BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 16 -- BACK TO THE FUTURE

Another season has ended; another year of broken promise. For us long-suffering Charger fans, the feeling is expected, normal, natural. The Christmas Eve beatdown we all witnessed just the latest in an annual occurrence that has been a part of our lives for decades. It’s like a pre-printed spot on the calendar, really, somewhere in December usually…every once in a while it happens in January. But it always happens. The season ending a few games earlier than we all wish it would. This year’s ending has a different tenor than the past few years however. The past few years, the last game of the season (whenever it was) was tinged with excuses and expectation. There was always a reason that seemed readily at hand (e.g. “If only our special teams had played better”, “if it was not for that one bad game”, “if only our coaches would have inspired us in a different way”). No, followers, we don’t have those excuses this year. All of us who watched and hoped this year are now feeling the way we have so many times before:  We are starting over.

The Detroit Lions are a pretty good team. I would not call them great, but I would call them good. They are tough, they try hard, they seem to like playing together. They came into Saturday’s game with a chance to make the playoffs at home. As we all now, they have been one of the worst teams in the League over the years, so making the playoffs is a big deal for them. So, they had something to play for. Incredibly, so did the Chargers. Despite the 6 game losing streak, the Chargers were situated with a real chance for the Playoffs. As they game was starting, two things had happened that made those chances far more realistic:  Denver and the Jets had both been beaten badly.  These are two things the Chargers needed, increasing their chances exponentially. Suddenly, with a win over the Lions, the Chargers would have just as much a chance as Denver, the Jets, the Bengals, etc. in the final week of the season. After last week’s great showing against the Ravens, I for one settled in for what looked like it could be a very fun game.

Uh. No. You could tell on the first drive that the Chargers did not make the trip. You knew it, didn’t you? Halfway through the first quarter you knew it. The fire was not there. The motivation was absent. The sad sack, defenseless, pathetic body language was back. After three big wins, there it was. Detroit came out hot…playing hard…and we had no answer. There was no answer the entire game. I can only say that if this is all our team can muster with a chance to play in a real game…with a chance to make the playoffs…then nothing is sacred and nothing should be kept. Like WalMart after Christmas….Everything Must Go. And many things will go. If Norv Turner and Greg Manusky do not lose their jobs after a game like that, than we know for sure that Archie Manning was right when he would not let young Jughead play for the Chargers: the team is just not committed to winning.

This defense, so good against the Ravens, was horrible. The Lions scored on every drive in the first half. So thorough was the domination, and so pathetic was the response, I left to get my dry cleaning and do some errands. This team was not ready to play. Whatever soft “zone” they were running was an embarrassment. This team had 7 sacks and a bunch of turnovers last week. In this game, they could not have covered a High School team. When your job is to play games, this was inexcusable. I would be fired for such incompetence, why shouldn’t this coaching staff be fired for the same? Look, I know it is just a game, but the name of that game is to try and win. We did not even try. Collectively, you cannot tell me they did. There may have been a few players who looked like they were trying:  Weddle maybe….Floyd….but overall it was beyond a dud. The quotes afterward, “They wanted it more”, “They out-executed us”, “they were more intense”. These types of quotes are unacceptable. This is the last game of the season for them..and you are not motivated or intense?  These are the quotes of losers.  And that is what we are folks.

I won’t waste your time or mine talking too much about this game, and I refuse to even acknowledge the defense was there. But I would like to raise a couple of points. I guess Vincent Jackson was hurt. But how sick are you of seeing this guy half-heartedly running through plays? I guess people are always double-teaming Gates, but we all need to face the reality that he is about 50% what he used to be.  I guess they don’t trust Ryan Mathews to block, but why do you leave him on the bench after you have sold your soul to get this guy (e.g. getting rid of Sproles, first round draft pick, etc.). Those 2 yard screen passes to Tolbert? Really? If you don’t trust the kid, get rid of him and get someone you do trust. He was very good early in the season at taking screens so what happened? That interception Rivers threw that was returned for a TD? I don’t care that you are down 31-10 at the time….that is a horrible play by a guy who had a very rough year.

So, what happens next? We have one more game. Against the Raiders…who do have a chance at the postseason. There is zero reason to win this game. A loss gets us a better draft pick and a more favorable schedule next year. Plus, the Raiders have kicked our butt three straight times so why would they not again? We talked for the last few weeks about what should it take to get rid of our coach? If that game against the Lions did not do it, not sure what woul.  But it is not just Norv. It is Manusky, who was such an epic failure he probably deserves more of the blame than Norv. It is also Ollie Wilson, a schizophrenic running backs coach who is destroying Ryan Mathews. It is Charlie Joiner, who cannot seem to coax much out of his often-injured corps of receivers. Folks, they all need to go. But it cannot be blamed on the coaches alone. All the vitriolic-spewing yahoos out there in the Blogosphere think that a new coach alone will get this team somewhere? No chance. As I said weeks ago, this thing needs to be blown up. It is not working; the model is broken. Those players are out there on the field..who would you keep? I would submit that there are maybe 5 players who are untouchable…everyone else is fair game. This will be a fascinating off-season, because we are not “tweaking” anymore. We are not “tinkering” with our roster…we need to detonate it.

Right now, you are saying, “Wow. Someone at The ANALYSIS got some coal in his stocking”. Maybe you think I had too much Bourbon in the Egg Nog. You are right, usually I am less ranty and out of control. But, I’m mad. I am mad at seeing this team go from a very good one a few years ago to a below average one. It happened in pieces…not always obvious….but it has happened. We are no closer to the Super Bowl today than in 2001 when we started over by drafting LT. Watching the wonderful Drew Brees and the havoc-wreaking Darren Sproles last night in their game kind of drove this point home didn’t it? We are not close to that. Our former QB just set the all-time passing record for a season AND he already has one Super Bowl under his belt. Our former 3^rd down back and all purpose guy is still one of the most exciting players in the game, yet we let him go for nothing (after paying him $14 million over two years for some reason) and then not feeling comfortable using the guy who replaced him. All I can say is good luck to Brees and Sproles. I am rooting for you. No, we are not like that anymore. When it comes down to it, of Norv’s 5 years as head coach, we are going to miss the playoffs in three of them. One and out in the playoffs in a 4^th. Not good. And now, after seasons of 8-8, 9-7, and 7-9 (likely) over the past 4, can anyone really say we are good. The answer is no. Don’t just look at the coach though….everyone should be on the block.

