Chargers Fire Cottrell, Rivera Promoted

The San Diego Chargers have fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. Cottrell secured his demise when the Charger defense had not moved from the bottom of the NFL's pass defense this season and Drew Brees had a field day in London against the Charger defense. Fill Cottrell's spot will be former Chicago Bears' defensive coordinator Ron Rivera who was the Chargers linebacker coach.

I have been very vocal in my dislike for Ted Cottrell since he was hired and can only think that this move will hopefully improve the Charger defense that, so far this year, has given other teams little resistence on the field and a big reason the Chargers sit at 3-5 right now.

Obviuosly I would like to think that this move will improve the Chargers and my recent season ending prediction of 6-10 may have to be revised after this move...

Chargers: No Defense, No Comeback - The Trend Continues

The Chargers continue the trend that has been the theme for the 2008 season with their game against New Orleans in London.

The Charger defense is ranked as one of the worst in the NFL and displayed why this past weekend.  Drew Brees was able to move the Saints whenever they needed to march down the field to keep the game out of reach for the Chargers for the entire game.  Then the Chargers had a final possession and if they were able to score a touchdown would have emerged victorious...instead, for the second week in a row, Phillip Rivers - who has played very well so far this season - threw an interception on the final drive and the game was over.

The Charger defense has had absolutely no pressure on opponents' quarterbacks...they can easily drop back and have plenty of time to survey the field and pick apart a Charger secondary that is routinely in poor position.  This Charger team defense reminds me of the Charger defense of the late 90's when they set an NFL record for consecutive games without allowing a 100 yard rusher...but their record was (approximately) 6-74 over that 5 year span because the reason no team rushed for 100 yards on the Chargers is because they didn't need too....they could easily pass for 500 yards on the Bolts and that is becoming the theme of this defense for the 2008-09 campaign.

Many of the Charger faithful are just pointing to the weak AFC West and that the Chargers are still in the running to win the AFC West and get a playoff berth and then, with a team as 'talented' as the Chargers, would have the opportunity to redeem themselves for a shoddy regular season....and boy would I love to be drinking that Kool-Aid...but that is not what I see.  Many think that 9-7 could win the AFC West...well, here's my 'breakdown' for the rest of the schedule for the Chargers after this week's bye week:

W -Kansas City - They should win this game against a bad Chiefs game and fresh off their bye.

L - at Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh's defense will demonstrate how important a respectable defense is.

L - Indianapolis - Actually this could be a coin-flip because the Chargers have had success against the Colts the past few years...but I really don't see how Peyton Manning wouldn't be able to shred this defense.

L - Atlanta - Micheal Turner returns to San Diego...he likely won't need to factor in but Roddy White and Matt Ryan will torch the inept secondary of the Chargers.

W - Oakland - Chargers win against a team that barely qualifies as an NFL team these days.

L - at Kansas City - Chargers can't win on the road regardless of how bad a team is.  Chiefs prove this.

L - at Tampa Bay - Tampa has a solid defense and a possession control offense.  They should methodically beat the Chargers the entire game.

W - Denver - The Chargers pride up for their season finale against Denver.  After getting screwed by Ed Hochuli in their first match up the Chargers, likely playing for nothing but pride end the season on a positive by beating the Broncos, who likely will be AFC West champs and looking ahead to the playoffs.

So I have the Chargers at 6-10 for the season and obviously out of the playoffs.  My 'picking' skills are pretty shitty and I hope that I am wrong... It certainly would at least turn into an entertaining season if the Chargers could enter the playoff picture...

Favre Continues To Be A Loser

Could Brett Favre be a bigger loser then he has already shown to the world? Well, the answer of course is YES!

Word is that he may have talked with Matt Millen of the Detroit Lions to give him some specific nuances regarding the Green Bay offense. Of course Favre is denying any wrongdoing. But this just continues a trend of Favre being a totally classless loser.

And let me say this...

