BOLT ANALYSIS: A WELCOME BLACKOUT

The first of the Charger Blackout games has come and gone.  Perhaps some of you out there actually saw the whole game? The ANALYSIS did not. When the Blackout news became official, the ANALYSIS chose to spend this 92 degree day strolling around Disneyland with the family and approximately 1.2 million other people who were not at Qualcomm.  Despite this sweaty decision, given the joy that is the Direct TV Redzone channel...much of the game was actually on television. This may become a rarity for home games, because if the Chargers cannot come close to a sell out when undefeated.  Now that they are exposed....who is gonna come out to watch? Hmmm....

The Boyz got punked yesterday.  Demolished and destroyed by a good, solid team on their own field. The ANALYSIS had pondered what might happen when the Chargers faced a complete team; one that could stretch the field with receivers and tight ends. Well...there you go.  A 27-3 crusher.  Interestingly, the second most lopsided loss in the Norval era and the lowest points ever scored under Norv. How good are the Falcons? Not sure. I think they are very sound and very disciplined. They had a good game plan that was nimble and versatile and they adjusted. The Chargers on the other hand, were a sad-sack, vanilla-based group of bores.  Both sides of the ball got schooled yesterday. The defense gave up LONG drives of 96, 80, and 84 yards. Phillip threw two disgusting interceptions; Mathews and Rosario fumbled (one of them on the 3 yard line going in). Add in penalties and grievous pass-blocking and you have a putrid stew of underachievement. Look, you had to figure this would be a difficult game. At the same time, the Falcons were traveling cross-country on a short week. Losing to a good team is OK...getting rolled on your home turf like that is probably a bit more emblematic of the type of team we have.

I am not going to focus on individual performance other than to say not one player stood out to me. Bad across the board. Instead, I will focus on the “5 Big Things” that were listed by the ANALYSIS in the preseason. They were (in abridged form):  Rivers’ abilities, Mathews’ injuries and fumbling, Gaither’s back, pass rush (read: 3^rd downs), and secondary (read: 3^rd downs). OK, let’s do the math......0 for 5 yesterday.

Has Rivers regressed? Has he slipped from his spot as “near elite”? Not sure yet but there are some troubling patterns here. Let’s be fair, first and foremost he is a victim of a line that is decent on their best days and far below average on their worst. Throw in the fact that they have an undrafted rookie at the most difficult spot on the line and, you get the picture. Poor #79 was bum rushed by three different players yesterday. He was on roller skates all game long. Although the box score shows only 1 sack of Rivers, almost all of his throws were rushed or worried. He is hearing footsteps, even when they are not there. The game planning suffers with this lack of protection, and, even when he has time he does not think he does. Not a good sign.

Mathews? All I can do is sigh. Figured the kid would have some jitters in his first game back from a broken clavicle. But, as has been the story all along, just as he starts picking up steam...he fumbles the ball again. In sports we always tend to move toward hyperbole..but I don’t blame anyone who says this guy just does not get it. A fumble on the 3 yard line in your first game?. A broken bone in his first practice? You cannot close the book on him yet..not by a long shot...but it is getting very tough to think we have  a real running back here. We shall see.

Gaither? Well, he is turning into the biggest mistake in years. He has had two MRIs...both negative. Nobody can tell us what is wrong with him. The Chargers are mum. Gaither is mum. It would not surprise me one bit if this guy takes his $8 million guaranteed and retires. He seems like that type of guy. If he cannot be motivated by his teammates, coaches, or pride...what can motivate him?  We are three games into the season and he has not even tried to practice yet. It is really an amazing situation that the SD Press and fans are letting this guy off so easily. He is a joke at this point. Plain and simple. And it is really hurting the team. Maybe it will turn out that he truly has a crazy, debilitating injury...but the secrecy and weirdness surrounding it leads me the other direction.

Finally, third downs. The combination of our pass rush and secondary was overmatched and blown out on Sunday. They were 8-13 on 3^rd downs...and their drives were long and dominant. For a team that had done so well in this category in the first two games, this is a real bummer. Where is our new super-rookie Melvin Ingram? Where is Larry English? Again, maybe the Falcons are a really good team that played a really good game. But, uh, again...I am going in another direction.

Because the ANALYSIS is all about hope and positive vibes, I will leave you with this thought. The NFL is in total chaos. There are only three undefeated teams after week 3. The Patriots have a losing record for the first time since the Revolutionary War. Somehow, some way...the dismal Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders (teams we beat up on) won yesterday against “good” teams like the Steelers and Lions. Drew Brees and the Saints are 0-3. Who the heck knows who is good and who is not? Let’s do this, followers; let’s not panic. Let’s take one out of the Good Book of Norval:  “How to Behave, and What to Say” and chalk this loss up to the following reason:  “We did not execute to the best of our ability today. We have a lot of pride and we need to go back to the drawing board to work on getting the most out of the situations we find ourselves in. We need to give ourselves a chance at crucial points and take care of that ball”. Nice! There it is! All we need to do to be successful. I feel like I just got back from a Tony Robbins speech....or a U2 concert.

Look, we have two road games in a row now. A big one at KC and then at the winless Saints. What team comes home in a couple weeks...a team that has shown it can win? Or the one that sends me back to Disneyland? (Hint: I did buy an annual pass.)