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).