Last season the San Diego Chargers were a league-best 14-2 before losing a very winnable playoff game to New England. With the most all pros in the league, no major player losses, and expected continued improvement by their young QB, it seemed safe to project them as one of the league's best teams again this season. And virtually all of the "experts" did, putting SD on top or as one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the league.
Unfortunately, their coach had long feuded with the headstrong General Manager, and despite the team's exceptional regular season play, the GM refused to extend the coach's contract and then fired him during the offseason, weeks after his natural replacement(s); the offensive and defensive coordinators, had each left for head coaching jobs in other cities. This lead to a last minute coaching hire, assistant coach shuffling, and general confusion and mayhem during the off season.
Plenty of people still said they'd be a top team, and when they beat the defending superbowl losers, the Chicago Bears, on opening night, all seemed well. Then last week SD went to NE and got steamrolled. Not much offense, no running game despite having last year's league MVP at running back, and a defense that seemed uncoached. New England relentlessly dinked and dunked quick little passes to each side, racking up uncontested 6-10 yard gains at will, and when the defensive backs eventually crept up closer to the line of scrimmage, New England periodically, and quite predictably, lofted a longer pass down the middle for a big gain and/or a touch down. It wasn't just that NE beat them, it was how easily they did so, and how simple was the offensive scheme they used for the job. San Diego's secondary is not the strength of their defense; they have a ferocious front seven, but the coaches seemed to have no idea how to use them. They didn't rush heavy and cover tight to gamble on pressure and a quick stop, they didn't zone blitz and mix up their coverage in crazy ways, and they didn't put everyone in deep coverage to force NE to beat them with lots of risky short passes between defenders. SD just sat back in a basic defense, doing nothing to act and very little to react, and seemed surprised when the best coached team in the league, helmed by one of the best QBs in the league, with the best receivers he's ever had, picked them apart.
In light of that, I greeted most predictions that SD would win easily this week on the road in Green Bay, and that Tomlinson would have a break out game, with a lot of skepticism. The game wasn't on TV here, today was the first day I was able to sleep late since last weekend, and the only early game on TV here, SF @ Pittsburgh, was sure to be a rout I had no interest in watching. So I slept until noon, woke up and spent an hour reading some stuff I had to read, and then turned on the TV for the late game, with my eyes on the score ticker. And I was in no way surprised when I saw
SD 24 - GB 31, with a bonus fact that Brett Favre had thrown for a bunch of TDs.
San Diego's certainly not doomed; their first 3 games were all against likely playoff teams, two were on the road, and no one in their division looks any good this year. Plus with their entirely new coaching staff and changed schemes, it's expected that they'll start slowly and improve over the year, as the players learn the new plays and assignments. That being said, there's no way anyone can still include them amongst the league's elite, and given their record last year and the talented players on the roster, that's unacceptable.
On the bright side, Oakland's already so bad that their second home game wasn't sold out, thus allowing me to see a good Cincinnati @ Seattle game instead of the local market Cleveland @ Oakland stinker. On the brighter side, this fall I have the least free time to watch football (or blog) I've had during any fall in my adult life, and with SD stinking it up I'm feeling even less reason to pay attention to the NFL than usual. Much to the relief of those of you who read this blog and give a rat's tin shit about absurd American professional sports leagues.
Labels: football
