Know Your Enemy: San Diego Chargers

Basically you’re rooting for the meteor?

Floyd is out. Gates is questionable.

The party line has been that the loss of Kassim Osgood is bigger than anyone could’ve realized. However, just as big of an impact is that Mike Tolbert and Jacob Hester (the two best guys behind Osgood last year) are not starting on offense and therefore less effective on special teams. The team has started bringing in new guys to fill those roles and they’ve done okay, but it hasn’t been completely fixed overnight.

besides the fact that they suck? There have been too many people shuffled around. It appears Kassim Osgood was hiding the fact that most of the guys running behind him weren’t as good as everyone thought they were. We’ve made some moves that should help in that regard, but I’ve prepared myself to expect ST to lose us one or two more close games by the end of the season. You might have even said it lost the game last week. Kaeding ‘slips’ on a field goal in a 3 point loss. The Chargers are just a cursed team this year. Two weeks ago Gates gets called for a holding penalty on an outside run by our slowest RB to move out of FG range. Usually the curse waits until the post season to rear it’s ugly head. Not this year. The curse is now.

Primarily, their opposition has lost six drives that could have accrued yards because of six special teams touchdowns. There goes 6 potential possessions in which they could have gained yards. I don’t doubt that the Chargers offense is that good, but their defense, imo, is nowhere near as good as their yardage numbers would indicate. The second factor is that they haven’t played a great offense yet. The Pats are the best offense they have played so far.

San Diego’s D is still a respectable 5th overall (2nd against pass, 13th against the run).

San Diego’s O is a respectable 4th overall after adjustments (2nd in pass, 14th in rushing).

In terms of efficiency, SD’s offence is 3rd most efficient, their D is 3rd most efficient, but their special teams is 32nd in the league. That tallies to an overall 11th rating.
(New England’s O is 1st, D is 27th, and special teams 6th; 1st most efficient overall).

Big difference here being special teams. Considering the last two games for the Pats turned on big ST plays, this could be where the Pats really gouge the Chargers.

The numbers are certainly indicative of what the team should be, but don’t forget about the competition. The teams the Chargers have played thusfar have been the Chiefs, Seahawks, Jaguars, Rams, Cardinals and Raiders. The team should be 5-1 at least.

Gates is questionable.

The first question is important. I hope they don’t force Gates into action if he isn’t healthy, like they did in the 2007 AFCC game. I know Teddy Bruschi was a good LB, but there’s no way he covers Gates one on one unless Gates is hobbling on one leg. Putting him out there as a decoy didn’t work then and it won’t work this Sunday. I still can picture TB putting his hand out there blocking that pass in the end zone intended for Gates. The horror…
Anyway… I digress. I guess we’ll find out later today if Gates practiced, was limited, or if he sat. With Floyd out, Gates is going to be key. Patrick Crayton played very well last week and I’m hoping that’s something we’ll see more of in the future. Buster Davis is fast and talented, but I just don’t trust him to win it in a close game. Maybe Legadu plays. Either that, or Ryan Mathews has his first breakout game of the season. So, what I’m saying is I hope Gates is playing near 100%.
As for the 2nd question… as bad as the Chargers have been on the road, they’ve played equally well at home. They’ve won at home by an average of 28 points. So, I say the Patriots win by -10.

I agree with how Jackson and Merriman were handled. I understand why they handled McNeill the way they did, but I’m not sure I’d do the same.

I agree with almost everything the team did in the draft, especially moving up to get Mathews, but the rookie class looks a little disappointing because one guy is on IR (Donald Butler, ILB) and two other guys have had a hard time getting on the field (Darrell Stuckey and Cam Thomas) because the veterans in front of them have suddenly turned it on.

I imagine the Chargers will try and establish the run with Mathews and Tolbert. Crayton isn’t a terrible replacement for Floyd, assuming Naanee is back at #2 (he missed the Rams game), but the passing game will work easier if the run game gets going.

The Chargers have 2 very-good receiving TEs besides Gates that will probably be used as the 3rd and 4th receivers a bunch.

but rumors swirl that he had a drug problem.

he was addicted to prescription pain killers. He got a big contract and then just started popping pills. That’s the rumor anyway.

If I had to take a guess, I’d say Nick Novak (who was with the team in the preseason) will be brought back in and take all of Kaeding’s responsibilities.

None of the rookies outside of Mathews has really seen any time on the field.

Mathews struggled with holding onto the ball and injuries in his first few weeks, but both of those issues appear to be behind him. His skills as a runner are clear as day when he gets the carries (I believe he has the 6th best YPC in the league). He has incredible potential.

(cough cough)

Excuse me. ;)

Phillips has been very very good this year. he did lead the league in forced fumbles last year with 7, as well as 7 sacks and has always been somewhat underrated. i dont think hes one of the top 5 pass rushers (hes top 10 easily) but hes a very complete and athletic player.

Cooper has a ton of heart and is a smart player but almost everyone agrees that Brandon Siler is the better player and should be starting ahead of him.
English is injured but even before then he really hadn’t shown anything. he looks like a bust IMO.

About Clary, yes he is a bad RT. Charger fans are hoping (and i believe the coaching staff will, but probably not this week because there is very little time) that Brandon Dombrowski, who started at LT when Mcneil was out and did a superb job will move to the RT position. Hes a very underrated player and is much better than Clary in ever facet.

Every year before this, neither could be called a weakness. This year, the aggressive blitz packages seem to be working far too often.

He looks a little more human this year because his receivers aren’t getting as much separation as he’s used to getting from them. In that regard, he’s playing better than ever because he’s doing more with less. Even with all the yards, we’d be much better on offense with VJax. Also, there have been some drops from guys who are getting their first dose of steady action. He’s been holding onto the ball a little since I don’t think the trust level is there yet with all of his WRs and that’s why the blitz has been working better this year than years past.
With Floyd out, Gates is HUGE. Gates has been having the best year of his career and that’s saying a lot. Crayton will have to step up. I think he was a big acquisition for us.

Good hearing from you j-man. Stay cool.

Better running game, when they get the chance, and better defense. Just my opinion.

It’s been a real roller-coaster of a career for him, and I think that’s because he wasn’t quite sure what he was on the team (RB or FB or Special Teamer). This season they essentially handed him the FB job and said “You’re a FB”, and he’s been able to dive into it 100% and it shows. Outside of a missed block here or there in pass protection, he’s been awesome this season. A definite bright spot on the team and one of the reasons the running game has improved from last year.

I’d say they are doing well. I think we’re hurting with Steve Gregory out on suspension. We gave up too many yards to Sam Bradford last week. I think it gets worse with Brady this week. Weddle is pretty good but I think they tried to have him do too much with Gregory out last week and we got burned pretty badly. Hopefully, for us, they make adjustments this week and play better.

I’m not trying to imply that you guy’s shouldn’t be confident. And I do believe the Chargers have a lot of talent, and are playing a lot better than their record would say.

I just know confidence levels in fan bases waver, and I’ve seen the Patriots fanbase really high after the Bengals win, and then really low after the Jets loss ( ANOTHER ROAD LOSS ? 2009 ALL OVER AGAIN ? etc. ) and then go back to high again after the last couple wins. I’m curious as to how your fanbase has reacted to the current season thus far.