JW ring a bell.

I think you are missing Dre Bly and of course John Lynch. He did go to the Pro Bowl last year.

The best player the Chefs have is that guy from Hells Kitchen. I think you should do it.
I have to respectfully disagree I think Lynch is a Super Star. If he goes to the Pro Bowl this year you owe me….

I said I don’t think the Chargers are a paper tiger…but I can see your point. I think that two lob-sided wins like what happened last year inevitably clears a little head space for Phylis and his merry men.

However, I see no reason that the Broncos can’t take two back from SD this year and even the table.

And they let that Donkey rapist keep his?

That’s just not fair.

here me say that SD is a bonafide contendor. First off NOBODY know how phylis is gonna come back from his surgery. A surgery like that usually takes a year to recover from, not just physically but mentally. Also losing Neal is going to be a big blow. Nobody seems to realize that. All the media and their slobbering over Sd fails to realize after he got hurt their running game was mediocre at best. Plus when LT could not dominate like has done it the past. In the 2nd DEn/SD game he did have over 100 yds but it was against a bad run defense and it was nothing like SD did to the Broncos in the 1st game. Plus their WR suck at best. Jackson is soooooooooooooo overrated its not even fummy. Chambers cant seem to get open consistently. Defensively eh… Their seconday is bad. Cromartie had a good season, but Peyton Manning got him into the probowl that with Minnesota’s piss poor coverage on the missed FG. Jammer is awful and they cut Mccree for eric Weddle. They will rue that mistake. Plus Clinton HArt couldnt catch a cold. See I am force fed this overhyped team and I take solace in knowing AJ smith is egomaniac whose house of cards are going to fall down. I cant wait. They probably would have been a Super Bowl team last year if they would have keot Marty. Thank God for an overrated GM. Bronco fans will be happy this year when Denver takes the divison.

I could not even comment on that KC losers post. NO FAIR!!!!!!!!!!! Man!! I guess that is what happens when you are day late and a dollar short.

I understand why Zappa wrote this article and it makes some good points. But, as much as we all hate it, the Chargers are a very good team. We pride ourselves on reason and logic at this site and, to that end, we must acknowledge that the Chargers are a great football team.

Which will make it all the sweeter when we sweep them!!!

I have watched this team. Outside of LT (i refuse to use LDT) their running game is suspect. If he gets hurt they are in trouble. When they needed someone to step up in the AFC title game nobody would or could. Now sure I dont like them, but to tell the truth I am ambivalent towards them. I dont care enough about them to even consider them a true rival of the Broncos. I tried to use real logical data. I am force fed this team so I get a first hand look at them. Too me they have regressed. They are not the 2006 version. They lack fire and discipline. Norv is not Marty. He is a better coordinator. Watch, every team he has ever coached keeps getting worse as he coaches them. I understand your point of view but from what I see and hear everyday I dont see them being that dominate.

I’m just saying they’re pretty darn good.

Maybe nobody stepped up in the AFC championship…but they were still playing in the AFC Championship game!

the bengals are the definition of a paper tiger. the picture above shows that. the talent on paper does not produce performance on the field, and they are soft when the going gets tough. the chargers annihilated us last season, so what does that make us, pencil scrapings? injuries, yes. wrong defense, yes. very “special” teams, yes. but to say we have closed the gap to where we can win the division, beating them in the process, i just don’t think so. they have proven it on the field, and they had a pretty rough start. since then, they have been consistently excellent and solid, something we are striving to do. they are one of the teams to beat in the afc, and i don’t think we are quite there yet. i don’t see them going away that quickly, they are young and talented. we will be a close second in the division, though, and with a few bites from the injury bug, we may be able to overtake them. but that would be lucky

Though I must admit my opinion is based on a lack of knowledge of their second string. Still, if I recall correctly, even LT didn’t have a 100 yard game against the Broncos until 2006, when we finally lost Wilson. The idea has been to shut down LT and let their QB beat us if he can. I still like that strategy. Phylis scares me, not. As a matter of fact, I love our match-ups up and down the board though I’m still worried about place kicker and punter.