So, followers, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I really do. I hope you will have a wonderful New Year too. Sports are just sports. Nothing more. And when I see a tweet from Vincent Jackson the day after his team has been eliminated…gushing about how he is so excited and happy to be watching basketball….I know where my perspective should lie. Because folks, when you care more than the players, it ain’t worth it. So, I don’t. And neither should you. I said at the end of the last post that you should not hope for Charger success this year. I hope that you did not. But, we can start hoping now. We can hope that we lose the last game…..we can hope that our coaching staff gets completely replaced….we can hope that our General Manager gets replaced….we can hope that many of our players get replaced……we can hope that we are better next year. Because that is what makes sports fun…right? Hope.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 15 -- A SIGNATURE WIN, WHEN NOBODY NEEDS YOUR SIGNATURE

As this bizarre and painful season rolls on, we all need to acknowledge that we saw something like this coming. You just kind of believed that this team would put it together at some point. Facile wins over the struggling Jaguars and Bills at least planted the seed that something like this was possible.  Last night’s nationally televised beatdown (on a game that avoided being blacked out by inches by the way) was just the final cherry on top of our sour sundae this season. A teasing glimpse into what might have been….not unlike Ebenezer Scrooge looking at his own headstone with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be. But, unlike Scrooge, we cannot undue what has been done. We have come to expect the unexpected…us Charger fans…good and bad. And all the good that came out of last night is likely to mean nothing, or at least very little. But man, that was cool while it lasted.

If someone had told me that a team in last night’s game would score on their first 5 possessions (should have been 6 if not for a missed field goal) and that same team would have SEVEN sacks, I would have said, yep…looks like the Ravens dominated.  The fact that it was the powder blues administering a world class demolition on a team heralded as the “most balanced team in the AFC” was simply stunning. Folks, this was not just a case of a team playing above themselves, making big plays, and getting a clunker from the opposition…this was systematic and complete domination of a good team. Especially of a good defense;  the  #1 defense in the League just got absolutely crushed.  Speaking for myself…I like drives…I like long, time consuming, scoring drives. They turn me on. They make me happy. Nothing smacks another team in the head better than a 6 or 7 minute drive that ends in a Touchdown or Field Goal. Last night…the first 6 times the Chargers had the ball…this happened. And that, folks, was beautiful (and a little bit sexy) to watch.  Let’s get right to it.

The Ravens started fast…first play from scrimmage a big run by Rice…and then a nice, balanced drive on the Bolts. However, when that easy field goal sailed just wide…you kind of sat up and said…”huh”. A little bit of luck perhaps..and a little hope. The Chargers first drive was brilliant. A great mix of pass and run that had the Ravens guessing and grabbing.  A Tolbert TD run on 3^rd down put an exclamation point on it. Us seasoned viewers said to ourselves…”at least we are going to fight in this one”. After the Ravens tied it by virtue of the undersized Strong Safety Steve Gregory getting blown up, the Chargers answered right back with a nice drive and another score. When the Ravens were forced to punt back to the Boyz, the resulting long drive and Ryan Mathews TD was nothing short of wonderful.  Where has this been all year? This balance…execution…and play calling. How many times did this team blow chances to make a statement…throw interceptions in the redzone…get called for horrendous penalties?. Suddenly, when Mathews hit the stick and we went up 17-7, that feeling crept back in. Damn…we could have been good.

The second half started even better. The Bolts taking the opening kickoff and cruising downfield. Rivers to Floyd for a 24-7 lead. Say what? Rivers was on fire all game. Absolutely awesome. This is the guy we expected. Standing up to blitzers…stepping into throws…delivering with authority. Not one pass CAME CLOSE to being picked off. This was about as good as a QB can play and it just makes the six game losing streak and all his awful play that much harder to understand. Floyd, VJ, Gates, and others making catches. And how about the offensive line? The pick up of Jared Gaither to play left tackle has been almost impossible to believe. The guy has just dominated everyone he has lined up against. He was crushing them last night. Same can be said of the rest of the line…to a man their finest game of the season. With Marcus McNeil and Dielman out for the year and hurt pretty bad, this is going to make for an interesting off season for the line. But that is for another post.

Once the game got to 24-7, the Ravens started making the mistakes. Flacco looked lost, throwing two picks. Getting sacked repeatedly as the Chargers started bringing the dogs after him. Another Touchdown by Mathews…this one a launch through the air from the 4 yard line…and we could call this one a rout. But, my favorite part of the game came later. With a 31-7 lead, the Chargers stopped the Ravens again and forced a punt that went out of bounds at their 1 yard line. What happened after that was just amazing. The Chargers cooly and calmly embarked on a 9 MINUTE DRIVE!  Almost all running plays through the confused and demoralized Ravens Defense. Guys like Ray Lewis, Suggs, and Ed Reed could not handle Mathews and Tolbert as they went through and around them for first down after first down. The best being Tolbert…spinning away from Mr. Lewis in the backfield and blasting his way for another first down. It was mercy that the Chargers settled for a field goal on that drive. But it was without question the biggest statement this team has made all year.

But what does it mean? Is it all for naught? Followers, the answer is almost certainly yes. Even if the Chargers win out against Detroit and Oakland..they are not likely to advance. Denver just needs to win one…and the Jets and or Bengals are also on top looking down. But, should we even be talking like this? I have already seen the “save Norv” language rattling around. Is that what we want? I hate to be Debbie Downer, but before we all get too excited…think of the way we all felt in that pathetic, moribund loss to the Broncos. That cannot be tolerated. Think about how you felt when we were helpless to stop the Raiders…and we gave up an 11 point lead against the Jets. Think about how you felt when the Bears spanked us and we fell to the Chiefs. We are 7-7. This fantastic win counts for just 1. It is probably not enough. We must stay resolute, followers.

Last week I spoke of Ryan Mathews and the importance of having Floyd-Gates-and Jackson all healthy and on the field. Man, last night showed us all that this group of players…guided by Rivers….is a powerful combination. And, despite the softness of our defense for most of the year….who would have thought we would sack the QB 7 times…that Weddle would look powerful…that our tackling would be crisp and excellent…that our outside pass rushers like Antwan Barnes would get the job done..and our secondary would cover the long ball so well?  I guess we can take from this game that we have our Quarterback back…and that we have some weapons. But that wistful feeling you all have right now? That feeling of hope? What should you do with it? Don’t hope too much followers. Just try to enjoy the last two games of the season. Maybe we will see some fun stuff. But if you start hoping now…it is only going to hurt worse when you see teams like Denver or the Jets playing in the postseason. No, don’t hope. Just enjoy the moment. Savor this excellent win, and leave it at that.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 14 -- CHANCES TAKEN TOO LATE

Well, this rainy day in So Cal has me in a reflective mood. I sat there yesterday, with Direct TV blasting eight football games at me on a single screen, and I was not happy. Hours of potential football nirvana just felt empty and lame. The Chargers had not even played yet, but the feeling was there. A feeling that this season, as so many others have been before it, was over. And it is folks….over that is. Going into the day, statistics programs has us at 1.7% to make the playoffs. I have to believe the number is still right about there after Tebow’s most recent parting of the waters. I have been professing the end for awhile…and focusing on the war and not the battle…but when it comes to you with a level of finality, it is still sad. Watching the Chargers demolish the Bills while the Raiders got killed and (for awhile) the Broncos were losing….true fans felt that little bloom of hope. I must say that when Tebow pulled his latest rabbit out of the hat….although the hope died again…that really was the best thing for us in the  long term.

