Charger fans

[The Vatican Hitsquad]

I just didn't understand all the blabbering callign for Schott's head after last season, or even before, when the guy turned the team around in the first place. It was just blind bellyaching that blamed him for the loss in the first place. But even MORE bewildering was the notion that Norv Turner was in any way a suitable replacement (nevermind a better coach). And this isn't my Raider homer speakign from his disapointing (as I expected) stint in Oakland. He was horrible in Washington and when you look at both those jobs, in what imaginary world were people living in where they thougth he would improve on a 14-2 record in San Diego?

 

Enjoy Turnerball, Charger fans... you better pray you beat KC this week.

[McBoog]

See Sigline.

 

The Chargers have this division wrapped up

 

I really feel that the whole key to the Chargers success was not Norv as HC, but Cotrell as DC.

 

The offense played very well yesterday. Ball spread around by Rivers very nicely against a solid Green Bay D with a couple of "shut down corners". Moved the ball and put up yards and points. Norv also played the clock at the end of the game PERFECTLY going for the field goal instead of the TD. That is an in-game decision that gave them the best chance to win.

 

If you can blame Norv for the woes on the D, then I will entertain that. But the defense has looked abso-friggen-lutly HORRID the last two games. (Mayber Grossman did "lose" that game in San Diego after all ). I have no idea what Cottrell is doing or thinking! The BAD hire in this whole thing may be more him than Norv.

 

They have had NO pass rush, simple, unimaginative schemes, terrible tackling and an inability to adjust on the fly. I cannot believe how putrid the pass rush ahs been. It, and the missed tackles, are the single factor that has hurt this team. You force them off the field and give the ball back to the O, which very muched showed signs of life, that is a different game. After these three games, any Charger fan or player that would hang their hat on the defensive rushing stats is a MORAN. Why run on the Bolts when they can't stop the friggen pass?

 

I also still believe that it is not the fact that Marty is no longer the HC. All he was last year was a cheeleader. When he got involved in the game, they would lose! With the loss of both the OC and the DC, there was going to be a major coaching turnover anyway. He wanted to hire his brother for God's sake (a move he knew would piss Spanos off, NOT AJ). Many of the players, as it happened in KC, got tired of the Rah Rah, stuff. He molded a solid group of young players, and it was time for him to move on.

 

Do I still think they win the Division? Yes. Are they struggling, especially on D? Too much to be acceptable.

 

Do I still think they win it by default? No. But there is no other team in the division that you can clearly say is better. They are one game behind Denver, who they play in two weeks (and who plays Indy this week) and they host KC this week. Win those two and they are back in first (though winning in Denver is not a given). Then host Choakland before the bye.

 

Things are frustrating and need to be fixed, but I am not given up yet! Oh, and they get a break next week with KC at home!

[Doc Holliday]

It was a terrible move. You don't fire a coach that just went 14-2

 

 

Agreed.

 

You gotta feel sorry for Schottz. his whole career he has made teams overachieve and has almost been punished for it because he cannot win the big game. but he has never had a team good enough to win it all. he just makes them look like they can during the regular season. and the owners he has worked for have not realized it thinking he had the players and gotten new coaches instead of upgrading the team itself playerwise.

[The Vatican Hitsquad]

I also still believe that it is not the fact that Marty is no longer the HC. All he was last year was a cheeleader. When he got involved in the game, they would lose! With the loss of both the OC and the DC, there was going to be a major coaching turnover anyway. He wanted to hire his brother for God's sake (a move he knew would piss Spanos off, NOT AJ). Many of the players, as it happened in KC, got tired of the Rah Rah, stuff. He molded a solid group of young players, and it was time for him to move on.

Man, you are a homer till the end if you truly believe that.

[slickvick]

The Chargers will be fine.The AFC West is the worst division in football right now IMO.The Bolts will have a good chance to win it with a 9-7 record.

[McBoog]

Man, you are a homer till the end if you truly believe that.

 

They lost at Baltimore when Marty made the decision to go Ultra Conservative and sit on a small lead and lost in KC due to some goofy decisions and mental coaching errors (as well as a fired up KC team). Both were BIG games. Throw in the NE loss, and Marty just is not a big game coach.

 

You can't back me off by calling me a homer. If all is not well in Charger land, I point it out...Unlike most Faider fans. I never have been a Marty fan, so I may be jaded in my appraoch to the whole thing. I think the game has passed him by from an Xs & Os perspective, and without quality coordinators, he is not going to win many games. My opinion.

 

Both coordinators were gone! Do you not see that there were going to be some major coaching issues/transistions with this team anyway? Three games into a season and everyone panics. Too f'n funny to me. But hey, , I'm a homer, right?

 

Oh, by the way, congrats on last year's Super Bowl win, you scary pirate guys are just too Awesome! That's what, 41 in a row now?