They still haven’t got the monkey off their backs. All those great teams and they have never won the Super Bowl. As a matter of fact, If I remember they only went to one. There has got to be some desperation around their training facilities.

..but

I think Phyllis must have got in on the action Bowlen was offering Elway, because he OWNS the Broncos.

Over the last two years Rivers has gained 960 yds, and averaged 15yds/att, 69% completion while throwing 8TDs and only 2 ints. He has only been sacked 3 times and the average score of those games was 37-13 in favor of the bolts. Over that period his passer rating is 119.8, and last year alone it was 128.0.

Is he riding coattails? Is he an arrogant jerk who can’t keep his mout shut? Does it really matter? Since he showed up SD has been handing our asses to us. Be respectful of LT if you want, but I remember a string of years when he had his worst games against the Broncos, and that was with a stand-up, talented QB (Brees).

I don’t worry about Phyllis because I want to, but because I have to. For one reason or another, he has this teams number, and we need to have an answer for him before we will have an answer for the chargers…

I Googled egregiously wrong and it brought me right to your post. ;-)

Seriously as they send your Broncos to the glue factory, you gotta stop sniffin!

Backups with serious talent include Scott Chandler, Charlie Whitehurst, Legedu Naanee, Ryan Bingham, Anthony Waters, Brandon Siler, Paul Oliver and Carlos Polk. I would bet most of them could start on a lot of clubs, some like Waters, Naanee and Oliver I expect to start on the Chargers before too long. Note that McCree didn’t have enough to make it as a Charger, but still got eagerly snatched up by the Broncos.

Players with big time talent that you missed include our Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick, Pro Bowl guard Kris Dielman, Pro Bowl Tackle Marcus McNeill, Pro Bowl Nose Tackle Jamaal Williams, ILB Stephen Cooper (the heart of our defense, even with all that talent) and Pro Bowl LB Shaun Phillips. Add that to the six you mentioned: LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Shawn Merriman, Luis Castillo, Antonio Cromartie, and Darren Sproles and you have twelve elite players, ten Pro Bowlers and eight extremely talented backups.

LoNeal was a great player for the Bolts and a leader in the locker room, but the two games after he went down LT rushed for over 100 yds, averaging 7.7 and 5.6 yds per game. LTs production fell off only after he was injured, Pinnock did an excellent job as fullback, plus he can catch. The Oline is the real key to running the ball, and with Turner as coach we have something to turn to now if opponents stack eight in the box. But lets go through position by position:

Rivers vs. Cutler: Cutler has the edge in almost every category but Ws. Rivers is competitive and knows how to win and performs well under pressure. His fourth quarter rankings are much higher than any other quarter. Still I would give Cutler the edge right now, it will be interesting to see how Rivers does with Chambers for the whole season next year.

LT vs. whomever Denver decides to plug in
Uh, LT Duh. Might it be bad if LT went down? Sure, but the backups did pretty well to pull it out against the Colts in their own house.

SD WR vs Denver
Chambers and V. Jackson are big targets that really came into their own last year averaging about 100yds per game each in the playoffs. Buster Davis, last years first round pick had a slow start, but you could see potential at the end. Brandon Marshall is better than anyone the Chargers have, but you have to wonder about his mental stability and how his arm is going respond after the nerve damage he got whilst wrastling a paper bag (and they call the Chargers immature?). With Eric Parker and Malcolm Floyd, we are likely going to trade or drop a WR, this is the deepest the Bolts have been at this position in years. I’m going to call this a push.

TE
Uh Antonio Gates, duh. Come on the best tight end in the business, we have a great blocking tight end in backup and Chandler would start on almost any NFL team. So many of your arguments boil down to, ‘Yeah, he’s a stud, but how imagine if he gets hurt!’ Maybe that’s why the Broncos stick with those mediocre players, eh?

OL vs OL
San Diego has Hardwick, Dielman and McNeill, all Pro Bowlers. It’ll be interesting to see how your rook does, but the Chargers have a talented group. Oddly this is the one are we actually may see some depth problems if there is an injury; the only one you missed I think.