This was the type of game we thought we would see a lot of this year. A high octane offense….a solid defense…and plenty of points. The fact that Buffalo came in on a 5 game losing streak helped, because that team is demoralized and sad. They really did not put up anything resembling a fight. If not for a pathetic Rivers fumble into the endzone, this game is 37-3. The first two Charger drives in the first half were textbook…great balance of plays…conversions…good catches…tough running. And, most importantly, touchdowns on third down. Gates, Mathews, and others with some nice plays…then a field goal late and a 16-0 halftime score. But, the Bolts started crumbling a bit in the third quarter…the Bills had scored twice and had the Chargers stopped on a third down. The beleaguered Charger fan could only say…how did we get from 16-0 to life and death?  But, the Boyz pulled one out of the hat..a nice fake punt to extend a drive and lead to another score…and the Bills were done. After that it was just an exercise in getting to the end of the game. A pick 6 by Gregory put the Bills to sleep.

Not much to criticize here…Rivers looked great (except that Phumble)…Mathews ran for 114 yards….Gates and the rest of the receiving corps solid…offensive line stout. How about mountain of a man Jared Gaither?  Wow has he looked good filling in at left tackle. And defensively, nothing too special but just always seemed to be there. Three INTs did not hurt also. Weddle seems to be earning his money now…surely.

So, folks, what to do now?  The ANALYSIS is not built to lavish praise on a team that could not bring it when the chips were down.  I can say that it is fun to win…it is fun to score Touchdowns and it is fun to watch players excel.  Rather than focusing on the ins and outs of the game, I would rather focus on a few observations. Either next week…or the week after…or the final week….we will be eliminated from the playoffs mathematically. Regardless of what we do…the Broncos only need to win one more and it sure seems that they will. We lost control several weeks ago when Philip phumbled the snap….and we completely lost control when we played the game that will surely be the one Norv suffers for (against Denver). So, followers, I will dedicate the rest of this post to a few things I have noticed as we start thinking about next season:

Ryan Mathews – He seems to be getting it. He really is the key to our offense just as much as Philip is. A confident running attack will make our receiving corps all that much better and take pressure off. Three games in a row now of more than 100 yards. And he is only 57 yards away from 1,000 yards on the year. Add to that the fact that his yards per carry are better than LT in EVERY YEAR EXCEPT ONE during LTs time here. That is significant. He is not scoring much, but that is OK. I think he has been working hard on hitting the hole with authority and not fumbling. He seems to be really improving in both those areas. Where he is still struggling is once he gets past the line. It is almost like he forgets that he has sick speed and agility. He should have had two long scores yesterday just by mixing in a little vision. Instead, he ran right at the defender, almost like he was just happy to have made a nice play. I think Ryan is going to be good. I just don’t think he is very smart and he does not have natural vision. He needs to focus on one thing at a time…first it was hitting the hole and being patient, then it was holding onto the ball, now it is what he does once he gets free. I think it will come together for him…I really hope it does.

Coaching: Here is my problem with the last two games. Take away the fact we played two of the worst teams in the League (although Jax came back to beat Tampa so who knows). My problem is we only start taking chances when there is no more hope. The difference between the play calls, the inspiration, and the risks taken if you compare the last two weeks with the game against Denver is really noticeable. I chalk this up to a coaching staff that is so paralyzed by trying not to lose, they do lose. Once we slipped to 4-7 and there really was not much hope…suddenly we start mixing things in. A fake punt? Do you think this would have been dialed up against Denver when “we still had a chance in the standings”? No way. I remember saying that Philip always plays his best when he is allowed to be a gunslinger. Norv has tried to manage games for him for too long and it has cost him his job (I hope).

 VJ/Gates/Floyd: Perhaps there is something to getting these three guys on the field at the same time. As long as we can accept that none of these guys is Superman anymore…but just three really good players who create matchup problems…we can win games. We need to sign VJ…and it is going to cost us….but his presence along with these other guys leads to results. We have to keep these guys healthy, which is no easy feat, but I think we can get some swagger to this offense if we do.

All right folks, please do not despair. The ANALYSIS will continue its weekly role for you all. We will simply change focus. Three more games, and we will be there for you. Let’s just hope we see additional encouraging signs and keep our focus on better days ahead. Days where we can win 37-10 and it actually means something.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 13 - THE BATTLE OR THE WAR?

A window into what should have been? Was that what last night was? Was it a teasing reminder of what most of us expected from our Boyz this season? Or was last night’s game merely the obvious result of a beaten up and beaten down team taking out their frustration on a team that is even lower on the food chain? Like most things, followers, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. But, I can tell you that at least it sure felt good when it was over.




When ESPN saw this game coming, they probably cringed and wondered why they would ever put Jacksonville on their schedule. The team came in 3-8, having just fired their coach, and were unable to sell out even a Monday Night game. Well, that sounds pretty darn familiar, with the Chargers only one better in the standings with a lame-duck coach on the sidelines and their own grievous sell-out problems. But, as the NFL often provides, the game was surprisingly entertaining. A first half featuring a bunch of good drives, nice plays, few mistakes, and exciting football. The Chargers opened up by stopping the Jags on a 3 and out…and then going on one of their most impressive drives of the year. A nicely balanced, 8 minute, 70 yard beauty that ended in a nice Tolbert TD. Another stop and another drive by the Bolts netted a field goal and a 10-0 lead at the end of the quarter. The team looked sharp, Mathews running well, Rivers getting time and hitting guys downfield.



Then the Jags got bold. Maurice Jones Drew started ripping off runs and rookie QB Gabbert seemed to find his footing. The Charger D reverted to what we have come to see most of the year: Getting pushed off the ball on the line, with the linebackers and safeties just unable to cleanly bring down ball carriers. Guys like LaBoy, Gregory, Hughes, and Cason are just not good enough to be expected to make downfield tackles consistently. Two great drives by the Jags put them up 14-10 and there it was…that feeling again. Can we really lose another one? Well, a funny thing happened. The line, after a few demoralizing series’, tightened up. Rivers kept hitting guys downfield. A great throw and catch by Vincent Brown made it 17-14…then Gabbert made a horrible throw that was intercepted by Weddle. I mumbled audibly, “Which Norv shows up now…the one content to manage the game to halftime with a three point lead, or the one who goes for the jugular against a 3-8 team”. Well, I am happy to report the latter. What does he have to lose? A great couple of throws..an awesome catch by Jackson..and a 24-14 halftime lead. That TD seemed to energize the boys on both sides of the ball. Confidence seemed to soar…and the second half was an easy slow ride to victory with two more great TDs (Floyd and Mathews). The Jags did not scare the end zone and were easily put to sleep.



