BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 5 -- TRUTH AND NO CONSEQUENCES

Can we get road games blacked out too? I have made a formal request to the NFL to make this so. Last week I gushed about how the three big problems we were having…special teams, turnovers, and penalties…had been addressed for the most part. Well, not to give any of us fans any sort of break, the Chargers devolved yet again into a pathetic excuse for a football team yesterday. Losing to the Raiders (the Raiders!) with yet another unbelievable meltdown. It is time to start readying the guillotine folks…someone has to lose a job over this. Something dramatic needs to happen. The ANALYSIS tries to walk the middle ground and provide fair and unbiased views…but this has become viral. Something must be excised. Sorry followers…but this one is going to be a bit “ranty”. I abhor sports radio for this very reason…but…here we go.



I have never been on the “Fire Norv” bandwagon. I have always yelled the line “players making plays” is what wins ball games. I am starting to doubt this. The fact that the Special Teams coach (Steve Crosby) still has a job after these first 5 games is a joke. Miami’s Special teams coach was fired one day after his team gave a number of Special teams plays to New England. Norv’s response to a question about sending a message by getting rid of Crosby: “Don’t be silly”. A sad and weak nod towards status quo. Two blocked punts, another return touchdown saved by our punter after hideous special teams coverage. When was the last time you saw two blocked punts in a professional football game…both near the end zone, both leading to points. We spotted this team a 12-0 head start without them even making a first down. It is unacceptable. These first 5 games have been the absolute worst I have ever seen…much worse than Miami, where they made the change. There need to be consequences. Emotionless Norv is not working….emotionless Rivera is not working. These two blocked punts were from the same exact position on the line. Is anyone paying attention? The players are saying it…”we have the right guys, we need to step up”. When? Against a good team? I cannot blame all of the players, so today I will blame preparation, focus, and a lack of consequences. To wit:


• First and 10 at the 23 yard line, well within range for a winning field goal attempt. Outside run to Tolbert. Holding…ball pushed back out of range.


• The Raiders only play on defense all day…the all-out blitz….is run three straight times on this last drive. Not a play in the playbook that can counter this? Hard to believe.


• Rivers’ complete lack of awareness of the defensive line leads to two fumbles, both within scoring range (one returned for the winning TD of course). Unacceptable.


• Red zone fumble by Tolbert on the one yard line going in. Unacceptable.


• Defense gives up two long TD drives in the 4th quarter to the Raiders….sporting a backup RB, backup QB, and two rookie wideouts. Unacceptable.


• On both fumbles, Chargers players can be seen standing near the ball watching (Dombrowksi on #1, and McMichael on #2) while Raiders players are rolling all over the place trying to grab the ball. What is this? Are they waiting for someone else to make a play.


• Darren Sproles is an unbelievable $7 million joke this year. What happened to the slashing, highlight reel guy who was sparkling every time he touched the ball? His kickoff and punt returns have been abysmal; he is tentative and worthless running the ball. You cannot pay a guy $7 million a year (and not pay McNeil and company at all) for an occasional screen pass. Unacceptable.


This is just a sampling. Of course there are more. The bottom line is that we are 2-3 for the 4TH STRAIGHT YEAR! In each of the previous three, we have rebounded and made the playoffs. But to what end? I’m focused on coaching now. There is such a thing as motivation and getting guys to overachieve. We are perennial underachievers, and I am sick of it. We are so tired of saying “I cannot believe we lost”, “I cannot believe we turned the ball over”, “I cannot believe we gave that up”. Well, time to believe. We have lost three games to bad teams. All games where statistically we have more than dominated. Wasted yesterday was 431 yards by Rivers…213 yards by Floyd…more great stuff from Gates…and three quarters of good football by the defense.


Where do we go from here? Well, St. Louis. Another game most would have circled as a win to begin the season. Now, I have no clue what to expect. It is time to stop taking things as a given. Time to stop thinking we can beat certain teams. Time to stop thinking that Rivers is going to pull things out. Despite incredible numbers this year, he has failed with the ball in his hands in three games now. There is no other way to put it…he has failed. Red zone failures to tie or win in three games now. That is not elite. That is not even mediocre. The whole team is pressing, but lets stop talking about Rivers in glowing terms, 431 yards and more than 450 against Seattle….what does it get us? 0-2. Meaningless.


So, where are the consequences? When will they begin? All of the quotes and spin from the head coach say they “have the right guys”, they will “work this thing out”. As we have seen the last three seasons….there is no need to panic. We have heard this mantra for each year Norv has been here. And he is signed through 2013 so get used to it. The Chiefs lead our division in sham-like fashion and the other two teams are 2-3 just like us. There just do not seem to be any dominant teams out there in the AFC. Even so, we should be 5-0. Period. That is not just a fan talking….any moron who has sat through these games would agree. Yet, we find ourselves needing to dig out again. I, for one, am sick of it. See…told you it was going to be “ranty”.