[Hat Trick]

The Chargers will be fine.The AFC West is the worst division in football right now IMO.

 

Truth! Been awhile since anyone could say that. I was just giving McBoog a hard time.

[Doc Holliday]

I think the game has passed him by from an Xs & Os perspective, and without quality coordinators, he is not going to win many games. My opinion.

 

 

Yeah..it passed him by so much he turned a laughing stock team into a 14-2 team in 3 years.

 

Not saying you are wrong of course...I just cannot wrap my little brain around it.

[The Vatican Hitsquad]

Oh, by the way, congrats on last year's Super Bowl win, you scary pirate guys are just too Awesome! That's what, 41 in a row now?

41 is about right, and the Chargers have won how many Super Bowls?

 

Oh, riiggghhhttttt....

 

14-2 to this, talk about fading... and fast!!

[McBoog]

Truth! Been awhile since anyone could say that. I was just giving McBoog a hard time.

 

[McBoog]

41 is about right, ...

 

My point exactly! But that is for the other thread. Oh, killed any opposing fans in the stands this year? Just wondering if the Black A-hole has claimed any innocent victims yet this year.

 

And at least in the current era of football, the Chargers have something to fade from. Being good now is better than sucking now, but only if you are not a Choakland fan.

 

I figured the Bolts were about 11-5 this season. That should still win the division, if they learn how to tackle!

[DemonKnight]

Yeah..it passed him by so much he turned a laughing stock team into a 14-2 team in 3 years.

 

Not saying you are wrong of course...I just cannot wrap my little brain around it.

 

I think people are taking this "turned SD around" business way too far. It was solid draft moves, great assistants and monster personnel moves that turned this team around. Probably 10% Marty, IMO. He sure as $hit didnt have that kind of impact in his tenure as Skins coach.

[McBoog]

I think people are taking this "turned SD around" business way too far. It was solid draft moves, great assistants and monster personnel moves that turned this team around. Probably 10% Marty, IMO. He sure as $hit didnt have that kind of impact in his tenure as Skins coach.

 

Man, you are a homer till the end if you truly believe that.

 

 

(Just saving VHS the time)

 

 

I'm still glad Marty is GONE!

[DemonKnight]

Man, you are a homer till the end if you truly believe that.

 

 

(Just saving VHS the time)

I'm still glad Marty is GONE!

 

Ya, a Skins homer.

 

For the record I dont think he is a bad coach and was upset to see him dropped so unceremoniusly.

[Big John]

Man, you are a homer till the end if you truly believe that.

 

 

(Just saving VHS the time)

I'm still glad Marty is GONE!

He is a Redskins fan.

[The Vatican Hitsquad]

And at least in the current era of football, the Chargers have something to fade from. Being good now is better than sucking now, but only if you are not a Choakland fan.

In the "current" era of football, say the last 5 years .. how many Superbowls have the Chargers been in? How bout 10 years? Oh right.... one appearance, 13 years ago... how did that one work out for ya?!

 

Right.

 

But you go and keep on fading from that stellar playoff run last year the last 3 years.

[pseudolefty]

I concur that Cottrell's defensive schemes have been disappointing thus far. All the preseason banter about him adding new blitz packages to the defense was just that, "banter". The Chargers sat back in coverage most of the game yesterday, only rushing 4. The few times they tried to blitz, they got overanxious and were offsides on the hard count. Perhaps they noticed that Favre was getting rid of the ball quickly and taking 3 step drops, but still, the better strategy against that would've been to press the WRs and TEs closer at the line-of-scrimmage and still rush hard and get in Favre's face. And then when Favre did take longer drops, he had all day to throw. You just can't let a guy like that sit back and go through all his reads. Cottrell definitely needs to get more aggressive. He should take a few tips from his LB coach Rivera. I was hoping Rivera would've given Cottrell some tips on how to harrass Favre.

 

Regarding Turner, he's not a rah-rah guy, but I'd still like to see more fire and enthusiasm in a HC. Sometimes, you have to rally the troops and it doesn't appear that he's the type of guy who can do that.

 

I know LT's disappointed and he went silent yesterday instead of saying things he would regret. You know there are things eating away at the team and things are not right in Chargerland.

 

That said, it's still only 3 games into the season in a weaker division. We still have the talent. I like Shawne Merriman's fire in his comments saying

"We're the San Diego Chargers; this is not the way we're accustomed to playing. Period,” the linebacker said, his voice rising. “And dammit, we're going to fix it. I can't explain. This gets under my skin, because we're better than this – this is (garbage), and ain't none of us are going to take this around here. We're going to get it back this week, and we're going to fix it.”

Merriman echos the sentiments of the team that they're ticked off and they're going to work hard to get this thing fixed. Although Turner might not have the fire to kick some butts, guys like Merriman, LoNeal, and LT are going to fire up their teammates and get on guys to get it turned around.