So, what did we learn? Well…just keeping it real…not a hell of a lot. The Jags are really bad. Really bad. They are even more banged up than we are. They have no pass rushers (all hurt) and they were starting three scrub corners. Their rookie quarterback looks like he wants no part of the NFL to me. We should have killed them. To be fair, our offensive line is just a bunch of meatheads too right now. But, they improved and played together and gave Philip time. I think we learned that it sure is nice to have VJ, Gates, and Floyd on the field at the same time. I think we learned that Philip has some confidence back after a nearly perfect game. I think we saw how fun it can be when you don’t turn the ball over. But that is about it. We are still 5-7, looking up at the Raiders and Broncos at 7-5. Let’s not lose sight of reality after a fun win here against a morbid team. You heard it here first but I believe the Broncos will win this division. I think Tebow’s magic and a very stout defense, along with a favorable schedule, will put them on top. Even if we win out…which I highly doubt…we likely won’t make it. And folks, I need you to WANT us to NOT make it. We need to miss the playoffs and get rid of Norv. I, for one, am on the fence on AJ. I am not yet sure what I think about getting rid of him too. Your thoughts on this topic are appreciated.



For one week, though, let us enjoy it. We won a fun game on Monday night. Nothing wrong with that. The guys have some confidence. We seem to be getting healthier. We have our next two games at home. Let’s see what happens. Football should be fun and it has not been this year. Still hard to believe that we had lost 6 in a row. A little factoid: Philip Rivers holds onto a snap on Halloween and Novak makes a field goal against Denver and we are in first place right now. But I don’t think that is what we want. We don’t want to limp into the playoffs…we want to ride into them strong. Stay the course, followers, four more to go. Gotta lose the battle to win the war. Just keeping it real.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 12 -- THAT MAY JUST DO IT

I was torn yesterday. Really torn. Along with many of you, I have been a Charger fan for a very long time. I have struggled through the dark years, enjoyed the bright years, and mostly resigned myself to the truth each year that we were not going to get there. Yesterday, I felt like a split personality….rooting and ranting on the one hand for the Chargers to end the embarrassment and win a game….and hoping internally that they would find a way to lose. It is called tough love folks. Losing the battle to win the war. Or any other cliché that seems reasonable. This loss may have done it. May have signaled the clear end of the Norval Eugene Turner era. A meek, listless, and embarrassing loss at home to a team featuring such a macabre, awful offense…this is the one that should have been the Halloween night game.




In case it was not already official, this team is done for the year. Fans and hopeful people everywhere could have found a silver lining in the Jets loss (“we were up by 11 and in control”), a shrug-it-off stance against the Chiefs (“if Philip just could have held onto the snap”), a maybe we are going to be fine approach against the Packers (“hey, we did score 38 points”), a blame the injuries quote against the Raiders (“we had no line, buys”), an if we just did not make so many mistakes thought process against the Bears (“we were tied in the 3rd quarter after all”). But this one? Nope, this one was ugly. A few weeks ago I called for “blowing this thing up”. Now, do any of you disagree? Losing at home to the Broncos…and scoring only 13 points in the process…is truly about as bad as it gets. Until, maybe, next week on Monday Night Football against the Jaguars.



No, folks, there is not a whole heck of a lot to report. For those of you who watched (and Jeff and Rebeca were at the game) it was tough. Tough to watch a once-proud team play such passionless, scared, tentative football. So worried about their banged up line they refused to take chances. So worried about Tebow scrambling, they did not try and hit him. So poorly motivated and weak (primarily on offense) that they trudged off the field…glad to be out of the spotlight. If this was not the death knell of the Turner era…I honestly don’t know what else could be.



I do have a job to do though, so here we go with some ANALYSIS. The Chargers did play well in the first half on defense. Stifling Tebow and their pseudo-option offense for the most part. Leading to punts on every drive. I actually had a feeling that they would get the job done on this day…maybe gaining a little confidence and moving in some positive direction (despite the fact I was hoping for something different). But, a series of plays at the end of the first half are the entire last two years in a nutshell. The defense had just stifled Tebow again, forcing a punt to the Chargers 40 yard line with 2:21 left in the half. The Bolts were up 10-0. Denver had done nothing. Mathews was running well. It seemed a clear proposition: Run the ball a few times, kill some clock, kill the half. Take a shot at a first down or two and maybe a field goal to go up 13-0. In the worst case scenario, give it back to Tebow deep in his side of the field with 1:00 or so left. But no. The Chargers dial up three ugly, horrible, slow developing pass plays!? Truly unforgivable. Taking no time off the clock. Giving the ball back on a terrible special teams play. And giving the Broncos hope. Once the Broncos got the ball back, a pass over the middle led to a fumble and no fewer than FOUR CHARGER PLAYERS had a chance to pick that ball up and/or fall on it. Not a single player could make a play and Tebow drove to the end zone. 10-7. Hope for the Broncos. That is the Chargers folks. Every opportunity to do something right ends in failure. Everyone hoping someone else will make a play.



The grievous second half was just an exercise in futility for both teams. A missed field goal by Novak (nice shot of him peeing on the sideline too by the way…classy) and the Broncos continued to have life. Once OT started. Did any of you care what happened? What does an OT win over the Broncos prove? That we can struggle at home to beat a bad team? No, a loss would be better. But, the Chargers stopped the Broncos, got the ball, and Ryan made some nice runs and a couple good pass plays set us up at the 33 yard line with a first down. Yet, again, the play calling made you sick to your stomach. This team is 4-6…the other team is backing up. Take a chance! What do you have to lose! Make a play…somebody. Get 5 yards. Alas, the Chargers were the Chargers, running twice into the line and then taking out their best player on the day (Mathews) and pitching it to Tolbert 7 yards deep in the backfield for a 5 yard loss. Setting up a 53 yard field goal which of course was missed. You saw the rest.



Now, I am not going to sit here and say I hoped Novak would miss that field goal. I am a fan, after all, and I wanted him to make it. I want the Chargers to win. But, I think there is no doubt that the team we saw on the field yesterday has to be redesigned. The first step is to get a new regime. It is highly unlikely that the Spanos family will get rid of AJ. And it is a certainty they are not going to get rid of themselves. And, despite what has been his worst season by far, Philip will be our QB for a long time. Philip’s game yesterday was nothing short of horrible. His undying optimism and professionalism is frayed, and he is just playing awful football right now. He reacts to pressure that is not there. His accuracy and decision making are awful. His clock management is non-existent. But, he is our QB and will be. You cannot fire ALL the players. We have made this bed and must lie in it. So, the scapegoat for this mess has to be Norv, Manusky, and the rest of the coaching staff. Not sure it will happen, but a loss like this has to lead to changes. It has to…doesn’t it?



