BOLT ANALYSIS: ACCEPTANCE

“Irrelevance”

1. The quality or state of being irrelevant.

2. Something irrelevant.

I’m not sure how many of you actually watched the disgusting fare that the Chargers and Browns served up on Sunday. I hope not many of you. But, for those who did, you saw the discernible shift of a football club from somewhat bad to complete irrelevance. The 7-6 loss to the 1-6 Cleveland Browns, was, I think, the end of the Norval Eugene Turner era and....maybe.....the beginning of the end of the Philip Rivers era. The loss to the (bad) Saints was tough, the epic meltdown against the (good) Broncos was bone crushing, but the loss yesterday to the Browns cemented the fact that we are Bad. Period. Point Blank.

The ANALYSIS strives to uncover the truth, and tries not to hide behind the massive cliché machine that is the Charger Management. There is but one truth here, and the ANALYSIS holds this truth to be self-evident:  Cast away any remaining belief that we are still a competitive team with a chance to win playoff games. Not now, not soon. Now is the time, followers, to join hands and hope for complete destruction. It is never easy to root your team to a loss, but we must show tough love. We must take a long term view. A 6-10 finish or worse gets Norval fired. Maybe 4-12 would even get AJ fired. We need a scorched earth policy. I do not want this team to limp to a 8-8 finish. The model is broken, the parts do not work.

You are probably thinking that the ANALYSIS has devolved into one of those shrill, jackass bloggers who pollute the airwaves with rubbish and bad spelling and punctuation. NO! (and I never use exclamation points). No...We strive for the truth around here. And all you need to know is 7-6.

Yes, it was raining yesterday in Cleveland. And it was cold and looked miserable. They were tough playing conditions for sure. Both defenses played well all game...making the opponent work hard for every first down. But, the tone was set early when the Chargers could not convert a 4^th down and 1 and then gave up the only touchdown of the game early. When Mathews fumbled again, you just knew it was going to be a long, long afternoon. That 7-0 Browns lead seemed to last forever, despite the fact that the Bolts defense was quite stellar, giving Philip and the offense multiple chances to score points. But, Gates drooped a 3^rd down conversion pass, Philip airmailed a couple of additional throws, and Robert Meachem showed you why he is the single worst free agent acquisition of the season by dropping a big gainer (at least) and likely touchdown right at the end of the half. 7-3 at halftime.

The Bolts were slightly less bad in the second half but could not score. Bad play calling and terrible execution by Rivers and receivers left just a battered Mathews and screen passes to Ronnie Brown as our only options on offense. The Bolts put together a couple of drives that looked promising after they had drawn within one point of the Browns, but they all ended the same way...Rivers looking clueless and nervous in the pocket and receivers not getting open on third downs. When the last desperate pass went skittering over the wet turf, there was not even a feeling of disgust....it was....simply.....acceptance.  Acceptance that this team is now going to be labeled as one of the bad teams in the League. Acceptance..which is the last stage of grief.

Now, the ANALYSIS must give props where they are due. After that first weak TD allowed, the defense played great...not allowing many conversions...no big plays...sure tackling. Butler and Weddle again stood out. Corey Luiget looked good. But the offense? Oh, the woeful offense. Philip looks awful and our receiving corps is miserable. I really hate to say it, but I don’t think the Rivers we hoped for is there...and he never will be. After last year’s body of work and this partial season, there is no other conclusion than to say that he does not have it. He seems to have lost his edge mentally...yelling at teammates, bad body language, no leadership. In addition, Mathews simply cannot get out of his own head and Norv keeps taking him out when things matter (the last drive, the 4^th and 1 play, etc.). This is the guy we let Sproles go for? And you won’t use him. Once again, he seems to be terribly mis-managed.

So, folks, it is a sorry affair. Later in the night you saw the Broncos demolish Golden Drew and the Saints and stamp themselves as the best team in the AFC West and one of the top teams in the conference. There is no question who the best team in our division is. I looked at this string of games in last week’s missive: Cleveland, KC, Tampa..and thought that looked like 3 wins. Guess I was wrong.

People...as we move deeper into irrelevance, let me just say this again. I know it hurts, but you must hope for the worst. Scorched earth, baby. It’s the only way.