San Diego Chargers
Re-Focused: Ravens @ Chargers, Week 15
Football can be a funny old game. Given the 20 point margin of victory for the San Diego Chargers you’d assume they dominated the Baltimore Ravens in every phase. After all they picked up 145 yards on the ground, another 270 in the air, all while limiting the Ravens to just the one score before a garbage time Torrey Smith touchdown.
But as can be the case, the stats are misleading. The Ravens ran the ball far more effectively while producing numerous minimal gains for the Chargers rushing attacks, with San Diego’s rushing numbers greatly inflated by three runs that accounted for 73% of their rushing yardage. Indeed this game served to prove that good rushing can be pretty worthless when you can’t complete passes to move the chains or stop an opposing quarterback victimizing your overmatched cornerbacks.
That is what this game came down to in the end; one quarterback and one coverage unit being better than the other, and it’s got to be a big concern for the Ravens as they face the possibility of going on the road in the playoffs. Who knows, they may just have a rematch with San Diego to come this season.
Three to Focus On: Ravens @ Chargers, Week 15
Count me amongst the few glad to see this one remain on Sunday Night if for no other reason than to see if the Ravens can keep building towards the playoffs. Right now, they look like the favorite to take the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the first time in their 16 years in Baltimore. They need to win-out to guarantee that and to avoid looking back on the season wondering quite how they managed to lose in Jacksonville.
The Chargers are clinging on by a thread this year and could be mathematically eliminated from the postseason with a loss on Sunday night. Regardless, change seems inevitable for the Chargers after yet another disappointing season. Truthfully, the Chargers have wasted an incredibly talented roster the last two years when the AFC West was theirs to be won.
Despite their problems, the Chargers still represent a significant threat to the Ravens aspirations to be home for the playoffs. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the three matchups to focus on this week.
Re-Focused: Bills @ Chargers, Week 14
How times change. In Week 5, this matchup would have been a top-of-the-bill game between two division leaders boasting 4-1 records, a game to mark out early supremacy in the AFC. Nine weeks later and those same two teams sat at 5-7, in third place in their respective divisions, and were looking to keep their mathematical playoff hopes alive. In only two months, this game became an afterthought of a late kickoff. As the game played out, one team reminded us why they were division front-runners while the other left their fans scratching their heads looking for the drain that their early season form has run down.
For the second straight week, the San Diego Chargers took care of business in a clinical manner against a floundering opponent demonstrating the offensive prowess that eluded them for the middle two months of the season. But for Matt Prater’s heroics in Denver they would have been only one game out of first place in the AFC West right now. For the Buffalo Bills, this marked their seventh loss in eight games since that 4-1 start and a season of such promise has unraveled before them. The same problems of a defense lacking a playmaking ability and an offense only too willing to offer big plays to the opposition reared their ugly heads again and there is a sense that the Bills are back at square one right now. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Bills @ Chargers, Week 14
Two months ago, the Bills and Chargers looked like they would be playoff teams; both franchises sitting at 4-1. Since then, they’ve each lost six of their last seven games and are two games out of the playoffs with four games to go. It was injuries that doomed Buffalo’s season (14 players on injured reserve) and a supposed injury to Philip Rivers along with a few other starters lost (11 players total on injured reserve) that plagued San Diego to mediocrity.
Neither team can go back and change where their record is at now, but running the table from here on out for either team would result in a winning season. After what these teams have gone through, that sounds highly unlikely, but somebody has to win this game. Here are the matchups that will decide who gets to hold on to their dim playoff hopes and who will have to wait for 2012 for another chance.
Re-Focused: Chargers @ Jaguars, Week 13
With one team so dead in the water that they lost their coach, and the other team taking on water faster than the Titanic, there wasn’t much promise for intrigue coming into this game. For a brief while in the second quarter the Jaguars looked like they might again spring a somewhat improbable upset in a home Monday Night Football game, but, as they capitulated just before half time, their fate was sealed.
For the Chargers, this was a must win to keep alive their most slender of playoff aspirations in the AFC West now headed by Denver. Mission accomplished on that front and gaining the win while going from the West coast to the East can at least give them some hope that they have turned the corner.