Well, folks, I hope you had a great holiday, despite the game. I know that the best part of the game for me yesterday was playing a fierce game of hopscotch outside with Lily during the OT (I had one eye on the TV). Cannot close with anything positive other than….we need to look forward to a rebuilding period. Norv got handed the keys to the Ferrari in 2007…and he is now trying feebly to jump start a 1970 Ford LTD. Something has to give. I think we know who it will be. A loss like that makes it inevitable (I hope).

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 11 -- EXPECTED?...ACCEPT IT.

Five straight losses. The 2011 season (note that I don’t say the 2011-2012 season) is rapidly coming to an end. Yesterday’s somber affair was just kind of…well….expected. Last week we spoke of the seven stages of grief. Well, number 5 is called “The Upward Turn”. I’m not quite sure we are there yet, although “expected” losses sure are a lot easier than shocking losses. I’ll let you know when I get to “The Upward Turn”…maybe at the end of the season. The thing that was so expected about yesterday was that, in the end, they did everything we have come to know they will do. Interceptions at the worst possible time, bad special teams just when they have momentum, more fumbles by the infuriating Ryan Mathews, and secondary coverage that makes you just sit and stare. I could just end it there, because this stinker of a season is rapidly making the NBA lockout look exciting, but…I know my role.




The Chargers came into the game down seven starters, including three on their offensive line: Shawn Phillips, Malcom Floyd, Louis Vasquez, Marcus McNeil, Kris Dielman, Luis Castillo, and Marcus Gilchrist. They put a conservative game plan in place to protect Phillip and tried to rely on balance and ball control. For the first half, and really for three quarters, it worked to decent results. The patchwork O-line was holding up against a good Bears defense. Vincent Jackson looked sharp and powerful, Gates was making catches, and most importantly, Philip was playing well and throwing a nice deep ball. The Defense was stout and organized against the run, stopping Matt Forte cold all day long. Third down TD throws to Gates and Jackson had tied it at 17 and there was really no separating the teams except for the truly amazing idiocy displayed on Special Teams on punts and kickoffs. Every team in the League under the new rules is able to kick the ball into the endzone, except the Chargers. Even usually reliable Mike Scifres was horrible, kicking poorly placed punts to Devin Hester and giving the Bears short fields to work with. Another one of these gaffes led to a Bears TD (Antoine Cason’s lack of ball awareness is just incredible) and a 24-17 lead. Yet, the Chargers were hanging in there, moving the ball again until…the next fully expected thing happened. Ryan Mathews, on a nice little run, allows the ball to be punched out and loses it. Again. He just does not get it. He can look dangerous and sharp and then, after he screws up, he just becomes a waste of space. It has now been happening for two seasons. We keep hoping. He keeps failing. Keep in mind that he fumbled earlier in the game and bobbled at least two others when he was tackled. Really, really bad as the Bears scored seconds later and the rout was on.



Even with the 31-17 lead, the Chargers had several additional chances to make it a close game, all of them ending in pathetic interceptions by Rivers. Let’s face it folks, the Chargers have had the ball in the 4th quarter in nearly every loss this year with a chance to tie (and sometimes win). Rivers continues to make throws that he has not made since he has been a pro. So bad, you just….well….you just sit there and stare. He is playing bad…and that is unfortunate because for three quarters things were going……OK I guess. But the 4th quarter?? Four plays, folks. Four! And two of them were interceptions. The defense allowed 7 consecutive third down conversions. Seven! If that is not giving up, I don’t know what is. Well, maybe it isn’t? Maybe it is a team that did as well as it could and then just got beat down by a better team. The Bears ain’t much…and now they lost their QB…but they are better than us.



The saddest thing about this 5 game losing streak is that, once again, it is not our bit players or our depth that is killing us (even though the injuries are astronomical). It is our key players…Rivers, Cason, Spikes, Mathews. They are just not doing it.



Wish I could say there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We play the Denver Tebows this weekend. That could be a light…or it could be the final indignity. I have no idea what to expect, but I will say this.. Tebow is 4-1 as a starter. He ran over the Jets defense last week and he has had two of his best games as a pro against the Chargers. Assuming they can figure out Tebow…they then play the Joke Jaguars and the reeling Buffalo Bills. Can we go on a run? Sure, why not? They have done it before. But, we all must ask ourselves, do we want to? Do we really want to fight and struggle to a 8-8 finish and save Norv’s job? Do we want to win the battle to totally lose the war? I am standing on what I said last week…this thing needs to be blown up. A new regime is necessary, although I don’t know if we will get it. Even if we finish 6-10 or so, Norv might still keep his job. I am certain that AJ will. But, it is our best chance at change…and maybe…a future that will be enjoyable.



When things were going bad last year, I could turn to Zenyatta or the Oregon Ducks for commentary. This year, the Ducks, while good, are not as good as last year. Zenyatta is on the farm, ready to give birth. Despite this, there are two cool things going on in Sports right now: 1) The NBA is on strike….does anyone miss it? And 2) We went to the MLS Cup last night and watched the Galaxy win in the rain. A great time, and a reminder that Sports should be fun. There were a lot of families there, a lot of different cultures, a lot of Houston fans too, and a real feeling of the fun of sports. The winning goal was an assist from the world’s most recognized player, to the best Irish player in the world, to probably the best US player in the world. Good stuff. Maybe the Chargers can get back that feeling of fun one of these days.



Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 10: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

What we saw last night tells you all you need to know about the Boyz. After the 5^th game of the season, I asked the question, “Are we the worst 4-1 team in football?”. Pretty sure we now know the answer. A game like last night makes you put away the “all we needed was this…” comments and it makes you forget about “if we only made that one play”. A game like last night puts things in perspective, and actually lends some peace to our hand-wringing. Last night was not about a missed snap, or a last minute incomplete pass, or one bad play. Last night was a complete and utter illumination of a failed system. From the guy choosing players, to the guy coaching them, to the players themselves…we did not belong last night. We did not want it as much, and even if we did..we are not big enough or fast enough or good enough to get it. I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one followers, there simply was too much wrong with it. I believe it is now time to begin to talk about what we should hope for as the season progresses, because we should not be hoping about playoffs or anything else so implausible.

As a professional blogger, I must keep things even. I try not to get too ranty and I try not to overblow things. But I think we now need to hope for a meltdown. I believe we are in one now…but we need to hope for worse. I believe it is the only way that change will happen. We have put all our eggs in the basket you saw last night. Our players are not good enough, our coaches provide no inspiration, and our backups…our depth…is extremely poor. We were tied for first place coming into the game, playing at home, playing a hated foe for supremacy of our division. A foe that just got demolished by Tebow and the Broncos at home. A foe without their starting running back and BOTH of their starting corners. A foe with a QB who acknowledged he knew about “15 plays” a week or so ago. If that alone does not provide inspiration..what should? Our coaches? I think so. With the exception of a scripted first drive that went well, except blew up in the red zone as so many do…we were awful. We had 4 straight three and outs…we could not block, could not throw and could not catch. We seem to be schizophrenic when it comes to our running backs. Are we trying to let Mathews become our guy? Or not? He looks good for a play or two, then he is on the bench. I understand that Tolbert is a better blocker…and when McNeil went down we needed him. But with the way we are using these guys, neither will grow. Halftime down 17-3 and should have been worse with that stupid fake punt attempt.

