BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 7 -- A GLIMMER FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE DRAIN

Just like last week…it is another dreary, rainy morning in Southern Cal. The ANALYSIS did something yesterday that it has not done in years….it took a Sunday off. That is right followers, the ANALYSIS went to Disneyland! Now, that is usually something reserved for winners of the Super Bowl but, being a realist, the ANALYSIS took the show on the road and let me say to those of you interested…go on a Sunday morning. Before 9:15 the ANALYSIS and its crew had already visited Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise, and Thunder Mountain. Rock on! Periodic checking of the I-Phone revealed the evil truth about Sunday’s tilt. And, in tuning in once safely home from the happiest place on earth, due diligence was performed and the game was viewed (and analyzed) in its entirety. The findings may surprise you followers. But where I ranted and raved two weeks ago, and called out the elimination of coaches last week, I see something different this week. I see slight (slight) glimmers of hope.



I don’t blame you if you don’t read on. “Hope” you ask. What the hell? Has the ANALYSIS completely melted down? Too much Mickey and Goofy? What I saw in yesterday’s loss was that it is not that the Chargers are that terrible. It is that they are suffering through one of the most unlucky, perfect storm series of self-induced failures we have ever seen around these parts. I have been lamenting for weeks that we have blown our start against easy teams….blown games we should have won easily….and wondered allowed what would happen when we faced a “real” team like the Patriots. Well folks, the answer is…nothing different! Why would that give me hope? Because if the Patriots are one of the better teams in the League….that our unreal 2-5 start has nothing to do with talent. If Tom Brady and his cartoonish hair and dopey stare is leading a good team…than there is nothing that separates us from the good ones. To wit: the Patriots had 36 yards passing in the first half…they could not run the ball…and they had more penalty yards than passing yards. Our defense played well, and our special teams held up. Yet, as is usual, we were losing 13-3.


The four turnovers yesterday can only be described as surreal. Watching them after the fact…both Tara and I came to the same adjective…”sad”. It was just sad. Watching a rookie right off the practice squad make his first NFL catch only to set the ball on the turf and applaud himself? Watching our third string Tight End fumble away the ball on our own 20 yard line after a first down on a soft and easy tackle? Watching our fullback tip a lateral and then walk away as some New England fattie grabs the ball and trundles the other way? Watching Rivers heave a pass down the sideline in unnecessary desperation to a covered receiver? Four drives…all of them good…all of them moving the ball…all of them ending in turnovers. The team was trying hard…they were making plays…these are all guys who should not even be touching the ball by the way. We were doing all this without are top two receivers….and really without Gates who was just there as a decoy all game.


Going into halftime after that type of display must be surreal. How can this happen again? The players must be asking themselves…the coaches must be asking themselves. Nobody knows. The second half saw the Pats pad their lead all the way to 23-6. Really only one good drive by the Pats and that was midway through the 3rd quarter. Then, as they always seem to…the Bolts woke up. Rivers started hitting his makeshift receivers. A touchdown…a wonderful onside kick…another touchdown. What the hell? Can we win this game? Following another woeful kickoff (how does this happen?) the defense pulled out the best play of the game on the 4th and 1 stuff. So, here is the scene….First and 10, ball at midfield, 1:45 on the clock, and all three timeouts. First play is a first down, second play is a first down…oh wait, Crayton dropped the ball. Probably the 4th dropped first down pass of the day. Everyone will point to the two unreal fumbles, but this may have been the play of the game. The next pass is wild, the next one falls 2 yards short of a first down. OK…asking a backup kicker to kick a 45 yard field goal in his first game is rough. But we went from 1st and 10..to 4th down so quickly it almost boggles the mind. Then, another unthinkable act by Louis Vasquez. A false start on a game tying field goal attempt? Now a 50 yard attempt…it hits the upright and we are now 2-5.


5 losses. Two more than last year already. Each loss, our offense had the ball in its hands last with a chance to win or tie. Let’s review:


Chiefs loss. Everyone remembers the Special Teams gaffes. What about 8 shots at the endzone to tie the game? 8! All of them missed.


Seahawks loss. Everyone remembers the Special Teams gaffes. What about 4 shots at the endzone to tie the game. All of them missed.


Raiders loss. Everyone remembers the Special Teams gaffes. What about a 9 point 4th quarter lead and a first down in field goal range down by 1.


Rams loss. Everyone remembers the 7 sacks and 17-0 deficit. What about a first down in field goal range with the ball late and plenty of time down only 3.


Patriots loss. Everyone will remember the two bizarre fumbles. But the ball was ours going in… a dropped pass…a false start…little things.


So, back to the topic. Why does the ANALYSIS have hope? Because it does not matter who our opponent is. Good or bad. It is not talent. We just held the Pats to 179 TOTAL YARDS. They are supposed to be a good team. We moved the ball on the Pats repeatedly without our top 3 receivers, using two practice squad rookies. It is not talent that has caused these losses. We have used 61 players so far this year due to injuries and cuts. 61! That is one more than last year, where we lamented “all the injuries”. There was a good entry in the San Diego Union-Tribune last week between Nick Canepa and Tim Sullivan (both have covered the Chargers for decades). Sullivan blames coaching….and the “inspiration and motivation” discussion we had in the last blog. Canepa blames stupid players doing stupid things. After yesterday, that has some truth to it too. This season is sailing away folks, it may not be fixable. But, in the long term, stupid is fixable, and inspiration and motivation is fixable. And that is why I have hope. We lead the League in turnovers and stupid plays. Eliminate a few in each game and we are 7-0. That is not just some fan talking…that is a fact. This is the most surreal season I can remember. And that is why there must still be hope. I am not afraid of other teams anymore. I am just afraid of us. We are our own opponent. Hard to watch…yes…fixable….yes. May not be this year…but it is fixable.


So, with that, see you at Disneyland.