BOLT ANALYSIS: AT LEAST WE AIN'T THE JETS

Hope you all had (or are having) a great holiday. At the beginning of each season, it is a fan’s rite of passage to look over the upcoming schedule and make some predictions about the games. The only thing consistent about these preseason prognostications are how inaccurate they usually area. A few years ago, the Chargers looked weak coming into the season and faced the then-powerful NFC East. They proceeded to beat the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins that year. Who knew? This year, when the schedule came out, you saw late season road games against the Steelers and the Jets and you figured those would be two tough losses. Well, who could have predicted that both these teams would have tanked massively and would lose to the hapless Chargers? But, it happened. Yes, Virginia, the same Charger team that was demolished at home by Carolina a week ago. That is why we watch sports I suppose.

The Jets are clearly the most dysfunctional team in football.  The Tim Tebow experiment was a joke. Either let the guy play or don’t. They kept him as a high-priced distraction to mentally fragile Mark Sanchez and truly screwed both players up. A few years ago, the Jets were the chosen team...with a brash head coach and a room full of ballplayers. Well, they are in utter disarray now. We think we have it bad....not quite this bad. The Chargers had 11 sacks last Sunday! 11! That is truly an amazing stat. But it also shows you how much of a collective head game football is. There are two pro-Bowlers on the Jets O-Line. The Chargers were starting three rookies and a second year guy on defense. Yet...there it is...11 sacks.  Rookie Kendall Reyes had 3.5 by himself. But, sacks come in bunches. When the defense is teeing off like that, it can get ugly and spiral out of control. That is what happened to the Jets and their rookie QB from Alabama.  

The Chargers did not really move the ball well, did not run well, only attempted 22 passes and completed 11 of them. Their only score in the first quarter was a punt return for a TD by Michael Spurlock. After some mishaps, they found themselves down 14-7. Ryan Mathews broke his other clavicle and is out for the year. This former first round draft pick’s career is on the edge folks. He regressed tremendously this year, and I think the high hopes for him are pretty much gone. But, with the defense playing so well, it just took a couple of breaks and a couple of turnovers and the Boyz turned a 14-7 deficit into a 27-14 lead. A pair of touchdown passes (to Alexander and Gates) and the Bolts put away the Jets. It was nice to see Alexander beat Antonio Cromartie for the score. All the bad taste you had in your mouth related to the Jets (LT and Cromartie going to them...the playoff losses to them) kind of just have fizzled away. This is just a bad team now, LT has retired in a sad way, and all of their previous swagger has dissolved.

But, we are not here to talk about the Jets. What does this game mean to us? Realistically, it probably did not help us much. Now, we face the prospect of a season closing game (blacked out for sure) against the hopeless Raiders. We will likely win this game. That will put us at 7-9 to end the season. 7-9....all that gets us is a kick in the ass home for the playoffs and a bad draft pick. Had we lost to the Jets and Raiders...we would likely be in the top 5 at the end of the year, with a chance to get a real difference maker. Maybe a left tackle who could block? Now we are in the middle of the draft. Oh well. Cannot worry too much about Draft picks in December. As you all know, we are looking at a new coach. The rumor mill has been beefing up that our pick may be Bruce Arians from Indianapolis. Arians was Pittsburgh’s coordinator for years before moving over to the Colts to work for Pagano. When Pagano was diagnosed with cancer and stepped down for most of the season, Arians has run the team. Well, they just made the playoffs, are 10-5, and are playing great. How much of this is Andrew Luck? Don’t know. But I do know that the Colts were 1-15 last year. That is one spectacular turnaround. Will this guy be our coach? Don’t know, but he certainly fits the profile. He is friends with the other Pagano (our defensive coordinator), he is a team-related guy and not a power broker, so he can work with the Spanos folks. Makes sense. We shall see.

As far as players go, we will see another big changing of the guard. I have to believe they will dump Jared Gaither and his worthless work ethic. I have to believe they will not re-sign guys like Quentin Jammer and maybe Takeo Spikes and Shawn Phillips..cornerstones of the team who may have lost a step or two. I believe they will re-sign guys like Antoine Cason and Louis Vazquez. I believe they will try to sign Denario Alexander. I believe their main argument will be the Philip Rivers is still a great quarterback...he just needs protection. They will go hard after some offensive linemen and try to shore up that problem. Is that the answer? Well, anyone who has watched Philip the last few years has to believe it is deeper than that.  But, my guess is that out of respect to the franchise QB, they will take this tack. They also will need to get a new running back. They need to have a true backup to Mathews (who may not be a backup for long). Ryan will get another year, for sure, but he is too fragile physically and mentally to carry the load. He just does not have it in him. The Chargers will build around their youth and strength on defense. The D-line looks good...Reyes, Luiget, and Cam Thomas are very good young players. Donald Butler and Eric Weddle are guys you can build around. They need to find a strong corner and another linebacker...but the defense is not far away.

But...that is enough for now. Suffice to say...many changes coming. Although we have known it for a few years, the top team we had from 2006-2009 is LONG gone. Whatever happens next weekend is really immaterial at this point. Let the changes begin.

Happy New Year to All! Here’s to a great 2013.