Gobble Gobble

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!! Lets take a look into Chargers history on Thanksgiving Day. The Bolts have not made a Thanksgiving Day appearance since 1969. At that time, the bolts were in the AFL and wore these uniforms. The most notable Charger on the roster this year was Lance Alworth, here is the Chargers Roster form 1969.. In that game the Chargers won 21 to 17 over the Houston Oilers.

In the Chargers history, they have played in 4 Turkey Day games. Their overall record is 2 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.

1964: Buffalo Bills 27, Chargers 24
1965: Buffalo Bills 20, Chargers 20
1967: Denver Broncos 20, Chargers 24
1969: Chargers 21, Houston Oilers 17

When is the next time the Bolts will get a Turkey Day game? Personally, I would rather have the Bolts play on Sundays. Gives them a few extra days rest.

Big Game Broncos

The Bolts are back on TOP! AFC West again belongs to the Chargers! I'll talk about the game in posts later this week but, I just want to point out the BIG GAME BRONCOS.

Last year, in a winner takes the division game, the Chargers blew out the Broncos 52-21. A 31 point victory for the Bolts. This win catapulted the Bolts to a third consecutive AFC West Division title and an exciting win over the Colts in the wild card round!

This year, in a winner takes the division lead game, the Chargers blew out the Broncos 32-3. A 29 point victory for the Bolts. This has been a great climb for the 2009 Bolts and has to be a testament to their true abilities and potential.

Big Game Broncos, on the other had, have been in a downward spiral and have some difficulties in their upcoming scheduling:
-NY Giants
-@ KC Chiefs
-@ Indy Colts
-Oakland Raiders
-@ Phily Eagles
-KC Chiefs
The must wins are going to be against two teams who are starting to play better, the Chiefs and Raiders. Chiefs have won two in a row! Raiders benched JaMarcus and finally have at least a shot of winning! Giants, Colts and Eagles are going to be tough! Assuming the Big Game Broncos win ALL three against the Chiefs twice and Raiders, they will need two split two of three from Giants, Colts and Eagles.

The Broncos tank is on empty and the NFL season has 6 more weeks to go! The Chargers just filled up on premium, high octane jet fuel and look to be heading for their 4th consecutive division title!

Breaking News From Denver

BREAKING NEWS DENVER (CO)--Denver Broncos football practice was delayed after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. Head coach Josh McDaniels immediately called federal investigators. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to players was the GOAL LINE. GO BOLTS!

*Nothing is true about this breaking news except the Broncos suck!

**I repurposed this post from a few weeks ago!

Antonio Gates on the League

Not sure how many people have been watching "The League," a show on FX that airs after "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"? I have caught the first 4 episodes, and have to say, as an avid fantasy sports player, I am enjoying the humor.

I especially liked this weeks episode which included a cameo from San Diego's own Antonio Gates. It wasn't a big role but he did get some air time! He was the first active NFL player to make an appearance. Two weeks ago, Terry Bradshaw made his cameo, but I think Gates may have out done Bradshaw. Above is a preview for the episode which includes a small portion of Gates' cameo.

ENJOY!

LT and Ricky

At this point we all know Ricky's story. It's a short and sweet story. Gave up football in his prime to get high. He was 27 at the time. Ricky has since, studied holistic medicine in Grass Valley, CA, played Canadian football in Toronto and signed again to play with the Dolphins again.

I want to talk about Ricky today, not because he is from San Diego and a graduate of Patrick Henry High School, but because I would like to take a look into his age compared to his production in the NFL.

Ricky was born in 1977, LT was born in 1979. Granted Ricky took a hiatus from professional football, he is still two years older than LT. Career rushing attempts: Rickey 2,050 and LT 2,772.

As we saw from last night the 32 year old Ricky still has some tread on his tires. In comparison the 30 year old LT has that same tread!

Let's hope we can see this production this week in Denver!

Believe in the Bolts!!!!

Poor Mans Sports Center

Haha, check out this poor mans sports center preview of the Chargers vs Broncos game! They mention the Chargers need for a running presence and to pressure Orton if he indeed plays. Plus a lot of stuttering, ummms and ahhhs.

Either way they nailed it! Prediction, Chargers beat the Broncos! It still isn't the worst sports cast, CLICK HERE FOR BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE (Best and worst sports cast ever at the same time)!

Heeee's Baaaack

Now I'm not saying he's back to the same form of the 2006 season in which he scored 28 rushing TD's. But he is back to being a productive back! Also, LT is now comfortable with his role as just the RB. Philip carries the load that LT once took his shoulders. And let's be honest, the reason his production has been down is, 1. Injury and 2. The Chargers have been playing from behind and have had no choice but to throw.

