An Annual Tradition For Others: Optimism For The Chargers

Huh...what's this?  I'm awake....I am here...What could possibly awaken me from my blogging slumber you wonder?  Well... a quick peek at some of the Charger forums has done it again.

Here I am, thinking I am going to go to the Charger fan forums to read about how this team is still a ways away from being competitive again...because I would think anyone that has paid any attention to the offseason so far would have a tough time telling me, or any other Charger fan with a clue, that the Chargers are not only going to win the AFC West but deep into the playoffs.

But what do I see and read?  Exactly that.  The Chargers, these fans trumpet loudly, are so very close to 10 wins already and with just a little bit of luck, can go 12-4 next season.  While I would love to be drinking the kool-aid that they are serving, I just find that as far of a stretch as possible as you can imagine.

Being a blind, super homer fan doesn't mean you know more than any of the other fans, but going to these fan forums and even trying to mention anything to the contrary is often greeted with "what do you know?" and "you aren't a knowledge football fan, such as I..." and so on.  Yet, these "super fans" have year in and year out clamored about how the Chargers are just (literally) one bad call, one miss tackle or one play away from the Super Bowl each and every year.

My favorite line of logic this offseason is that the Chargers were just a bad break away from so many close games last season and if they simply flip that stat, they are instantly above .500 again.  Well, these people conveniently forget that in most, if not all of those "close game" losses, the Chargers likely had the lead going into the fourth quarter or late in the fourth quarter and simply could not close the deal.  The team collapsed on itself and a big reason is on the defensive side of the ball...but the offense deserves it share of the blame too...but the defense was epic in its failures late in games last season. 

The Charger defense hasn't changed much and the secondary looks to be about the same crappy secondary that gave up big plays last season.  Unless the player's from the Chargers are no longer getting beat deep and missing tackles, then that would be a noticeable improvement...but the players the Chargers are sending out to play defense, especially the DB's, have been beaten routinely game after game.  I don't think there is a defensive scheme that is going to help the Chargers secondary out, but if the new coaching staff of the Chargers comes up with one, I will be pleasantly surprised.

We still got a ways to go until kickoff of the 2013 season so there is time to do more assessment of this Chargers' team...but so far, I have not been impressed with this offseason.