healthy but I do know he’s done returning kicks.
I would be really surprised if the Bolts won this game. If they do, I will really have to re-examine my feelings on them. I would love to have to do that, but I just don’t see it. The Falcons won’t be taking the Chargers lightly and a fifth loss (and a fourth on the road) would be all that’s needed to end all playoff dreams.
Atlanta will bring their “A” game tomorrow. I don’t know what the Chargers version of that is, since they are yet to put together a complete performance. I don’t know if four quarters of football will even be good enough. But I’d sure like to find out.
Happy birthday to my daughter Sarah, who turned ten yesterday.
Bolt up or fuck off,
RLW
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