San Diego Chargers Need To Cut Their Losses, Norv Turner, A.J. Smith and Players

Let me begin by saying that I have been far more patient than many Chargers fans.  I guess I could be called a "Norv Apologist" for defending Norv Turner, his poor starts and his failing to win in the playoffs.  I have been drinking the Kool-Aid served from those "experts" who continue to say that Norv is an offensive genius and from the players who say things like, "I hope I play for Norv for the rest of my career."

Yes, I've blamed players, agents, injuries, the general manager and even the football gods for the Chargers' misfortunes over the last few years.  After all, they have won four straight AFC Western Division Championships.  Not too shabby, no matter how weak the division is.

After today's loss to New England, I'm dumping out my cup and retracting any words of support that I have ever given Norv, or for that matter, A.J. Smith (GM) and several of the Chargers players.

But wait, you say.  The Chargers only lost to the Patriots by three points!  That's better than most expected the difference to be.  It is true, I too expected the Chargers to lose to the Patriots today, despite picking the Chargers as I always do, as a loyal fan.

Honestly, if the Patriots had run all over the Chargers today, I would not be as upset as I am after witnessing what I saw.

Today, the Chargers had an opportunity to dominate the New England Patriots and run them off of the field.  The Chargers defense actually showed up and, for most of the game, made the highly-touted Patriots offense look like a poorly run scout team going up against the number ones.

If you just look at the stats, you would guess that the Chargers won in a landslide.  At least you would if you looked at most of the stats, not all of them.  Allow me to explain.  Let's start with total yards on offense.  The Chargers ended the game with 363 yards of offense.  The Pats.....179.  The Chargers had 23 first downs to the Pats.......15.  The Chargers were 7 of 15 on third down conversions, compared to the Pats.....3-12.  Are you getting the picture?

Let's go a little deeper. Neither team ran the ball well with a slight advantage going to the Patriots.  The Chargers scored touchdowns on two of four trips in the red-zone and the Patriots......two of five trips.  Here is my favorite, time of possession....Chargers 34:25.......Patriots 25:35

If you were to tell me the stats would be so lopsided before the game, I would have asked, "Where do I sign?"  Here is the problem with stats.  Stats do not equal points!  The Chargers have the number one rated offense through the first six weeks and only won two games!  Today was that kind of day.

Now, you may recall I mentioned that there was a stat or two that did not go in the Chargers favor.  How about turnovers?  Patriots 0.....Chargers.......four.  That's right, four, quatro!  Any way you say it, that's too many turnovers.

Then again, sometimes teams turn the ball over.  Quarterbacks throw picks, receivers or running backs get blasted and the ball comes out, and occasionally, the quarterback gets sacked as he is about to throw and the ball gets knocked loose (see Oakland vs SD).  None of those turnovers annoy me as much as three of today's turnovers.  That brings me to why I am ready to fire Norv, A.J. and several players.  Today's comedy of errors were an embarrassment to the Chargers and all of their loyal fans.

Okay, let's look at the three fumbles. 

Fumble 1:  Chargers tight end Kris Wilson caught a short pass on 3rd and 16.  He was gang tackled after about a five yard gain.  There was no way that Wilson was going to get a first down, but he didn't feel that way.  He decided to fight for a few more inches and got the ball stripped, deep in Chargers territory.  I like the effort, but I just can't help but flash back to Marlon McCree trying to score against New England in the AFC Championship game, fumbling the ball, and in turn, losing the game.  It's better to punt than fumble.  Be somewhat realistic.

Fumble 2:  (You'll love this one)  Rookie Chargers receiver, Richard Goodman, makes a nice diving catch for a first down, continuing a nice drive by the Bolts.  Being that this was Goodman's first catch ever, he was very excited.  He got up, and was kind enough to spot the ball for the referee.  But wait!  New England never downed him while he was no the ground.  A Patriot scooped the ball up and recovered the "fumble" for the Pats.  Again, he's a kid who caught his first pass.  It's no surprise that he wasn't thinking straight, but come on! You're in the NFL!!! They have to touch you now.

Fumble 3:  Philip Rivers threw a swing pass to Jacob Hester.  As several running backs did today, he dropped the pass.  The Chargers stood around as if the play was over, however there was no whistle!  The Patriots scooped up the ball and ran 50 yards the other way, only to be tackled by, you guessed it, Philip Rivers, at the seven yard line.  After further review, it was proved to to be a fumble and the Patriots ball.