We had some flashes in the second half, with rookie Vincent Brown making some circus catches. And what a travesty that the Hated Moron Hochuli took away a beautiful catch by the kid because of an obscure rule about the defender being out of bounds on the play. Amazing. We scored anyway on that drive but how ridiculous. But even with the good catches, and even though the game ended only 24-17, did any of you who witnessed it think it was close? Not me. Every Raider player blew up his counterpart on the line. We could not tackle as a team, we could not cover as a team. This is not a slam on Weddle’s poor tackling or the “battle” to start between Cason and Gilchrist. This is team-wide ineptitude. And, hey, I get it, we have a lot of injuries. We had three starters out on our offensive line. That is tough. But this is the NFL. They had a lot of guys out too. Dombrowski has played for three years in this league, how is it possible he got so completely outclassed. And Clary, after a great game at Green Bay, looked like a high school kid out there too. The Raiders are tough and physical, they hit hard, but they are not that good. We made them look great.

We now find ourselves in the meat of the schedule at 4-5 with no prospects. We need to play Chicago in Chicago next weekend. They hit hard too. Which brings me back to the point of this article. I try hard to tinker with the lineup. I spend time thinking about Philip’s head and his psyche, I think about a player here and a player there. We are done tinkering folks. We need the sledgehammer. We need to blow this team up and start again. It is not going to happen now, obviously, we have a season to limp through. But wouldn’t the most negative thing possible be if we limped to an 8-8 finish out of the playoffs. That would give the ownership every reason to trot out the lame excuses and say we are still close. We are not close, and we need to make changes. Lots of them. What I saw last night was a football team that has no identity and, for many, what looks like no desire.

So, lets review the Seven Stages of Grief. First, there is Shock and Denial:  Yes, we have been in that stage for a long time. Second, there is Pain and Guilt. Of course we have spent many hours there as well, trying to justify what we are seeing each week. Third, is Anger and Bargaining. This is where I spend most of my time..being angry and bargaining. Bargaining with the roster, the coaches, the “mindset”, the toughness level..whatever I can grasp. The Fourth level is where I am now, just getting past Depression and entering Reflection. It is a good place to be followers, no more anger, no more sadness. Just reflection on what was and a looking forward to what might be once the corner is turned. We need to blow this thing up folks, what we have been clinging to since the good teams of the 2006-2009 period no longer exists. The last couple of stages in the Seven Stages are the good ones. I think they need to start soon to get there.

OK. OK. So I broke a rule. Here it is, Week 9, and I am already talking about blowing it up and starting over. Let me be clear, I am not giving up, the Bolts have surprised me many times before. They could still win some games and provide us with some fun and entertainment. No, my goal here is to get all of our heads around the fact that this team….the one on the field last night…will not be able to get it done. Change has to come…let’s hope the ownership and management think the same thing.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 9 -- MIND OVER MATTER

Typically, the ANALYSIS begins each missive with a theme. Each game seems to offer a clear series of points that makes up an overall impression, either positive or negative (or both). Yesterday’s rollicking; crazy affair just leaves me more confused than ever about the Bolts. Should this be a “Light at the End of the Tunnel” theme? Nah….too optimistic. Should it be an “Audacity of Hope” theme? Nah…too Obama-istic? Should it be a “We suck and our window of opportunity has closed” theme? Hmmm… a bit too harsh. Let’s go with this sports fans: We are in first place in a bad division and we will now live and die with our Quarterback. That is it. That is the theme for this week. Yesterday’s game is very interesting to me. The SD press is practically falling over themselves talking about how WELL we played. The national media is talking about how good Rodgers is and how the Pack had to “hold off” the Charging Chargers. The game is being spun as a POSITIVE for the Bolts. Weird. Let’s get down to brass tacks.


This is Philip Rivers’ team, plain and simple. We will be defined now by how Philip plays the rest of the year. The team is watching, the coaches are watching, the fans are watching. On everyone’s mind is the question: “What is wrong with Philip?” Is he hurt? I have heard reports he has a cracked sternum. Has he regressed? Seems unlikely but always a possibility. Is he just pressing and feeling all the pressure? I think that is the most likely answer. Whatever the reasons, Philip made two unbelievably bad decisions in the first quarter yesterday. A pass to a completely covered Gates and a slow floater out into the flat that never came close to Crayton. Both returned for touchdowns. Beating the Packers in a fair fight is hard enough…beating them after spotting them 14 points in near impossible. These two picks had come after their best opening drive of the season and an early lead. It came with Rodgers just sitting on the bench…grinning…waiting to return. What made those 14 points hard to take is that the offense played well all day yesterday. Tolbert got tough yards, Jackson got open and found seams, Gates played solid after a rocky start, and the line held off the vaunted Packer pass rush all game long. The picks were so hard to take because we were in this game and folks came to play. Sad, really. Because every time Rivers shows signs of regaining his confidence…another massive snafu.

The rest of the first half was back and forth. Another TD and a field goal by the Bolts made it 21-17. We had a chance to stop them before the half…or at least hold them to a field goal. But a controversial (and fantastic) throw and catch to Jordy Nelson put them up by another 7. Looked to me that the tip of the ball hit the ground..but what do I know? The bottom line was that we were losing 28-17, yet we really had not done anything wrong on defense. We had covered well…we had gotten pressure on Rodgers…we had stopped the run. But, EVERY time, the Packers did us one better. Rodgers placed the ball in a perfect spot and, when he didn’t, their receivers made great catches. When we covered their guys down field…Rodgers calmly stepped up and ran for a bunch of yards. When we got pressure, he got away. When they needed 9 yards on 3rd down…they got 10. ALL DAY LONG. I really feel that despite a morbid game by rookie Marcus Gilchrist…our defense played quite well. The Packers are good…really good. From top to bottom. They play loose, they have fun, they run their plays, and they have a QB who has supreme confidence and is playing out of this world. They are fun to watch, unlike the Chargers who have contributed to my stress level and irregular heartbeat issues.

