BOLT ANALYSIS: PLAYOFF EDITION, ONE AND DONE

The psyche (pronounced [ˈsaɪki]) refers to the forces in an individual that influence thought, behavior and personality. The psyche of an individual is hard to analyze, the psyche of a football team is much harder to figure out. Coaches are paid millions to try to mold it and cultivate it. And…it often is the difference between winning and losing. Why are college bowl games and playoff games so unpredictable?…because certain teams believe and certain teams do not. After yesterday’s horrible debacle to end another great season, all you can ponder is why the collective Charger psyche is so backwards and wrong.

During this year’s winning streak, the ANALYSIS repeatedly referred to the poise and confidence of this Charger team. It seemed that this poise and confidence was what set our team apart from past Charger teams. All the news out of Charger camp in the past couple of weeks was positive. They were the healthiest they had been all year. They were rested. They were ready. Each of the other three Bye teams came into their games with question marks…the Saints on a 3 game losing streak, the Colts on a 2 game, and Minnesota facing the hottest team in Dallas. All three responded…demolishing their opponents as a good favorite does. Showing the class and confidence a home team should. And they are all moving on to take their rightful place in the Final Four. What is it that kept the 13-3 Chargers from joining them?. It is all mental, followers, from the coach to the kicker to the quarterback. All mental.

Let me be the first to say it. The Jets are not that good. They had 0 first downs in the first quarter…they had been outgained 157-12 midway through the second quarter…and in the first half…they had 6 drives and 6 punts, including four 3 and outs. This should have been a laugher. Instead, it was 7-0 and I was twitching and pacing like a cat in a cage. It did not feel like a lead. The writing was on the wall…when Nate missed the first field goal…when Nate missed the second field goal…when penalties pushed us out of range…when mistakes led us to 3^rd and 15 and 3^rd and 23. It began to unravel…the poise, the confidence. Everything I thought was different…was not different at all. Halftime was like purgatory….which way would this game go.

Answer: the wrong way. The Jets returned the kickoff to the 40 and had a short field to get in field goal range. 7-3. Phillip throws an unbelievably bad interception from his own 10 and then Shawn Phillips gets one of 3 UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT penalties. Are you kidding?…pushing the ball to the 7 yard line. Don’t think this was not a big deal. For my money…even after the interception return…the Jets do not score a touchdown from the 17 yard line…but when Phillips gives them yards to the 7..it still takes them three plays and a diving catch to get it in. That is huge. The Jets led in this game they should not have even been in. From there, it was just a matter of the one big play…and sure enough…they got it. Shonn Green breaking three tackles and demolishing Eric Weddle on his way to a 53 yard TD that broke the back. Sure…we came back and made in interesting…but Kaeding missed again, an unbelievable choker Nate Kaeding, and then we missed an onside kick and could not stop them on 4^th and 1. Perfect ending to a miserable day. The guy had made 69 in a row from 40 and in and he misses two? He made a 52 yarder against Cincy that would have been good from 62 and his kick yesterday did not even get halfway into the endzone. Wow. Headcase.

I could talk forever about what went wrong, much as I did three years ago against the Patriots. But, lets simplify a bit by looking back at my three keys to success for the Chargers in this game..they were:

• Stick to the defensive recipe.
• No turnovers and minimize mistakes.
• Be ourselves on offense.

Defensive recipe. Great job by our defense. They got tired late…gave up some third down conversions. But really, they gave up one big play in this game. It was a killer..to be sure. But we gave the Jets a 7 YARD DRIVE guys…and we consistently gave them the ball back and forced our defensive to stop their good running game.

No turnovers and minimize mistakes. Well, two interceptions….one of them just awful and a killer. Three fumbles….amazingly we got them all back. A snap over the head of Philip, 10 penalties for 87 yards, including the three personal fouls above, false starts, dropped passes, pass interference calls. Horrible.

Be ourselves on offense. This was the worst. Norv Turner’s game plan was miserable. A game plan that treated the Jets like they were the 72 Dolphins. A game plan that took us out of we do best. Phillip threw for 300 yards even though we called a series of quick hitters and screens that did not work. Even though we ran the ball with LT 12 times when it was 100% clear he was going nowhere. We were not ourselves. The coaching staff got outfoxed by Rex Ryan…they bought into his witch doctor bullshit. His team came out and did what they do. We did not. We played their game and we played not to lose. Darelle Revis is a great player…but Jackson had 7 catches for 111 yards…Gates 6 for 93. Yet here we are throwing the ball to LT 3 times for zero yards! Zero! And so predictable too…Sproles comes in…we throw a screen to him (covered). Naanee comes in…we throw to him (covered). Pathetic. We are better than them, yet we used the bye week to overanalyze and change our style. Bush League, guys. 100% Bush League. Now, the Jets are a good defense. Maybe really good. No question. And coaches cannot kick field goals, right  Nate? Coaches cannot run up and kick a challenge flag, right Vincent? Coaches cannot throw the ball at the retreating back of Gates, right Phillip? Coaches cannot head butt another player or hit one when he is down, right guys?

But what coaches can do is inspire, light a fire, and adapt. LT touched the ball 15 times in this game for 24 yards. Sproles touched it 6 times for 63 yards! Who is the more dangerous player? Sorry LT, but you should have been on the sideline after halftime. Yet, Norv continues to manage the game, stubbornly giving the ball to a guy who does not have the mental fortitude anymore to make plays. If you are going to lose…go down doing what you do best. We did not do that.

The most disappointing thing to me is that we played down to expectations. This is our fourth straight AFC West championship and 5^th in 6 years. We have nothing to show for it but three home losses in the first playoff game and one good run n 2007. We are wasting our opportunity. This year, it seemed we had exorcized the demons, we had figured out the trust and confidence it takes. We had a home game against a rookie QB and rookie coach. A team with no offensive firepower. The nemesis teams of the Patriots and Steelers were out of the mix. The Colts loomed ahead…a team we match up well against. We were fresh and rested with no injuries. If we cannot win this year…I have no idea when we can. The window is closing on this group. Next year’s team will look different. LT will be gone. There is just no way they can keep him. We all love him…but this game was so brutally clear that he is done. And take a look at this list of players that they will need to think about resigning. None of these guys is under a contract now:

Vincent Jackson, Sproles, Merriman, Marcus McNeil, Malcom Floyd, Tim Dobbins, among others. Cromartie and Gates have one year left. Things will look different.

Dear followers, I do not wish this final 09-10 ANALYSIS to be all negative. I pride myself on being measured. But there is nothing positive I can take from this game. Just that it is a football game and that is all. We just have not figured out how to make it work. How do you change a team’s psyche? New coach? Tried it. New management? Doubt it. New players? I guess that is it. Luck? Maybe that is it. Don’t know.

We overcame a lot this year. A lot of injuries and some bad games. We came on strong and finished up well. We were fun to watch. A game like this just has no explanation. All we can do, followers, is lace up the shoes again, have a good offseason, have a good Draft, and try again. As I mentioned in my playoff review a few weeks ago…it has not happened in my lifetime. What is one more year?