Now, what do all of these fumbles have in common (especially numbers two and three)?  Lack of discipline and football IQ.  I blame Norv for the lack of discipline and A.J. for the lack of football knowledge.  You see, things like, play to the whistle, should have been understood long before the NFL Draft.

Let's move on.

You may have heard that the Chargers have struggled on special teams.  Well today, they actually did pretty well in that aspect of the game.  No huge run-backs is a nice change of events. The play that bothered me on special teams came after the Chargers first score of the game.  They were up 3-0 and decided to try a squib kick.  This is after they covered a punt quite nicely and had no reason to feel that they would give up a huge gain.  So, they kick a the ball to the Pats 43 and let Brady take over from there.  Mind boggling.

Next, the Patriots had the ball late in the first half.  They were driving into Chargers territory when Brady hit a tough stretch and had a 3rd and long.  With no receivers open and a strong pass rush on the way, Brady took a shot and threw it down field toward Branch.  The Chargers were flagged for pass interference and the Pats got a first down which led to points on the board.  In all fairness, the radio announcers said it was a bad call, but that doesn't matter.

On another occasion when Brady was about to get hit, he threw a deep out.  Chargers DB Antoine Cason jumped the rout and had clear sailing for a pick-six.  Oops!  He dropped the ball and the Pats maintained possession.

On the subject of allowing New England to maintain possession, how about this one?  The Patriots were on their half of the field when they were stuffed and a 3rd and 8 play was coming up.  But wait!  Garay, a Chargers defensive lineman, decided his feelings were hurt so he punched a New England player.  You guessed it....15 yards, and and first down for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Give me a break!  Yet another undisciplined play/player.

I could throw in several dropped passes that would have led to first downs, mainly by Chargers running backs.  I could also complain about Rivers fumbling a snap when he clearly got nervous when he read the Patriots blitz was on the way.  At least he recovered that one.  I could go into that stuff, but maybe those are just part of football.

How about this then?  The Chargers are in the middle of a miraculous comeback.  They have scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and are heading down to get into field goal range and tie the game.  Good ol' Norv calls a timeout to talk about the 45-yard field goal coming up.  They agree on the attempt and head out to the field to complete the comeback.  What was that snap count?  That's right...."False start on the offense" said the referee!  Now, Kris Brown, in his first game for the Chargers needs to step up and kick a 50 yard field goal to keep the game going, most likely into overtime.

The kick is up!!!!....and.......OFF THE UPRIGHT!!!  WIDE RIGHT!!!!!  PATS WIN!!!!

Or was it CHARGERS LOSE?

 Sorry New England fans, I can't say that I was very impressed with your Patriots.  They had a horrible first half on offense and really one long drive in the second half that was aided by a terrible penalty.  However, as usual, I was very impressed by the level of discipline the Patriots showed.  To me, that is the difference between a Norv Turner and a Bill Belichick.  It is also the difference between a Bill Belichick and an A.J. Smith, since Belichick takes on both roles in New England.

The Pats seem to always have hard nosed, non-flashy players who just play football and play it well.  They aren't dancing around or committing stupid penalties.  They know their job, do their job, and do it well.  They are satisfied with a W at the end of the day.

The Chargers, on the other hand, seem to have too many "I guys" who would rather run off at the mouth than run up and hit someone in the mouth.  Some players like to hit, but more times than not, they go for the big blast and fail to wrap up which sometimes leads to big plays.

On offense, the Chargers have weapons, but just can't hang on to the ball, and continue to stop playing before the whistle blows.  That is a Norv problem.

In all fairness, the Chargers are dealing with a tremendous amount of key injuries.  Then again, the Patriots have always been able to plug in subs and keep on winning.  That is an A.J. problem.

Now, I'm not sure that a mid season change would work or not, but I would definitely be looking for someone in the offseason.  Bill Cowher may be a nice fit as he could take over both roles.  He would never work under Smith as he is too strong willed and also friends with Marty Schottenheimer.

One way or the other, I'm stuck with my Bolts for another frustrating season.  I know they always start slow under Norv, but this year seems different.  With the improvement of KC and Oakland, I don't know that the Chargers can complete their annual comeback as in years past.  It's a shame.