The second half did not start too well, and despite our best efforts, got a bit worse. We still were trying hard….moving the ball at times. But, we could not stop them. And when Rodgers and Nelson bombed Gilchrist again (when are we ever going to get another rookie who can actually play?) the game looked out of hand. We were down by 21 points, it was the 4th quarter. But then, the Chargers did what they always do. They give you hope. It would have been easier to go into the rainy night, losing by three TDs, with everyone’s sanity intact. However…this was not to be. Rivers and company came alive late…hitting a bunch of massive plays, VJ getting open and scoring a touchdown. A perfectly executed onside kick…another couple of plays…and VJ is again running clear in the back of the endzone. What the hell? Wait a minute…we are down by 7 and there are 6:30 minutes left! Can we win? Or will this just be the latest chapter…and yet another strangely shaped knife sticking in our collective heart.

Well, after the Packers had scored on 5 of their first 6 possessions..our defense brought it hard late. Stopping the Pack with some great plays deep in their territory. We had the ball on our own 45 yard line. We had a real chance. But no…a sack, a penalty, a bad throw. The same old things plaguing Philip. Exceptional for the whole 4th quarter…he suddenly looked lost again. Yet, a punt deep, and a fantastic stand on defense…including an awesome Antwan Barnes sack and they were punting from their endzone with 2:30 mintues left. Or were they? Uh…no. Quentin Jammer called for defensive holding on our best play of the game. Totally unnecessary play…yet there it was. Our most veteran player called again. Amazing. Yet, the defense brought it again…stopping Rodgers and the Pack for a punt and getting the ball back with 1:10. Still a chance guys…We can still tie this thing. Yet, there Rivers was again, stepping up in the pocket. No pressure. Jackson a step on the safety…if Philip puts it out in front of him…maybe…just maybe. This is the type of ball he is money with…or he used to be. Not this year. Another poorly thrown ball. Another interception. Another loss.

It is cruel to instill such hope in fans only to dash it upon the rocks of a season teetering on the brink. This team can put 38 points and a scare into the Packers? The same team that can go toe to toe with the best team in the league, can lose to the KC Chiefs? The Chiefs just lost 31-3 at home to the 0-7 Miami Dolphins. This is surreal stuff.

So there it is, folks. We are 4-4. We play the Raiders on Thursday. People are lamenting the short week but I think it is a good thing. We beat the Raiders and we are in first place. The Raiders are weakened. They just lost to Tebow. Carson Palmer looks dazed. They are there for the taking. Our season is in Philip’s head now. That is it. We don’t need him thinking too much. Just go out and play. That is what matters now. I won’t talk about the fact that we cannot win the hard ones. I won’t talk about the fact we always seem to play down (or up) to our competition. I won’t talk about the fact that we always seem to make the crucial mistake. I won’t talk about the coaching, or the injuries, or the failures of our number 1 draft picks, or the fact Gates cannot get open any more, or the ownership, or the “Phumble” or anything else. I’m just trying to see what is in Philip’s head. Let’s leave Philip alone. Let’s see if he can get out of this funk. I would suggest he spend the next 3 or 4 days watching home movies. Put in the old home movies that show him in the back yard, hucking the ball to his brothers. Playing with confidence. Having fun. Gotta get back to that Phil. I believe it is that simple. I have to believe in something.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 8 -- NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT

I have said this before but most sports fans, especially professional bloggers, are given to hyperbole. How many times after a game (or during a game) have you said, “That is the worst I have ever seen”…or “I have never seen anything even remotely as bad as that”. Well, folks, last night we did see something we have never seen before. All that was needed was a snap. Center gives ball to Quarterback. Same Center who has been giving the ball to the same Quarterback for 6 years. That is it. One snap. 48 seconds left…1st down at the 15 yard line. Despite all the ugliness that had come before this snap, the Chargers had won the game. They had fought back…they had competed…and they had it won. Nick Novak had been spot on, missing only a 52 yarder out of 15 tries…and he was looking at a 32 yard field goal to end the game. When Rivers dropped this ball…and then inexplicably could not find it on the ground…the look on Chargers fans’ faces was beyond anguish and shock. I’m not sure I have the proper adjectives…so I will go with disbelief.


What this one snap does is pretty remarkable. Had Rivers actually held onto the ball, the Chargers would be 5-2 and 3-0 in the AFC West. Given how bad the Chiefs and Broncos are (and now the Raiders look pretty poor too without a QB) this snap would have given the Chargers control of the Division. This snap would have injected confidence into a beleaguered and suddenly below average Philip Rivers. It would have given confidence to a sad sack, uninspired team. It would have had the pundits talking about how the team “battled back”…how they “fought through the injuries”…how they “are building a winner”. However, holding onto that ball would have also masked the undeniable truth. A win in this game would have simply hid the fact we must all now embrace. We are not good.

That winning field goal would have masked the fact that our best offensive lineman, Marcus McNeil, a guy we have spent countless millions on, was called for SIX penalties last night. He could not block anything last night and Tamba Hali so completely destroyed him it was embarrassing. When Hali went to the other side, he beat Jeromey Clary (another guy we just spent a bunch of money on) so badly he looked just as miserable. We had 12 penalties in this game. All that anyone will talk about was the bogus and horrible offensive penalty on Gates that nullified a TD…but what about the other 11? Unacceptable.

The winning field goal would have masked the fact that our big play receiver, the guy who we are contemplating dumping a massive contract on, cannot get open. Vincent Jackson is an afterthought. He is not open on short routes, and he is not close to open on long ones. With Gates double teamed on every single play last night, Jackson was often man to man. That is what a receiver and a coaching staff dream of. Yet, he is running half-heartedly down the field and cannot get separation.

The winning field goal would have masked the fact that Ryan Mathews, despite flashes of brilliance, cannot hold onto the ball and cannot stay healthy. Every single game he has a new injury. Add to this injuries to Tolbert and now a concussion to Brinkley and our running game is nowhere.

The winning field goal would have masked the fact that we cannot score in the red zone and we cannot defend on 3rd down. To me, after watching tons of football over the many sad years of my fandom….there are simple facts: 1) When you have the ball in close you must score touchdowns and 2) When you have the opponent in 3rd down situations you must make plays to stop them. We cannot do either. We had 9 trips inside the 35 yard line last night. This resulted in 1 touchdown, 4 field goals, 1 missed field goal, 2 fumbles, and 1 interception. Unacceptable. Period. On the defensive side, when the chips were down we allowed conversions of 3rd and 16, 3rd and 9, and 3rd and 4. All easy plays by the Chiefs…and on two of them our defense was not set. The coaching staff not prepared to send in the play…our linebackers running around frantically. This happened twice on their winning drive. Once was the aforementioned 3rd and 16 that would have kept them out of field goal range. Unacceptable. Period.

And, finally, the winning field goal would have masked the fact that there is something wrong with our Quarterback. Is he hurt? Does he lack confidence? Is it that Gates and Jackson are shells of what they should be? Does he not trust his line? Or is he simply not a clutch quarterback? I don’t know, but those two first quarter interceptions were mind-blowingly bad. And there should have been at least two more that were dropped by the Chiefs. Yes, it is true, Philip led them back. Had a very good second half…hit some huge throws. And the last 4 minutes of that game were textbook…Philip driving them into Chiefs territory…making first downs, killing the Chiefs timeouts, and killing the clock. Leading us to a first down with the clock ticking down to 48 seconds and a win. That was perfect. But we know what happened next.

