Let's talk about the game shall we? Last weekend turned out a nice pleasant surprise for many, though not to brag, both Max and I knew what the result last weekend would be. No, it's not clairvoyance, nor cockiness, it's understanding that there is only a handful of franchises in this league that are run more despicably than ours, and the Cowboys are the number one on that list. For a team that apparently is America's and destined for the Super Bowl each year, boy do they suck. Hell, in light of the recent current events, perhaps they are America's team.
There was a common theme last week that permeated the entirety of the game. That theme? Coaching. Unquestionably the strength of our game. Getting off to a good start by matching up Woodhead on a linebacker and generating a quick score was certainly something we like to see. This team has consistently jumped out to early leads, something that has been lost for, let's see...approximatly, well, exactly 6 years. Otherwise known as the era that will no longer be beaten to death NorvTurnerNorvTurnerNorvTurner what?!
After the quick start and a few defensive stops and some defensive failures we had the one big disaster moment that we all fear anymore. Again. And quickly as many people were wont to point out to me via text, the rout was on. Only, this time it wasn't. Why? Coaching. Poise. Adjustments. And guess what? The players completely bought in. Laserface started running the quick passing schemes effectively and threw the ball once again with dart like accuracy. 83%? Seriously? There wasn't a target he couldn't hit and Whisenhunt started exploiting weaknesses in Dallas' defense and you could almost hear him laughing about it condescendingly. Granted, it was the Cowboys, who employ a ginger version of Norv Turner at the head coaching position completely incapable of adjusting to any adversity that befalls them. Needless to say, it was very clear that Ken and Mike were definitely one step ahead, and clearly prepared to make it two steps if the Cowgirls ever caught up. They didn't.
Many are quick to point out that the defense is still, what's the most common descriptor I heard? Sieve-like? I believe that was the one, yes. To some degree there is some truth to that but again, let's revisit what we know about this defense. THERE IS NO ONE YOU KNOW ON THIS DEFENSE. Sorry, I don't like to yell, but who aside of Weddle is a household name out there? Nobody that's who. Te'o made his debut but was largely invisible, which leads me to believe he had a very pedestrian game. Which currently is all I ask of the guy. Don't make mistakes that are egregious in their game changingness. Do that Mantei, and we'll be best friends all year. Yes, the pass rush still suffered, but when Freeney went down that was that, and really, we didn't get to the quarterback much with him. Not disparaging the guy, but one player rarely makes a pass rush dominant. More on that later.
This defense is clearly of the bend don't break variety. Which is almost all you can do with the personnel that we're employing right now. They are young and inexperienced. We replaced some very long term veteran Chargers with very young unproven players. We're not going to be the Steel Curtain. We'll be lucky to be the Beef Curtains. What mattered was that when the game was on the line, and I had literally thrown my phone into the other room to avoid the panicked text messages that had me manning a suicide hotline, we got that turnover. The big one. The one we were all really, REALLY hoping for, finally materialized. That ball popped free, was scooped up, and for a moment, almost returned out of the end zone, causing me to scream, nay, SCREAM for that someone to please take a knee, very politely and in total control, he listened, did so, and peace was restored. I'd like to think I had a hand in that decision to stay in the end zone. Needless to say, the other shoe finally didn't drop. It's been a long time since we could say that.
The Elephant: This week it's easy. Everyone is talking about injuries. Yes, they are mounting up. Yes, they are significant. Let's talk about it shall we? Malcolm Floyd (did I spell that right? I always forget whether he's of the L variety or they went anti-L.) Gone. Done for the year. Are we deep? No. Are we serviceable? Yes. With Royal finally stepping up and Vincent Brown and Keenan Allen holding their own and letting Laserface make them look pretty good, we're going to be okay. Oh, let's not forget that Gates is looking like a version of himself that long ago vanished that motivated one of us here to make a custom hat in his honor. I'll bet that one of us wishes he still had that hat. Dwight Freeney. I think I'm in the minority on this one, but we're not going to miss him as much as people think. Is his injury a good thing? No, clearly not, but the scheme we're currently running isn't dependent on the pass rush, because there has been no pass rush. They are built not to give up the big play. And as Max is quick to point out, capitalizing on the other team "fucking up" is the secret to our scheme. Don't tell anyone, SHHHH! Finally, the offensive line. Woof. Might as well set up a triage unit on the sideline these guys are dropping so quickly. There isn't a starter that isn't hurt save Hardwick and he's typically always banged up. These guys are shuffling around the line, filling each need when it arises and guys are stepping up. The fact that Rivers was only sacked once, completed 35 of 42 passes, with backups at the left tackle position and other guys playing out of position all over the line, is a testament to not only their preparation, but their toughness. Guess how they got all of that. You guessed it. Coaching. I'm going to say this again, and please, heed this, ready? NORV TURNER IS GONE. THE WITCH IS DEAD. This group has this team prepared, both physically and mentally and they are a wholly different squad than last year. I'd bet you that they would not so secretly come right out and tell you that the locker room and the whole god damned facility is a far different place without the Norvalvirus. It's been four weeks of regular season football and no one has been arrested, punched or kicked out of Stingeree. That's the most telling statistic of the season.
Forecast: Raider Week. Things are looking up. This team is good. They are not Denver good. We don't have the personnel or the depth. But we are dynamic and as we've both mentioned here, this team will improve as the year goes on and they see some victories, and build on those successes. It is already evidenced by this team made up of mostly nobodies, overcoming injuries that were just a convenient excuse to explain shitty coaching and schemes in years past. I haven't been this excited for Chargers football in how long? Oh yeah! Exactly six years! How do I keep forgetting that?
Good things are afoot Charger Faithful. Get on board.
No comments:
Post a Comment