At least I was endorsed by Ice from Arrested Development this week, which is more than I can say for Trump. But Monday was made even more depressing by what we witnessed on Sunday. It was the same shit all over again. The Chargers somehow pulled even at half with a fumble return that I’m still waiting to be called back. They get Gordon into the end zone, but then get the extra point blocked by Crime Time of all people. But once again, they refuse to run when it matters. They insist on putting Gordon in the shotgun even though it’s predictable and guaranteed to gain no more than 4 yards. I can’t think of a time all season that they’ve run out of the I formation twice in a row. Tom Krasovic of the U-T just told me that he thinks it was literally a single time in the second quarter of the Jacksonville game. It’s not that I’m such a lover of the rush game. Like you, I fell into this during “Air Coryell.” But it’s obviously the best way to keep teams down, run the clock, keep our suspect D off the field, ultimately win games. But McPussy and Wiz won’t do it. So they play scared, which for most teams would mean running the ball. They have Rivers passing when the defense knows what’s coming. It’s a recipe for losing yet another close game. It shouldn’t even have come down to that last drive. But since they insist on not playing to win, they allow other teams to make a play at the end or wait for the Bolts to blow. As we know, one or the other (or both) usually occurs.
I know that the Head Coach has final say, but I really wonder about Wisenhunt. He came out letting Gordon run until they went up by 21 and then went back to loser ball. People assume he was just using coachspeak when he said it wasn’t a conscious decision to go away from him in KC, but actions speak louder than words. Look what happened during crunch time last week. Sure, the offensive line gave a “no comment” when asked if they were frustrated that they weren’t allowed to pound the rock in Arrowhead. But last week they did it all over again. The same thing happened with Mathews every time the Chargers got inside the red zone. I get that Gordon didn’t get the first down after he gained 8 on the drive before the Colts went ahead. He didn’t have a ton of room to run, however. Williams dropped a pass early and Rivers missed that screen pass that might have gone for six. He later overthrew Gordon on that jump ball screen and led McCluster by too much. But that’s all the more reason to show a little balls and run the ball. Some teams say that smash-mouth style requires a certain mindset. The Chargers clearly don’t have it. It’s run, pass, pass and then McCoward calls out the kicker. Seriously, if the Chargers had faced the same 4th and 7 that the Colts did, do you think we would have even gone for it?
Yes, Verrett was awful and getting targeted and abused by Luck and Hilton. Maybe John Pagano shouldn’t be talking about how “Feeva” is the best CB in football. Don’t get me wrong, he looked great against Jacksonville. But Pagano is another one I can’t believe still has a job. I don’t fault him for blitzing on the aforementioned 4th and 7, however. Usually, he goes for the passive approach and we all blast him for it. Flowers, who later suffered a concussion from which he’s still recovering, blew the play. The injuries don’t even bother me. They will, once better teams start blowing us out. But right now it’s more maddening how this team doesn’t respond. Te’o goes out, which isn’t the end of the world and Brown comes in. He plays well until he gets hurt. We still have no idea what the fuck is going on with King Dunlap and his migraines.
So the Saints come to town and Drew Brees can get his homecoming. The last time we played them they were 0-4, and Ingram’s late hit turned what seemed like a great Sunday Night into another shit show. LT was in the headlines this week for saying that the team would have won the Super Bowl with Brees. I disagree with him. Brees had a chance to solidify his future in 2005. Maybe AJ’s plan was to insert Rivers all along. But there were several games in 2005 that Brees thew a costly pick or made a crucial fumble. Week 2 in Denver and the game at Indy instantly come to mind. I think he ended up in the perfect situation with Payton and certainly worked his ass off after his shoulder surgery. It doesn’t really matter, though. But since this team is light years away from where they were a decade ago. I still maintain that the ’06 didn’t have a ton of poise and it showed up in the playoffs. But any one of the epic blunders could have been avoided and they would have gotten Indy the next week. The team the following year was more resilient but so beat up by Foxboro that it wasn’t enough. I don’t care if Reich, Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles and Eric Weddle are all having good seasons with their respective teams. Weddle, for one, dialed it last year no matter what he says to the contrary.
The only reason we focus on any of this is because of how far this team is from being good again. It’s more than talent and depth, it’s what you do with what you have. This team sets itself up for failure time and time again. They could win on Sunday but I don’t think it matters in the long run. The stadium vote hovers over everything also. Bosa is still limited in practice, even though both he and the Bolts deserve some blame on that one. So if he’s good, then we think that he alone would have prevented the first two losses? If he’s bad, he’s a bust. So there’s no real winning here. I can’t imagine this team not getting crushed by the other ones in the division, but it they come up a few games short of the playoffs it will be wasted games like Weeks 1 and 3 they will be able to point to. Just like the points McCoy won’t go for during games that end up being the very points they lose by, these first two losses could very well hold the Chargers back if they were somehow to win a few. He hasn’t changed one bit since 2013. He’s the same guy he was in Denver and the only difference was in 2013 they were able to squeak in and win a game. Just like with Norv, we’re still paying for that “success.”
But hey, it’s Rosh Hashanah. So Happy New Year and I’ll talk to you next week.
JIC,
RLW
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