I’m stoked you did this. I kept losing the original post. You’ll probably have more staying power in the recommended FanPosts, since the Front Page gets a lot of action.

I’ll never think you’re a jackass, as long you don’t start talking about Donkeys. ;-P

That other post got out of control. Hopefully we can be better hosts this time.

Since Norv took over as head coach, no other team has more playoff wins without a Super Bowl victory. Also, the team is undefeated in December under Norv.

Turner is basically the anti-Marty Schottenheimer. The team starts weak, in games and the season, and ends strong. Is that preferable to starting strong and ending weak? I think so.

Yes my head just exploded. I don’t want to talk about the 4-3.

I think the Chargers were shopping for a DT on the trade market for a week before realizing that there were none out there for a decent price. They signed Ian Scott and needed to cut somebody to make room. Cutting Hart makes sense. He makes starter’s money, but has only been on the field for about 10-20% of the plays this season (and it gets less each game). He’s old and there are young kids behind him that cost less and are probably more effective. When your defensive line is falling apart, you can’t really afford to keep 6 safeties on the roster and Hart was the one that everyone would be most willing to part with.

but those take a while and I’m busy. It’ll be here tonight or tomorrow.

CBs Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromartie – Cromartie is taller, faster, quicker and has better hands out of these two but Jammer is a much better corner. Quentin is one of the most physical corners in the league, never bites on a fake and generally shuts down every receiver he faces. Although he has hands of stone, he rarely gets thrown on anymore because teams don’t want to waste the opportunity. I’m really not sure why Cromartie’s not better than he is. There are theories he’s trying just for picks, that he’s afraid of contact or that he’s just stupid. I tend to think he needs more film study.

Safeties Eric Weddle and Steve Gregory – Weddle may be the best player on the Chargers defense at this point. He always knows where the play is going and is usually the first one to hit the ball-carrier. He sometimes over-extends himself by trying to make up for the faults of the other players around him, but we can’t blame him for that. Gregory is an average safety in every way. He’s pretty good at coverage, is undersized (not a big hitter) and isn’t what you’d call a “playmaker”. He’s okay.

ILBs Stephen Cooper and Kevin Burnett – I like this pairing a lot, but Burnett (a FA signing) is still growing into the defense. Cooper is a great tackler and is good at man-coverage, but is very weak in zone. Burnett was billed as a “coverage LB” but has proven to be great at just about everything asked of him. Teams love to throw at Cooper in zone, but that’s really the only weakness of this pair.

OLBs Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman and Larry English – Merriman is average at best with his bum knee and groin. Phillips is good, but not the amazing pass-rusher he was made out to be two years ago. English is kindof the anti-Phillips. They’re both good pass-rushers, but Phillips is like a DB in coverage whereas English looks like a DT trying to cover. Sometimes their indecisiveness leaves them standing around doing nothing. If Merriman can demand double-teams, this becomes an A+ group.

Marty followed Norv as coach of the Redskins and was then fired after one year. That was the same season that Norv was the OC with the Chargers. So it very nearly happened.

Still, wouldn’t want to try it now. Marty and our GM don’t get along, and you’d have too many cooks in the kitchen.

Kindof an odd term for San Diego fans. San Diego, because of it’s great weather, turns into a spot that people move to when they get money. Or a place that people go to for college and stay. So because of that, it’s become a melting pot of fans from all over the country. There use to be an Eagles bar near my apartment in San Diego that proves that point.

Some of these fans of other teams take the approach of “I’ll root for the Chargers as long as they’re not playing my team.” What they don’t say, but what’s implied, is that the Chargers also need to be a good team for them to root for them. So yes, some of the fans that might normally come to the stadium won’t because the team isn’t doing so great at the start of the season.

Also, San Diego has been hit particularly hard by the economic recession. It’s an area where people had a lot of “fake money” that disappeared with the stock market, and where the real estate market spiked and dropped like no other place in the country. The county and the city are flat broke, and many of it’s residents are either struggling to make ends meet or moving away to a less expensive part of the country. That’s not helping ticket sales either.

Anyways, ESPN will end up buying whatever tickets they need to to lift the blackout. With a game that late, in Southern California, they really can’t risk having most of SoCal being blacked out. I’m not too worried about it.

