Ugly, very ugly. I was looking at this as a litmus test: an away game against a good opponent and, historically, a big game for us. Instead, the defense absolutely falls down, stupid penalties kill us, and the Offensive line simply stank up the joint.
But, the absolute worst set of downs, the 4 plays that would eerily define this entire game, was the failed TD drive. Down 3-17, the Pats could've come within a touchdown of the Chargers. Instead, they blew it at the goalline and SD would later score a TD, widening the lead to 21 points.
Offense
- Cassel to Moss - Forget it for now. It's simply not working. I'm starting to believe it's not a lack of developing a relationship, but more Cassel's ability to get the ball to where only Moss can catch it. He's consistently underthrowing.
- Short passing game - Where was it? Dump to Faulk. Toss to Welker. Forget the medium and long balls.
- Offensive Line - Kaczur goes out and things turn from bad to worse. Cassel was spending far too much time scrambling and he never had enough time to find his open guys. Credit to the Chargers - their pass rush was relentless.
- LaMont Jordan - We seriously missed Jordan tonight. Case in point: goal line stance. Jordan would've blasted right through that defensive line.
- Jammer vs. Moss - Moss was rendered ineffective by Jammer; Randy just couldn't put it together.
Defense
- Deltha O'Neal - Deltha was simply abused by Vincent Jackson. He had no sense of where to be, like Jammer was with Moss. The Chargers targeted him and it turned out to be the right move.
- Pass Rush - Or lack thereof. Pitiful, absolutely pitiful. There was no pressure on Rivers and he was practically throwing at will. Long, short, it didn't matter. WRs were getting open and Rivers was hitting them.
- Defensive Backs - Absolutely murdered by the long ball. Deltha wasn't the only one falling down. The Pats simply couldn't contain the Bolts' receivers and take the open field away from them. They were running routes all over the place and caught our DBs flatfooted and unaware, almost as if there's was no film available on SD.
Like I said above, ugly, very ugly. There will be lots of people hammering on Cassel. He's one piece of the puzzle, albeit a fairly important piece. It's as if there's no energy with Matt under center, no zip. Gas up guys and fire up the supercharger. This crap has got to end.