BOLT ANALYSIS: MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

This past week was one of the most interesting in Charger history. We will get to the crazy, bizzarro-world football game in a minute. The first thing that the ANALYSIS must discuss is that the mellow San Diego media ignited a load of controversy by printing an article that emphatically stated that Norv Turner and AJ Smith would be fired at the end of the season. The author, Kevin Acee, has been with the Chargers for a long time. He was their beat writer for a number of years, often penning funny and insightful bits about players and the state of the team. This year, he was promoted to columnist, where for some reason he has become a flamethrower and an instigator. Maybe he thinks he needs to be sharp and cutting and have an opinion now?  For whatever reason, his (not very good) columns have been pretty harsh and in my opinion off the mark most of the time.  In any event, his article was so sure of itself, it left no room for argument.  The article not only said that Norv and AJ were gone, but it even named replacements for AJ’s job and the Director of Player Development position (or something that sounds like that). According to Acee, in-house guys Jimmy Raye and John Spanos are the guys who will move up. No word on head coach yet, but this is pretty meaty stuff. When, inevitably, Dean Spanos was forced to answer the article, he said that “nothing has been decided and only I make those decisions”. Rather than just holding his punches, Acee wrote another one deriding Spanos for not hitting the issue head on and again citing his “impeccable” sources for the story. Wow! This is something that happens in other sports markets all the time. But in mellow, mild, SD? No way. Whether it turns out to be true we shall have to wait and see. But, in my opinion it makes perfect Charger sense (read: oxymoron). This is the Spanos’ team. They have molded guys like Jimmy Raye and John Spanos to do this type of work. Why wouldn’t they keep it in the family? Why would they go out and get some big name or names to come in and take the team away from them? That has never been how they roll. The series of head coaches over the years bear that out. A big name coach like a Gruden, Cowher, Reid, etc. is not in the cards for these guys. We can speculate more on this later but the bottom line followers, the Bolts are in Spanos’ world...and we will continue living in it.

So, in the midst of all this distraction, the injury reports came out. The Chargers would be down 4 offensive linemen, three starters and a key backup. They would be starting Reggie Wells (just picked up) at Right Tackle, Kevin Haslam (undrafted rookie) at Left Tackle, and Rex Hadnot at Guard. With no depth, they had another rookie (Colin Baxter) backing up. This makeshift line for a team that had not scored an offensive touchdown in a couple of games. Pittsburgh came in with the #1 rated defense in the League. The Chargers had not won at Pittsburgh in the regular season since well before the birth of the ANALYSIS. All logic pointed to a beatdown, or at least a low-scoring affair where the home team embarrassed the Charger offense (again). But, that is why we watch the game, right?

The Chargers came out with a conservative, protective game plan (duh) and played smart. The defense was its typical tough self, playing well and winning the field position game. The punter kept pinning the Steelers deep, we were getting off the field on 3^rd down. Now, the offense struggled at times, let’s be fair. But as the first half went along, we did what we could to put them to sleep. A 51 yard field goal, a great double move by Denario Alexander for a TD, and another Novak field goal made it, incredibly, 13-0. If it wasn’t for some classic Charger time management problems, the half would have ended like that. But, they gave up the last drive and it was 13-3. For those who watched the game, I know you were thinking what I was thinking:  Well...another tough half where slowly we will give this thing back up. You were just waiting for that patented bonehead play that turns a good game into a loss. It had to happen, right?

Well, the opening drive of the second half was the best thing the Chargers have done all year. You know that Steeler coach Mike Tomlin laid into those guys in the locker room. They came out breathing fire, the crowd tried to get rolling. There was a 99% chance that the Bolts go three and out. But....oh my....what the Boyz did was put together nearly a TEN MINUTE drive. A thing of beauty that included 5 third down conversions and smart check down plays over and over. Even when they ran the ball on 3^rd and 13 (the right play) to set up a field goal....Ronnie Brown broke it for 17 yards and a first down. When Rivers hit Floyd on a little pass to make the score 20-3...you had to be impressed. This is what a good team can do. True to form, when teams do good things..more good things often happen. Big Ben throws a screen pass off the ass of his player and Jammer collects it in the end zone. 27-3 San Diego. The score got to 34-10 on another pass and catch of beauty between Rivers and Alexander and the Chargers cruised to victory from there. Throw in a great job by our defense...a fake punt!...and an interception by Bront Bird (another guy we cut before the season started) and there you have it. Best win of the year by far.

It is easy, followers, easy to start forgiving. It is too easy to say...wow, maybe we are not that bad after all. Maybe we are actually pretty good. Well, folks, we cannot do it. A win like this just makes me angry. Angry that when our team was healthy and complete we blew huge leads to the Saints and Broncos. Angry that we gave up a 4^th and 29 to the Ravens. Angry that Robert Meacham dropped the winning touchdown at the Browns. Angry that we were bumbling idiots against the Buccaneers. What the hell? Why is it that Norv can coach his ass off when all hope is lost? Why does Rivers put together a heroic effort when they have nothing to lose? How can three offensive linemen off the street outplay the huge contract players like Jeromey Clary and Jared Gaither and Tyronne Green. How can a guy who has never played for the team in Denario Alexander come in and look like Jerry Rice after a couple of games? How can Michael Spurlock, cut in the preseason, come back to have his best game as a pro against the toughest defense in the League. There is no answer. It is sports, baby. And it is why we watch.

So, where do we go from here? Does this team put together a run and finish 8-8? Does it matter now? The San Diego Union-Tribune tells us it will not matter. The newspaper says our coach and General Manager are done. All we are playing for now is pride, and a higher draft pick.  As the ANALYSIS has cautioned in the past....be careful what you wish for. How many of you jumped for joy when Bobby Ross got fired and we hired Kevin Gilbride? How about June Jones? What about Mike Riley? When Marty Schottenheimer was hired after a 1-15 season, what were you thinking? I bet you were not thinking Super Bowl. And when Norv took the reins, that decision was almost universally panned. Those people who scoffed at Schottenheimer somehow re-made their opinions and suddenly thought he was fantastic. It is all about winning, people, nothing else matters. Maybe Jimmy Raye and John Spanos will be winners....maybe not. Maybe the new head coach will create a spark...maybe not. We have three games to do some player evaluations and see how this team ends up. At least we know one thing, it will be interesting.