Also, and I shouldn’t be saying this, but games against weaker opponents tend to sell out quicker and easier. Who wants to spend all that money when there’s a good chance you’re going home disappointed?

I think any coach that’s the head of a struggling team is going to hesitate with his answers. He wants to make sure he’s not throwing anyone under the bus. I don’t know that I’d call him in-eloquent. On the contrary, I think he’s very intelligent and that comes across when he speaks.

A lot of people do listen to him, take in his body language and believe that he has a very difficult time motivating and leading the team. I couldn’t tell you whether or not that’s true. His voice/body language seems to be the same as any coach who doesn’t like dealing with the media (Belichick comes to mine).

I think the major problems the past few years has been early-season injuries to some of the most important players on the team, and specifically the defense.

I wouldn’t judge a coach based on how he acts in a press conference.

I think Nolan has the ability but was screwed over by the Alex Smith pick. I think Norv has the ability but has been screwed over by injuries mostly. This is Norv’s 3rd year and the 3rd slow start. Here’s why:

Year 1: Players were still loyal to Marty. Wouldn’t buy in.
Year 2: Defense was built around Merriman and he’s gone.
Year 3: Defense was built around Williams and he’s gone.

That’s my opinion anyways. The Chargers are being patient with Norv, but if the Chargers don’t make the playoffs this year they will most likely make a change at HC simply for the sake of making a change and starting fresh. It’ll also be a good excuse to let go of players like LT, that shouldn’t be involved in any “rebuilding” efforts.

Broncos County?

I went into this extensively in the first Q&A (see the link in this post). I think the answer is both. The guy just has too many miles on his legs to be effective and/or stay healthy.

There is no future at the RB position. Sproles is not the answer and Michael Bennett is older than LT (albeit with significantly less mileage). I think the starter for the Chargers next year will be drafted in the first round.

1. One thing that all Chargers fans know is that ever since Marty took over, and it’s continued with Norv, this team always gets better in the second half. Nobody is really sure why, but the Bolts may be the best team in the league at half-time adjustments. Really, if the Chargers have a lead or are tied at halftime, they cannot lose. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen often enough.

2. They’re trying to redesign the scheme to fit the personnel, but the fact is that these players were meant to be second (and sometimes third) stringers and don’t have the talent to be effective no matter how much you scheme. The Chargers have been playing more 4-3 in the Nickel to try to help out whichever young kid is playing DT. They’re been dropping guys in coverage to try to help with the poor coverage. However, all that does it open up other holes.

So it’s not the answer you’re looking for, but right now it doesn’t look to be one that you should be afraid of.

The Chargers don’t like unproven head coaches. Mike Riley damn near ran the team into the ground in the short time he was here. Still, an interesting thought…..are there any hot coordinators out there that the Chargers would be willing to hire?

Jason Garrett would probably work. He reminds me of Brian Billick, who I always thought was great. I’d take Sean McDermott from Philly, who reminds me a lot of McD. Paul Pasqualoni will probably get some talk around the league. Greg Manusky has ties back to the Chargers from a few years ago. Let’s rank them in terms of who I’d like the most.

Sean McDermott (McD II)
Jason Garrett
Greg Manusky
Paul Pasqualoni

Have you been on vacation?

I’d say because the California coast, particularly San Diego, and Colorado are two of the best places in the country (i.e. the people who like living in one place may also like living in the other). It’s a funny thing… I knew a lot of Californians growing up in Colorado and I run into a lot of Coloradans living in San Diego. Oregonians seem to show up frequently in both places, as well… I guess it could be just the circles I run in.

I think you’re referring to the dark days when the Chargers were really bad. During those times it wasn’t so much that there are a lot of Broncos fans in San Diego (which, there’s a few because people move from Denver to sunny SoCal), but a lot of it were people taking a weekend trip away from the cold to see their team play against the Chargers.

Qualcomm isn’t good or bad, it’s just horribly outdated and there’s nothing around it except for IKEA. They will get a new stadium in San Diego within the next two seasons or else they’ll move to Los Angeles (technically, to the City of Industry) where a brand new stadium is being built for whichever team wants to offer up part-ownership to the guy building it.

