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LT


whomper
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:D Between LT's touchdown being called back for a defensive guy not reporting in on the play, and Gates being interfered with on a TD grab and then not cleanly catching a second TD... the dang chief game is killing my team. I understand not getting all 3 TDs, but I could really have used one of them. Now I have to sweat out tonights game. :wacko:

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:wacko: Between LT's touchdown being called back for a defensive guy not reporting in on the play, and Gates being interfered with on a TD grab and then not cleanly catching a second TD... the dang chief game is killing my team.

Just seems like that kind of year. I don't recall, ever in FF, when good matchups consistently seem to fall flat so often.

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Just seems like that kind of year. I don't recall, ever in FF, when good matchups consistently seem to fall flat so often.

 

No kiddin'! I was at the Rams game looking up at the out-of-town scoreboard (which I do frequently of course) and saw SD lighting it up and thought, "Man, Gates must have 25 points by now." Yeah.

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As I watched the game, my heart started to sink. The O-Line sucks, the rookie right guard is a project that was in a wide split passing scheme in college and is learning how to run block, Clary (RT) is pedestrian, Hardwick © is still out and Dielman and McNiel are just over-matched without real help from the center over. Until the O and D lines are fixed (once the strength of this team) the Chargers are one of the best middle tier teams in the NFL. They will beat almost everyone except the elite. No they are no longer in that class (nad it is NOT because of Snotty).

 

BUT, this does not hide the fact that LT is no longer "THAT GUY". Sure he has no help, and there was a time when the Bolts could pretty much tell the opposing D they were going to run left and you still couldn't stop them, but that time is gone. :D

 

I love LT and will always hold him in my mind as one of my favorite players of all time. The sad truth is that though he used to be able to do some of it on his own, he just doesn't really have "it" anymore. It was sort of like watching Emmit play for the Cardinals. If the holes were there, he still had the vision and juice to take advantage, he just didn't have the extra needed to make something happen himself.

 

I keep hearing some commentators talking about "there's some of the old LT, blah blah blah". Sure, you see it every now and then. It just isn't all the time.

 

The worst part is, there are a lot of parts on this team that need to be fixed now. Sproles will probably be gone after the year, and LT is pretty much an average back. With what needs to be done on the o-line and d-line will take away from the ability to draft the next great back for this team.

 

So as Rivers grows and this team becomes more "Coltesque" with the great QB and a stable of mix and match adequate RBs, the years of a dominating running game look to be behind us San Diego fans.

 

I was hoping for one or two more years, I knew the end was coming, it is just getting here too soon for a fan of the player as much as the team. :wacko:

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As I watched the game, my heart started to sink. The O-Line sucks, the rookie right guard is a project that was in a wide split passing scheme in college and is learning how to run block, Clary (RT) is pedestrian, Hardwick © is still out and Dielman and McNiel are just over-matched without real help from the center over. Until the O and D lines are fixed (once the strength of this team) the Chargers are one of the best middle tier teams in the NFL. They will beat almost everyone except the elite. No they are no longer in that class (nad it is NOT because of Snotty).

 

BUT, this does not hide the fact that LT is no longer "THAT GUY". Sure he has no help, and there was a time when the Bolts could pretty much tell the opposing D they were going to run left and you still couldn't stop them, but that time is gone. :D

 

I love LT and will always hold him in my mind as one of my favorite players of all time. The sad truth is that though he used to be able to do some of it on his own, he just doesn't really have "it" anymore. It was sort of like watching Emmit play for the Cardinals. If the holes were there, he still had the vision and juice to take advantage, he just didn't have the extra needed to make something happen himself.

 

I keep hearing some commentators talking about "there's some of the old LT, blah blah blah". Sure, you see it every now and then. It just isn't all the time.

 

The worst part is, there are a lot of parts on this team that need to be fixed now. Sproles will probably be gone after the year, and LT is pretty much an average back. With what needs to be done on the o-line and d-line will take away from the ability to draft the next great back for this team.

 

So as Rivers grows and this team becomes more "Coltesque" with the great QB and a stable of mix and match adequate RBs, the years of a dominating running game look to be behind us San Diego fans.

 

I was hoping for one or two more years, I knew the end was coming, it is just getting here too soon for a fan of the player as much as the team. :wacko:

 

:D I think Emmit had 9 tds that year

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:wacko: I think Emmit had 9 tds that year

 

He also had a big o-line that could move bodies and make some seams for him to run in. LT does not have that right now. He got stonewalled in KC because the guys in front were not making any holes at all. It was frustrating. When he is getting first contact 2 yards deep and still getting a yard or at least back to the LOS, then there is some hope. On the play where there was a small hole, he squirted through for the TD. Unfortunately, the O-Line numbnuts didn't report in as an eligible receiver and got a five-yarder for it, killing the TD.

 

To me it looked like the Chiefs just decided to stop the Chargers from running, realizing they couldn't do both. Once that was done, RIvers just picked 'em apart. They chose their death, and decided that it would be Rivers, not the run game.

