BOLT ANALYSIS - WEEK 3

"Managing the game". This is a phrase much beloved by the last two Charger coaches. Yesterday's often frustrating affair was a classic example of Norv managing the game. To a win…lets be fair….but a frustrating one at times. The Dolphins came in with a one-dimensional attack. Possession offense…little bit of Wildcat…short passing…efficient, ball moving stuff. They don't have a deep threat and they have problems scoring. Ronnie Brown and the Wildcat just broke us up last year so we figured to get a heavy dose of it this year. Sure enough, that first drive was nuts. 94 yards…17 plays or something…more than 9 minutes. Every play worked. Our defense, practicing all week against the Wildcat..acted like they had never seen anything like it before. What a crazy lucky break when Brown fumbled it and they could not recover it until it was out of the endzone. With that ugly start, the first half proceeded as an exercise in futility. Both teams squandering opportunities to score touchdowns. Nate missing a 41 yard FG at the half was an appropriate end to a rough half of football. 3-3. Norvspeak for "lets manage this game to death".

The second half started better…defensive stops…and a couple of gorgeous deep passes from Rivers to Jackson and Floyd. Those guys are just killer on the downfield toss. The pass to Jackson was about as perfect a pass as you could see. Dropped over his shoulder softly from 40+ yards…awesome. And Floyd is our not so secret weapon. Throw in some nice catches by Naanee..and a little razzle dazzle to Gates from Phillip and Sproles...and we have some serious pass catchers out there. Knock on wood…but these guys simply do not drop the ball. You better defend them..because if the ball is anywhere near them it is a catch. Despite these downfield heroics, Norv kept trying to establish the running game. Now, I get it…you need to use the clock…you need to keep the other team honest…you need to have balance. OK, fine. But sending a 5'6" guy up the middle on straightforward running plays over and over again just does not make sense. I love Sproles…he is all heart and grit. But put him in situations where he can excel…not running into a line over and over again. Very strange. Bennett ran well when he was in….maybe use him for that type of play calling? I don't know. But, with LT content to sit on the bench and say "we are fine without me…I am not coming back until I am 100%"…look forward to a lot more Sproles running next week. Maybe I should not be so critical of LT…but his complete lack of urgency to get back on the field really bothers me. I think there is very little chance he plays next week…content to wait until after the bye and not be there for his team playing the Steelers on the big stage next week. I know he (and the team) is saying that he played hurt all last year…but, really, who in the NFL is 100% after a few weeks. Nobody. Everyone is banged up a little bit.

OK…back to game management. Once Pennington went down with the injury…the Dolphins became even more one-dimensional and Norv was just licking his chops. Those great long downfield gains turning into vanilla running plays and missed opportunities in the red zone again. But, field goals were being scored…and the Dolphins could not move the ball. So it was all good. When Weddle picked off Henne for the TD…it was over… management at its finest.

Bottom line…we won the game. Our defense, despite the injuries (and add an absent Shawne Merriman to this list!) played great. Good tackling after that first drive and, without a downfield threat the DBs were never even tested. The offense showed big play appeal again…but the red zone troubles are just that…troubling. SIX trips inside the red zone…1 touchdown (on a run by our star Running Back Phillip Rivers no less), 3 field goals, one missed field goal, and a turnover on downs at the end of the game. Add this to the 5 trips with ZERO touchdowns in the last game and you have some pretty meager stats. But, after the game Rivers said all the right things about "needing to get better" and "needing to execute". Yep. Sure 'nuff. Despite these worrying trends, I really like the fact that we are playing tougher with all the injuries and that some of the young untested guys look strong. That will serve us well. If we can get LT and Merriman back…and the many others banged up healthy…this period will help us later. Each game takes on a life of its own, and they are not all going to be pretty.

Next up is a Sunday night Showdown against the 1-2 Super Bowl Champs. Much will be made of our 0-13 record in Pittsburgh in the regular season (or whatever it is). The fact of the matter is we have a chance to stick a knife in the Steelers. They are not playing well…are coming off a rough last second loss. We have a chance to turn the screws a bit. And you know that right now…somewhere in the film room….Norv is saying to his assistants…"we just need to Manage the Game".