There’s lots of talk lately about the new stadium being built in north county, which seems to be the last available option for the team to stay in San Diego. I see it happening and I bet it’s ready for the 2011 season.

Seriously, when all the media were harping on about his shag, especially in 05 when it was all about QB’s being pretty, I was diggin’ Jake. A man from the mountains.

What a terrific Broncos beard. I’m trying to contribute to the cause as well…

Some questions for John:

1. What are your thoughts on AJ’s “stand pat” offseason? Is this a good description of it?

2. More in depth on question 1, was there any particular player that you coveted this year? Any draft picks in particular? What would you have thought of grabbing Knowshon in the first if Denver had passed him up?

3. Since you are inviting questions on Norv, could you describe the dynamic between Norv and AJ for us? do these guys complement eachother? Conflict? If you have time, could you toss in a comparison to the Marty/AJ dynamic?

It’s what you or I would do looking at those mis-matches from the Charger’s perspective.

Doesn’t the “battle in the trenches” always have a big impact on the outcome of the game? That’s practically where each game is won or lost.

I think the Chargers will throw a lot of quick passes and screens to neutralize Denver’s defensive front 7. I have no idea how they’re planning on getting to Orton without some serious blitzing going on.

Here’s the map at their web site: http://hazardcenter.com/contact/

Have fun!

5 for the Broncos, 2 for the Chargers.

The thing that’s surprised me the most is how healthy he’s remained. Often times rookies have a difficult time staying healthy because the hits are much harder and the opposition is much strong and faster. Their bodies just aren’t ready for it. Moving from Canadian college football to the NFL is like jumping ten levels, and he’s taken it all in stride.

He has the size, the work ethic and he’s just a flat-out good kid. He’s one of the best workers on the team and was the day he arrived. With his speed and agility, I don’t think there’s any question that he has potential to turn into Jamal Williams. I expect him to be playing at a level similar to that by 2011 unless he faces some major setback (like a major injury).

You’ll have at least a decade of him being a starter in the league to make it up to him. The next time you hear somebody talking about Rivers being a dick (and it happens a lot), please try to correct them.

How has SD played against blitzes? Do they do a good job picking it up? Has Rivers been able to take advantage?
I read that Brees has a 115 QB rating against a blitz. Do you think that Rivers is better or worse against a blitz than a base defense?
I think Rivers is probably a little better against a base defense, but I think every QB not named Brees is in that same boat. I don’t have the stats though, it’s just an assumption. SD plays great against the blitz because of Rivers though.

He’s similar to Dan Marino or Tom Brady in that he’s not fast, but he never seems to get sacked because he does a great job of feeling the rush. With our offensive line in shambles for most of this season, he’s been jumping around the pocket on seemingly every play to avoid the sack and complete the pass. The one thing I will say is that an effective rush eliminates down-field throws, which is Rivers’ specialty.

Neither team has shown an ability to run a clock grinding "4 minute" offense. Is any lead safe in this game?
It is! If LT is actually healthy, the Chargers will be much better at grinding out the clock. Gates helps to do that in a big way, but a running game needs to be there. Also, SD’s run defense has been so poor that Denver should be able to quite easily run the clock down if they have a late lead.

Sproles returning kicks is probably SD’s most reliable weapon. If Denver squib kicks every kick-off and punts out of bounds each time, do you think "we’re getting good field position" or "damn, we needed 7 points from the kicking game and we’re not going to get it"?
Can I think both? I think I’d go with the good field position, because it helps the offense and the defense. Also, the offense is the strength of the Chargers.

After going over the comments below, it’s obvious that the Broncos fans are overrating Sproles’ value in the offense. He’s averaging just 2.4 yards per carry, so he’s not a real option at running back. He’s a third down running back. Even as a receiver he hasn’t been anything spectacular this season. He’s averaging less than 4 catches per game and 13 yards per reception (which is skewed by a 81 yard screen TD against Oakland). He’s averaging 0.5 TDs per game. In the offense, Darren Sproles is Reggie Bush (except the Chargers never line him up as a WR).

On kick returns, however, he’s a beast. He’s ranks 5th in average KR yardage among players with at least 10 kick returns. 4 of his 18 returns have gone for more than 40 yards. At least once per game is seems Sproles has a huge return that completely shifts the momentum.