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He also had a big o-line that could move bodies and make some seams for him to run in. LT does not have that right now. He got stonewalled in KC because the guys in front were not making any holes at all. It was frustrating. When he is getting first contact 2 yards deep and still getting a yard or at least back to the LOS, then there is some hope. On the play where there was a small hole, he squirted through for the TD. Unfortunately, the O-Line numbnuts didn't report in as an eligible receiver and got a five-yarder for it, killing the TD.

 

To me it looked like the Chiefs just decided to stop the Chargers from running, realizing they couldn't do both. Once that was done, RIvers just picked 'em apart. They chose their death, and decided that it would be Rivers, not the run game.

 

 

I hear where you are coming from but why does it seem when given the opportunity Sproles does more than LT ?

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I hear where you are coming from but why does it seem when given the opportunity Sproles does more than LT ?

 

Sproles is not an every down guy. At the end of last season in the playoffs after starting for two games, he was barely able to move. He is a strong, tough, faster than sh!t little guy that is hard to catch in the open field. His size make him ineffective as a blocker on pass plays, even when he picks up his responsibility. He has more steps per second than any guy in the league, looking like the roadrunner from the old cartoons. He is a threat to go the distance every time he gets the ball in space. HE IS NOT A BETWEEN THE TACKLES GUY, especially with the suck ass line the Chargers have right now.

 

LT is still a focus, earned from history rather than current performance. When he is on the field, someone is on him and they know there is a good chance the ball is going to him. When Sproles is on the field, he becomes just one more of the varied toys that Rivers has to play with. On Sproles TD, there is a better chance that if it was LT, there would have been someone shadowing him, but Sproles is just one more guy to get lost in the shuffle. RIvers saw the blitz, called the quick swing, and bang, Sproles turns a two yard pass in space into a long TD. Sproles is the fortunate recipient of being used in a situational role in a way that is perfect to his skills and Turner does a tremendous job with that.

 

LT's long catch and runs used to be more based on moving him to a match-up problem for the defense, usually getting him 1on1 with a d-end or middle backer with motion and formation, NOT bursting away from everyone like Sproles does. Without the dominating running attack, it is easier to key in on LT and keep him in check in the passing game. I am not sure his speed was ever LTs best asset. It was his ability to jump cut, turn on a dime and use one of the best stiff arms in the game to get the yards. I have seen many 60-70 yard runs by LT that would probably been 6 for a faster back. LT was the whole package in his prime and he is not in his prime anymore, but still serviceable. He would still be a potentially top 10 back with a decent o-line in front of him. He doesn't have that, and as I said before, he doesn't have "that" anymore either. He is more of a cog or tool now in this offense as opposed to being a weapon.

 

It will be interesting as a fan to see where the team goes from here. For a few years at least, I think the window has closed on the Chargers as being an "elite" team. Until they can get and stay healthy and re-build their lines, they will be the Cheetah that can't quite duke it out with the Lion, but gets their share of the meat.

 

ETA

 

The more Sproles is in a game, the more the opposing D starts to key on him and he becomes LESS effective. He is better used in the role he is in rather than being "the guy".

Edited by McBoog
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Sproles is not an every down guy. At the end of last season in the playoffs after starting for two games, he was barely able to move. He is a strong, tough, faster than sh!t little guy that is hard to catch in the open field. His size make him ineffective as a blocker on pass plays, even when he picks up his responsibility. He has more steps per second than any guy in the league, looking like the roadrunner from the old cartoons. He is a threat to go the distance every time he gets the ball in space. HE IS NOT A BETWEEN THE TACKLES GUY, especially with the suck ass line the Chargers have right now.

 

LT is still a focus, earned from history rather than current performance. When he is on the field, someone is on him and they know there is a good chance the ball is going to him. When Sproles is on the field, he becomes just one more of the varied toys that Rivers has to play with. On Sproles TD, there is a better chance that if it was LT, there would have been someone shadowing him, but Sproles is just one more guy to get lost in the shuffle. RIvers saw the blitz, called the quick swing, and bang, Sproles turns a two yard pass in space into a long TD. Sproles is the fortunate recipient of being used in a situational role in a way that is perfect to his skills and Turner does a tremendous job with that.

 

LT's long catch and runs used to be more based on moving him to a match-up problem for the defense, usually getting him 1on1 with a d-end or middle backer with motion and formation, NOT bursting away from everyone like Sproles does. Without the dominating running attack, it is easier to key in on LT and keep him in check in the passing game. I am not sure his speed was ever LTs best asset. It was his ability to jump cut, turn on a dime and use one of the best stiff arms in the game to get the yards. I have seen many 60-70 yard runs by LT that would probably been 6 for a faster back. LT was the whole package in his prime and he is not in his prime anymore, but still serviceable. He would still be a potentially top 10 back with a decent o-line in front of him. He doesn't have that, and as I said before, he doesn't have "that" anymore either. He is more of a cog or tool now in this offense as opposed to being a weapon.

 

It will be interesting as a fan to see where the team goes from here. For a few years at least, I think the window has closed on the Chargers as being an "elite" team. Until they can get and stay healthy and re-build their lines, they will be the Cheetah that can't quite duke it out with the Lion, but gets their share of the meat.

 

ETA

 

The more Sproles is in a game, the more the opposing D starts to key on him and he becomes LESS effective. He is better used in the role he is in rather than being "the guy".

 

Good in depth analysis :wacko: Thanks

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