Followers, I have nothing else to give on this team right now. What happened last night just leads some to question whether it is fate. My point in the paragraphs above is that we have made roster decisions on players who are not that good, we have a coaching staff that cannot coax and inspire better play from these players, and we have a quarterback who simply may not be that good. We cannot lose to the Chiefs and be taken seriously. The Chiefs are bad, everyone. Really bad. This game should have been easy for us. Even with the injuries, even with starting three rookies on defense and a practice squad running back taking snaps. If we are a good team, we win. The ownership, the manager, and the coach will all look at the snap (at least in public) as an aberration. Just a mistake. Maybe that is all it is, but it seems endemic of something greater. To wit:

About McNeil’s night…Norv said: “He was just too amped up”

About Mathews’ fumble…Norv said: “He is doing so great lately, he just dropped one”

About the red zone errors…Norv said: “We’ve got to execute better down there”.

That is it. That is the extent of the passion we see from Norv. In my humble opinion, that is not enough. We don’t know what goes on in locker room, but the public persona of this team has to change. There has to be an edge, there have to be ramifications. This calm demeanor is what AJ wants, and it is what the Spanos family wants. Unfortunately, the players we have banked on are not coming through and we seem to have no way to bring them to a different level. We play the Packers on Sunday, then four days later we play the Raiders. This thing could and probably will get away from us quickly. Maybe that would be better. It would force a bloodletting. Last year’s limp home to a 9-7 record was too easily blamed on our Special Teams and injuries. We made the collective decision to keep almost all of our players, banking on the thought that if we cleaned up our play we would win games. The team this year is worse…because the players on the field ARE the players we want on the field. They don’t have “it”…whatever that is.

So, I try to end all of these posts with something positive. Here you go: We had a lot of fun trick or treating last night. Crazy the number of kids out there on the streets. Lily was a Spider Princess and it was a beautiful, balmy southern California night. Lots of joy out there. Also, the Breeders Cup is this weekend. That is something to look forward to. As far as football, the only thing we can hang onto is that we are tied for first place in a bad division. It is a long season…you never know what will happen. Just need to pull a Norv and say, “We need to play better”. Uh….right, Norv, and it starts with a snap.

BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 7 -- UH OH

Oh Boy…here we go again. The Chargers played a game on Sunday in which they were favored in New York against the hated Jets. They had proclaimed themselves as healthy as they have been all year. They were coming off of a bye with a 4-1 record and were playing a shaky foe that was struggling. Norv had actually talked some smack to pump up the guys. Despite these encouraging signs….folks, what we saw on the field yesterday was alarming. In the immortal words of that sage, Dennis Green, what this team brought to the table leads us to an early season declaration of “they are who we thought they were”…or more accurately…”they are who we hoped they weren’t”.

The second half of yesterday’s game should really give us little hope that we have a contending team. The lack of spirit, the lack of execution, the lack of any fire is very troubling. We had hoped that new veterans such as Takeo Spikes would help with this fire. We had hoped that high draft choices such as Cason and Larry English would continue to improve and get better. More than anything, perhaps, we had expected our quarterback and star receiver to continue playing at a high level. I can safely report after that game that across the board…we are in trouble. But first, lets talk about the game.

It started pretty joyfully…right? A fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception by Weddle had the Jets frustrated and Sanchez moping on the bench. A very nice drive ending in a good TD by Gates had us up 14-3 and looking strong. Another good drive and some decent defending had is up by 11 at the half and confidence was high. We were moving the ball, we were active on defense, things were positive. Then, the Jets did what decent teams do. They changed their game plan…they made adjustments….they played with passion. The Chargers did what they do…come out flat and act shocked when the other team takes away the plays they thought they could run.  The Jets began to get into a nice cadence with runs and passes, converting third downs and staying on the field. These drives were helped by a ridiculous number of penalties. At least 4 of the Chargers dreadful 13 penalties were bogus. Two were called on Jammer where he had made good defensive plays, and two were false starts that were instead called on our defense. Bullshit…but that does not account for the other 9 that were called on us. In addition, the Jets knew they had a secret weapon (not so secret but the Chargers seemed to think so). Plaxico Burress is a 6 foot 5 beast who has the impressive claim to fame of shooting himself in the leg at a party and going to jail. Nice. Well, Antoine Cason seemed to believe that Burress was going to pull a gun on him any moment…staying nowhere near him on coverage in the red zone despite the fact that every Joe Blow in the stadium knew who was going to get the ball. Awful.

Despite all this ragged and ugly play, the Bolts were still in position to win this game (or at least make it hard on the Jets). With the ball in field goal range on a 3^rd and 4, Rivers threw a pass a little behind Jackson that bounced into the hands of (who else) Darrelle Revis. Game changer. A field goal there (or if Jackson holds on to the ball maybe more) and we are in a good spot. However, this interception and a second even more sickening interception…and the Jets were up 27-21. However, we still had a chance…1:40 left on the clock. Hey, we are pretty good at the two minute drill right? All you need to do is call 3 plays in the huddle and run them in quick succession….when in doubt, spike the ball and buy some time. OK, I really hope all of you studied that 1:40. That was the SD Chargers in clear relief. A team with no clue what it is doing when the chips are down. The time wasted on that drive was unreal. It is as if the coaching staff and Rivers had no idea what to do…as if this whole “clock” thing was just too much to understand. It really goes beyond embarrassing folks…this is more like a culture. Something ingrained. We have no ability to improvise and get out of our gameplan.

There were so many things wrong about this game, but I will just focus on two that unfortunately we had taken as strengths of our team: Rivers and the inability of our receivers to get open. Rivers has been really special over the past couple of years. He is bad this year. Period. Leads the League in interceptions, missing on all type of throws, bad timing. He looks bad. I have read that he may be hurt..that he may have an injured chest and that is impacting his motion. Who knows? I just know that things do not seem to be improving. Add to that the fact that our receivers seem to be running half-assed routes and not getting separation and you have a weak offense Now, Revis is a special player. He took VJ out of this game completely. But our guys seem to be sleepwalking, hoping someone else makes a play.

So, can I leave you all with something positive? Just this: We are still in first place. The Raiders’ new leader Carson Palmer threw 3 of 6 interceptions and McFadden got hurt. Suddenly the Raiders look poor and the Chiefs and Broncos are not very good. We have a chance next Monday night to take control of the AFC West with a win over the Chiefs. It is a tough place to play but we will probably be favored again. What do you think? Are the Bolts who you think they are? Are we better than we look? Will Halloween night indeed be scary? Stay tuned.