I am fairly sure that this stuff happens all the time where an ex-player has a friend with another organization and they of course go out to dinner or whatever and talk about things. The difference with Favre, again as we have seen in the past, is that his 'private' conversations are eventually found out by the media. First it was his cell phone conversations with the Packers president being made public, then his cell phone conversations with Vikings during his trade drama get made public and now his conversations with Matt Millen are made public... is it just me or does anyone see a trend? I don't think there is any other NFL player that has more "private" phone conversations reaching the media than Brett Favre...continuing to add to my theory that Brett Favre is just an attention seeking media whore and he doesn't care if the media is talking good or bad about him, he just continues to want them to only talk about him at all times...

This guy is a total fucking loser and there is nothing he has done or will do to change that fact.

No Power In Buffalo

There was no electricity for much of the game in Buffalo at the stadium or for the Chargers.

The Charger defense, again, with a chance to step up and help the team overcome a late defecit is unable to stop the Bills and 2 late turnovers by Phillip Rivers seal the fate of the Chargers.

The Chargers continue an unimpressive season and clearly resemble a team that was highly over-rated coming into the season.  

LaDainian Tomlinson continues to be totally ineffective and I am sure many sports media types are beginning to prepare to attach their 'past his prime' label to Tomlinson...and possibly rightly so.  Sure, the offensive line has been far less then stellar so far this season but LT started out his career under a similar scenario, where his offensive line was absolutely horrible yet he was able to 'Barry Sanders it' and make something out of nothing and, of course, break off a big run on occassion.  This season there are no big runs, no big plays for LT.  Instead he is met at the line of scrimmage, usually, by multiple defenders...so is it LT, the o-line or the playcalling?  Probably a little of each but as this season has started, Tomlinson has been a totaly non-factor in any of the Charger games.

But Tomlinson is not the biggest concern on the Chargers team, no, it is the Charger defense that once again is put under pressure to make a stop late in the game and like it has been seen so far this season, the Charger defense was unable to stop the Bills as they preceded to drive down the field and essentially put the game out of reach.  Yes, Rivers threw an interception at the goal line that would have given the Chargers a 21-20 lead with about 6 minutes to go, instead it is 23-14 Bills with about 3 minutes to play...essentially ending the game.  A Phillip Rivers fumble on the following possession sealed the fate of Chargers and have officially been exposed as over-rated.

The Chargers travel to London to play the Saints who will be without Reggie Bush and who knows what Charger team we will see this Sunday, but the New Orleans offense will likely have a big game against a Charger defense that is incapable of shutting down any sort of offense consistently.

On a side note, the Broncos got totally beat down by the Patriots last night and have clearly shown that the AFC West is a laughingstock and there is no team worthy in the entire division.  The winner of the AFC West would be primed for an early playoff exit because they likely will be playing a competent wild card team that will be hungry to succeed whereas the AFC West teams all look like low rent NFL teams with inconsistent play and poor defense.

Chargers Rout Pats: Play To Level Of Competition

One week the Chargers look absolutely horrible and lose to a team that went 1-15 last year and ran a high school offense. This past week rout the defending AFC Champions.

It is becoming clear that no one really knows what Charger team will show up on any Sunday...but that might be the latest trend in the NFL...

The Redskins lose to a previously winless St. Louis team, the Browns beat the defending Super Bowl champs and Arizona beats the Cowboys all this past weekend, truly a picture of parity.

The NFL has clearly shown that no team can truly be 'counted out' on any given Sunday and that is why just making the playoffs is a huge first step to making a run at the Super Bowl.  Like last year, the Chargers are starting the year very inconsistent, sloppy and generally unimpressive.  Last year the Chargers were able to straighten things out and make a run for the title, but not until sacrificing home field advantage and a first round bye...both of which are no longer an absolute to guarantee victory, just pleasantries.

The question for the 2008 Chargers is whether or not they can continue a level of good, consistent play to beat quality opponents.  The Chargers continue to struggle run blocking...Tomlinson is likely having one of his worst years as a pro so far, oftentimes being met at the line of scrimmage by multiple defenders.  Other teams have forced Rivers to beat them and so far Rivers has done well, it will be interesting to see if other teams begin to respect the passing game of the Chargers and that might in turn help the running game.

The Chargers are on the road to face a rested Bills team and then they are off to London for the following week's game against New Orleans... a tough 2 game road trip that may reveal the fortitude of this team.