With the Jaguars adrift at this point, San Diego really just needed to show up and put a few drives together to walk away winners, but they showed some of their best offensive football of the season as, behind a makeshift offensive line, their vertical passing game sparked back to life. Philip Rivers and his hoard of receivers were able to capitalize on a Jacksonville secondary gutted by injury to pick up some big plays off of play action that turned the game. This may have been a low-key affair but there were some noteworthy and alarming performances. Let’s take a look at who shone and who faded under the Monday Night lights. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus On: Chargers @ Jaguars, Week 13
While one of these teams just got their head coach fired for their lack of on-field production, the other may just do the same if the Chargers are unable to win in Jacksonville on Monday night. Barring a miraculous turnaround, Norv Turner’s stint in San Diego is probably over regardless. How badly the Chargers players want to keep him around will be evident this week.
Both of these teams played ugly, hard-fought games last week and came up short. Both losses could be considered highly demoralizing, with the Jaguars having the distraction of some dirty laundry being aired in public in regards to Jack Del Rio. Former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker was named the interim replacement and interim coaches are just 1-4 on Monday Night Football. The Chargers are recovering from a loss in overtime that eliminated their playoff chances in all but the most ideal of circumstances. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: Broncos @ Chargers, Week 12
There’s something very unique going on in Denver right now which has the Broncos riding a four-game winning streak all the way to relevance in the AFC playoff hunt. The Chargers’ last victory was against the Broncos back in Week 5 by a 29-24 score. San Diego outgained Denver by 143 yards and forced the Broncos to make a quarterback change at halftime and those ripples are still being felt here.
Indeed it’s been something of a 180-degree turnaround, with the Broncos winning 5-of-6 since Kyle Orton was benched (and since released). The Chargers are in the midst of their first six-game losing streak in 10 years. To say these two teams appear heading in opposite directions would be something of an understatement. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Broncos @ Chargers, Week 12
A lot has changed since these AFC West teams last played each other in Week 5. After Tim Tebow nearly led a comeback in that game, the polarizing quarterback has rode some strong defense and made plays in the clutch on his way to winning four of the last five games. The Chargers meanwhile, haven’t won a game since and are starting to sound ridiculous with their “Oh, we’ve been here before, we can do it again” reasoning about their record. Soon, San Diego needs to start winning games in bunches or they’re going to find themselves out of the postseason despite playing in one of the weakest divisions in the league.
With a win here, San Diego’s five game losing streak won’t matter much. They’d overtake the Broncos in the division standings and would have something to build on as they try to catch up to Oakland. A loss, however, would all but mathematically eliminate the Chargers. They’d need late-season collapses from Oakland and Denver, as well as winning out themselves but with the way San Diego has played this November, it would be less surprising if the Chargers lost every game for the rest of the season than if they won out.
Re-Focused: Chargers @ Bears, Week 11
Mixed emotions floating around Chicago as the Bears pick up their fifth straight win, but lose starting quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken thumb in the process. He will most likely miss at least the rest of the regular season, and the injury comes at a time when Cutler may be playing his best football. With the Green Bay Packers looking unstoppable, the 7-3 Bears find themselves in a battle for a wild card spot in the ultracompetitive NFC.
For the San Diego Chargers, time is running out on their typically magical month of November. Historically, the month where the Chargers make their playoff push, this November has been a disaster, as Sunday marked their fifth straight loss. Missing their best defensive player, as well as three-fifths of their offensive line hasn’t helped their cause, but if they can put together a late-season run, they still have a shot in the wide open AFC West. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Chargers @ Bears, Week 11
Four weeks ago, my feelings on this game were entirely different than what they are now. Since starting 4-1, the San Diego Chargers have lost four straight with Phillip Rivers looking like a vastly different player then the one who was a viable NFL MVP candidate a year ago. On the other hand, the Bears have won their last four, the last one being a convincing 37-13 victory over the Detroit Lions.
Despite their 4-5 record, hope is very much alive for the Chargers who only trail Oakland for the division lead by a game. Meanwhile, the Bears are tied for second place in their division with the Lions at 6-3, but both are looking up to the Green Bay Packers at 9-0. At the rate the Packers are going, anything but playing for a wild card berth would seem like wishful thinking for the Bears. Read the rest of this entry »
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