[McBoog]

In the "current" era of football, say the last 5 years .. how many Superbowls have the Chargers been in? How bout 10 years? Oh right.... one appearance, 13 years ago... how did that one work out for ya?!

 

Right.

 

But you go and keep on fading from that stellar playoff run last year the last 3 years.

 

 

 

It is truly Pavlovian how you can get these goofballs to go off like this!

 

It would be more fun if it wasn't sooooooo easy!

 

Nothing like living in the past.

 

Like I said, I would rather have a CONTENDER in the PRESENT than to SUCK in the PRESENT.

[kingfish247]

The Chargers will be fine.The AFC West is the worst division in football right now IMO.The Bolts will have a good chance to win it with a 9-7 record.

You're entitled to you opinion but wow

 

Watch some NFC South or NFC West and you might think otherwise. The Chargers would win 12 games in either division.

[The Vatican Hitsquad]

 

It is truly Pavlovian how you can get these goofballs to go off like this!

 

It would be more fun if it wasn't sooooooo easy!

 

Nothing like living in the past.

 

Like I said, I would rather have a CONTENDER in the PRESENT than to SUCK in the PRESENT.

You're the one who had to qualify your statement with "current" in order to make your original statement about the Chargers success and the Raiders work.

 

A fan confident in their team, regardless of their current lack of success, doesn't have to draw a line in the sand as to what "the past" means and what "current" means in order to feel better about them.

[Doc Holliday]

I think people are taking this "turned SD around" business way too far. It was solid draft moves, great assistants and monster personnel moves that turned this team around. Probably 10% Marty, IMO. He sure as $hit didnt have that kind of impact in his tenure as Skins coach.

 

 

Personel moves by ownership are very important and S.D. brass did do that. but if you think Schottz was only 10 % of it watch them the next couple of years.

 

And as far as the Redskin job..no he had them only as a 8-8 team. although after he left they were worse the next 3 years. he only held the job 1 year cat.

[McBoog]

...Regarding Turner, he's not a rah-rah guy, but I'd still like to see more fire and enthusiasm in a HC. Sometimes, you have to rally the troops and it doesn't appear that he's the type of guy who can do that...

 

 

But is Bell-I-cheat a great motivator? Walsh, Parcells?

 

I think your point about the players thmselves, the team leaders, being mature enough to know when to take over that role.If this was the team of a few years ago, I would agree completely that he is not the guy for this team. I still think the jury is out.

 

I am VERY concerned about Cottrell, and could easily see him being replaced by Rivera by mid-season (once Rivera learns the 3-4 properly) is he doesn't get it fixed!

[mitpdub]

I don't think its been mentioned, but the fired Marty because of his playoff record and because he didn't get along with the GM. The Rivers/Brees QB issue lingered between them and the GM used the playoff loss as a reason to fire him. The problem though with firing him so late was that expecting Turner to hire a group of good assistants wasn't realistic. Their D has looked bad....has Cotrell ever had a top D?

[McBoog]

You're the one who had to qualify your statement with "current" in order to make your original statement about the Chargers success and the Raiders work.

 

A fan confident in their team, regardless of their current lack of success, doesn't have to draw a line in the sand as to what "the past" means and what "current" means in order to feel better about them.

 

I don't have to draw any lines in the sand. I have both joked and lamented on these boards about how much it sucked to be a fan of the worst team in the NFL for so many years. By the way, how does it feel now? I have forgotten, being that was the past and all!

 

As a Taoist, I still believe that living in the present to set up a future is better than relishing in what a has been, has done.

 

i.e.

 

I would rather have a CONTENDER in the PRESENT than to SUCK in the PRESENT.

 

Marty was fired as much for insisting on hiring his brother as DC and NOT considering anyone else. He knew that this violated the team policy for a HC and he refused to forward any other names. He was NOT fired by AJ, but by the team President, Dean Spanos. He basically put himself in a position to be fired since the Chargers had committed to keeping him another year. The people he was considering for coordinator jobs were either jokes or family members. He is as much to blame for getting fired as anyone! If he really had done his part, he would still be doing his rah, rah schtick on the sidelines, only with a team that had NO coaching. He knew he was done and wanted to go out looking good for future gigs.

 

Again, as a head coach, he was minimized last year and was more of a figurehead and cheerleader. Without a quality coaching staff, they were doomed! I truly believe that had Marty stayed, the Chargers were no better than 8-8 or 9-7 due to lack of qulaity coordinators that know the modern game of football.

 

This may not be the "quality" coaching staff that we had hoped for (I actually hoped for Ryan Jr out of Baltimore and not Turner), but at least you know you have an offensive mind that knows the system. I AM very concerned about Cottrell, we'll see how it shakes out! It is still possible Rivera gets the gig before too long if things keep going the way they have been on that side of the ball.