Chargers vs. Jaguars: Norv Turner Must Be Fired Immediately If Bolts Fail on MNF

If San Diego Chargers coach Norv Turner cannot find a way to lead his team to victory against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football, he should not be allowed to wake up as an NFL head coach come Tuesday morning.

I wish there was a way to sugarcoat that statement, but it's time to face the facts if you're the San Diego Chargers.

This team isn't going anywhere, yet again.

For a team that came into the season with playoff aspirations, and has had the talent to make Super Bowl runs in past seasons, Turner's job as head coach of this team has been sub-par at best.

If he cannot beat the 3-8 Jaguars on national television, it should be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Turner is on the hot seat and everybody, including himself, knows it, according to Barry Wilner of the Associated Press via MercuryNews.com:

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The biggest name on the firing block is Turner, who's under contract through 2013. Not only have the preseason AFC West favorites fallen apart with six straight losses after a rare strong start under Turner, but they have been undisciplined and have folded late in games. A quarterbacks guru as an assistant coach—just ask Troy Aikman how much Turner meant to his Hall of Fame career—Turner has not been able to snap Phillip Rivers out of a funk that has seen Rivers' performances plummet as the team nosedived toward the cellar.

While Turner has a tight relationship with A.J. Smith, the general manager who hired him after firing Marty Schottenheimer following a 14-2 season in 2006, the mounting losses and the manner in which they have piled up can't help Turner's case. Turner has gotten the Chargers to one AFC title game, but his playoff record with San Diego is 3-3. And his regular-season mark this year, 4-7 and dropping, tests his job security even further.

"I'm not oblivious to any of that, but it's not something that's going to be an issue for me and I'm not going to talk a lot about it over the next five weeks," Turner said. "As I said, I've been doing this a long time and I do know how to go about preparing for a game. We've gotten our guys prepared and that's going to be our goal to keep getting them prepared."

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Now, to be fair to Turner, he didn't force Philip Rivers into 17 interceptions and cause injuries to some of his major players, but he is the leader of this team and that's a responsibility that he cannot dodge.

We've seen teams overcome inconsistent quarterbacks and overcome injuries to win Super Bowls, so falling back on those crutches won't work much longer for Turner.

There is absolutely no reason for the Chargers to lose tonight against the Jaguars.

The Jaguars are the worst passing team in the league, led by rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert, with only 131.3 passing yards per game, and they average an abysmal 12.5 points per game.

The Chargers are simply the better team, even at 4-7, 1-4 on the road and on a six-game losing streak.

There are no excuses to lose this game, and the Chargers certainly can't afford another embarrassing loss on national television.

If they do lose this game though, which is not beneath them unfortunately, Turner should be fired immediately.