DL vs DL
Chargers by a long shot, even when Castillo has gone down our backups are awesome. The Broncos may be developing, but you are a long way yet. J. Williams knees are the only concern, and how do you replace a beast like him; his backups are good though.

LBs vs LBs
Chargers by a mile. Merriman is an athletic freak, Shaun Phillips often overlooked is almost as good. Stephen Cooper has turned into a monster in the middle, watch for him to make the Pro Bowl next year.

CBs vs CBs
I’ll actually call this a push, but because of your weak DL, you aren’t going to see the production that the Chargers do. Cromartie is another freak, two intercepts and a forced fumble in the playoffs, another in the Pro Bowl. Whoever said he only made it because of Manning should watch the three picks he made on him, two wouldn’t have been made by anyone else.

Safety vs Safety
Uh, come on you are taking our cast offs and Lynch is geaser. Weddle is solid and watch for Paul Oliver to start at SS and play in nickel. Big edge to SD.

And overall there won’t be the adjustment to a new offensive and defensive system this year. Chargers were playing much better on both sides of the ball at the end of the year, and even with tons of injuries kept the championship game close until the final quarter. Ron Rivera has the guys ball hawking, most turnovers in the league, watch for it again next year. Chargers go 12-4 and go to the Super Bowl this year, you heard it here first!

long 2 weeks of lack of MHR killed me and it seemed i missed a butt load of stuff! Great shot at the chargers, while i think they are a quality team right now i dont think they are TOP DOGS!

I think SD has one of the most tallented teams in the NFL. After their slow start last year I thought, “Wow! Norv did it!” But even Turner couldn’t suppress the tallent.

Norv won’t give up however. He will bring them down this year.

To respond to the Bolt guy, Denver wins the CB v CB without a dount. Cromartie is ok, but one season does not make a star. Lets see I would take Bly?Champ over Jammer/Cromartie 6 days a week and twice on Sunday. You dont know how Phylis is gonna be comming off the knee. Sure Phylis has more wins. But Cutler has a higher upside a better coach. Plus your team has the ultimate regressive coach in Norv. I never thought anyone could make Oakland worse, Norv did. Look SD went from 14-2 in a weak divison to 11-5. 9-7 isnt that far away. Get use to following Denver’s ;ead again. That is what the Chargers are good at. Always a bridesmaid and NEVER a bride

ESPN has been telling us how great the Chargers are for the last five years. Myself I reserve "great" for champions so at best they are great in the AFC west of 2006-2007. That’s not saying much.

Last year the Chargers equaled the Broncos 2005 mark of AFC championship loser. Good for them. Shanahan knew he needed more after 2005 and has almost flipped the entire roster since because he could see it was going to take more for a championship than just beating the Patriots.

While Denver has been rebuilding the Chargers have been getting cocky (while crying about other teams’ poor sportsmanship). The Charger’s problem is they aren’t drafting #1 overall any more and they’re finding it harder to fill the gaps. The team that was built on losing seasons is formidable but the depth isn’t the same as when they were drafting 25 picks higher each round.

What makes anyone think that San Diego, amidst a talent pool plateau, has a better chance of winning a Superbowl this year than they did in 2006 and 2007 when their chief completion (Indy and the Pats) are more accustomed to finding talent lower in the draft? They look about the same to me and as far as Charger teams that haven’t won anything but I am more of a Dan Fouts guy than a Phil Rivers guy.

Congrats San Diego on sweeping the Broncos two years in a row. Put that in your trophy case next to you 1995 Lamar Hunt. That’s all you have… other than your ESPN power rankings.

I think you’re refering to Darren Smith. He is sorry. Say “I don’t know Billy…” one more time you bore!!!

The truth is, it’s not just how good the players are, but who they are, which positions they are at, and how they fit into their system.

In that sense, LT, Gates, and Chambers are a fearsome trio. They play behind an excellent OL. I respect them a lot. I also respect the duo at CB, and the FSs as well. The LBs play the Phillips 3-4 scheme perfectly.

With respect, as much as I dislike Rivers, the Chargers are not a paper tiger in my book. They will be a nightmare to scheme against for our defense, and I would call our offense match-up against their defense favorable, but not by a lot.