Cubs Lose, Cubs Lose

I don't make to many posts regarding baseball because I think baseball is very poorly run...essentially allowing any team to spend as much money as they want to buy a championship or, at the very least, pay to be competitive...

But I do get sucked into watching the playoffs and I have several friends that are 'diehard' Cubs fans...and when I say diehard I mean the non-bandwagon Cubs fans...I've known they have been Cubs fans for more than a decade which really had me surprised this year...

Why are they so surprised they have been eliminated from the playoffs? Is it because nothing bizarre or odd happened to continue to perpetuate the 'curse' hypothesis? Or was it because they had the World Series won before they even played in it? I think it is a little of both...

First, the Cubs got beaten, fair and square...no goats, no Bartman, no controversies at all...the longtime Cubs fan has to feel almost cheated that they can not sit and stew over how the Cubs got fucked over this year because of some wierd happening...what good is a curse if it isn't going to work all the time?

And then you have several of the Cubs fans...especially some of the younger/newer ones...or bandwagon as I typically refer to them, but there were also longtime, hardcore Cubs fans too...that essentially had the Cubs winning it all this year. They steamrolled through the regular season and had several games where the Cubs rallied in late innings to win games that seemed they were certainly destined to lose. And then since many media outlets had the Cubs performing well this year and continued to trumpet that all season had plenty of folks buying into what they were selling and then to have it end so quickly, so abrubtly and so definitively had to be like driving into a brick wall.

In talking with my Cubs friends prior to the postseason I had told them that I think the Dodgers could win it all. They seem to have gotten into the playoffs 'under the radar' and not many have given them a chance...the perfect recipe to go deep in the playoffs. Their team has gotten stronger just in time, the playoffs. Furcal returned after missing almost all of the regular season and on the flip side, Andrus Jones was injured and not playing in the playoffs - both are likely positives for the team since Furcal has already shown his effectiveness whereas Jones has been nothing but a colossal bust since signing with the Dodgers last year and it might be a blessing to have him not play - oftentimes when you are shelling out huge dollars for a player you feel obligated to play them because of that...regardless of the quality of his play.

Before the playoffs started I was hoping that Milwaukee and Tampa Bay were the teams to make it to the World Series - the ratings for that series would be about 6 people but probably entertaining...

So now the networks have got to be cheering for Boston and really LA or Philly are good markets for them...but if Tampa doesn't make the World Series then it will be all major market teams....yawn...

Dolphins Beat Chargers: Awful Defense

Is it 2007 again?  Just like last year, the San Diego Chargers start the 2008 NFL season with a losing record and look absolutely horrible.  Last year the Chargers lost to a Chiefs team that managed only 3 wins all year.

The jury may still be out on the Dolphins and most agree that they are improved from last year, but if the Chargers are going to resemble a team that deserves respect and be considered an upper-echelon team, they should not be losing to the Dolphins.

Ronnie Brown, single-handedly, beat the Chargers.  The Dolphins ran an offense that some high school teams employ, the 'Wildcat' and Ted Cottrell - defensive dunderhead for the Chargers - couldn't come up with any answers.  On one score, Ricky Williams went into motion and Brown, obviously aware that the play wasn't going as planned, merely smiled, waved for the snap and then ran in virtually untouched into the enzone.

The Charger offensive line has done nothing so far this year...with moderate pass protection and absolutely no run blocking.  The Charger defensive line was totally man-handled by the Dolphins this past week.  The Chargers can't stop the run or the pass.  Chad Pennington looked fairly respectable against a Charger defense that looked clueless throughout the game... The Chargers couldn't score a single point in the fourth quarter and were behind the entire game...a theme the Chargers have had for this season so far.

The AFC West is weak...that might be the bright spot for the Chargers...but to expect them to do anything in the playoffs with the way they are playing right now is an extreme stretch...

New England is up next for the Chargers and Matt Cassell could likely have a career day against the Chargers...another reocurring theme for the Charger defense is that any respectable athlete can single-handedly beat the Chargers... Adrian Peterson did it last year, Ronnie Brown did it this year.  If I was the Pats, I would use Laurance Marooney exclusively for the entire game, the Chargers will likely have no answers for that...