As long as the games play to similar fashion as the game against the Eagles, LT will get his 15-20 touches and over 100 all purpose yards. As you can see from the video, LT passed a few more milestones Sunday! And should be setting more as the season rolls on!

LT! LT! LT! LT! LT! LT! LT! LT!

Mile High Showdown

"The last two games were important," said Captain Obvious. I had been saying for the past month the Chargers needed to win 2 of 3 games against the Giants, Eagles and the Broncos. We have already done this and we need to beat the Broncos!

I think the Chargers, myself included, are getting greedy and need to beat the Broncos. And I mean greedy in a good way. I think a better word than "greedy" is the Chargers "desire" a win. This is good news because a few weeks ago, a lot of people didn't think the Chargers had the desire to be a championship football team.

THE FIRE IS BACK!

Believe In The Bolts is the motto of the season. A lot of fans fell of early in the season and are now back. For us TRUE FANS who never left and never plan on leaving, we know what's up and we know what a win against the Broncos will do for this team.

It would be the best confidence boost! Not to mention such a demotivater and demoralizer for the Broncos!

"THIS IS A BIG GAME FOR THE BOLTS," CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!

LT is gonna be a Daddy!

In October, everyone was jumping ship! Already looking towards Baseball season, and the draft. I said to Believe in the Bolts! And all you true fans stuck with me and I with you and US with the BOLTS! And it has paid off in the form of a 4 game win streak and a share of First Place in the AFC West!

Here we are, halfway through November and I want to welcome all of the non-true fans back. I still believe 12-4 is very attainable and 11-5 is both respectable and realistic.

On another note, LT is going to be a father! Congrats!!! Ladainian came into the locker room after a strong 2 touchdown performance to find a hand written note from his wife. On it, LaTorsha wrote that she was pregnant with their first child! Congrats!

I also want to thank the true fans for standing behind the bolts and forever procliaming......

.....Believe in the Bolts!!!!

Saving LT?

AHHHHH what an image of LT! I had it on my wall for the majority of my College career. It brings back memories of when LT was in so dominate at the RB position. We all know over the past years LT has been broken down going into the end of the season and the playoffs. What did that mean for the Chargers? Very little run game, if any run game at all in the post season.

Is Norv doing this on purpose? Is LT being saved for the post season? Will LT dominate the second half of the season?

I don't buy into this theory. I could be wrong, Norv could be a genius and be quietly saving LT for the post season. Imagine having a full strength LT in New England in the 2007 season. Would LT have pulled in the safeties and opened two touchdowns over the top in the pass? And given us a Super Bowl birth over the Pats and against the Giants?

Lets look back at this season. Last in the league in rushing yards and third to last in attempts. Is this a masterful strategy to save LT's legs for the post season? We gotta hope so, because if not, the run game needs a jump start.

Legen.... wait for it..... DAIRY

I love it! Weeks ago I asked, begged and pleaded for people to continue to "Believe in the Bolts." What do we have now? We are only 1 game behind the once dominant Broncos.

The game against the Giants was Legen... wait for it... DAIRY!!! The Rivers Draft day trade seems to have DIRECTLY paid off. Rivers, of course, threw the game tying touchdown pass, Keading kicked the go ahead extra point and Merriman closed the game out by sacking Eli Manning (Chargers drafted Eli, and traded him for Rivers and two future draft picks who were Keading and Merriman).

The bolts had their problems in the game, but I want to talk about what they did great on Sunday.

1. 2 minute drill
2. Pressure on Eli
3. V Jax coming up huge
4. Field position!
5. Forcing 3rd and long
6. Blitzing Schemes (Defensive Play Calling)
7. Aggressive play calling

With this there is plenty of room for improvement. For instance, forcing 3rd and long was something we did well. Some thing the Bolts didn't do well was, stop that 3rd and long!

All of us TRUE fans never stopped Believing in the Bolts! And for those of you who did stop believing, WELCOME BACK!

Home Blues

I'm not talking about losing at home, I'm talking about the home Blue Jerseys. We have not taken the field in a regular season game in the Dark Blues yet.

And were not gonna see them this Sunday in New York either. Giants wear their home blues in NY. Which, by default, puts us in our whites. I like the white uni's but I think next chance we get, the Chargers should wear the ever menacing Dark Blues!

Rivers Vs. Manning

This will be the first time Rivers and Manning face off. Last time, Manning faced the Chargers Brees was behind center and the Bolts shoved it in Eli's face.

To say the least, Eli is not spoken highly of or very welcome in SD. But still, Rivers has to be envious of at least one thing that Eli has. And that thing is a Super Bowl Championship ring.

As a Charger fan, I am too! But as a Charger fan I believe we will still get our first ring under Rivers. During the season of Mannings Super bowl, the Giants started off terribly, starting 0-2, before running off 6 consecutive wins.

This is why as a Charger fan, I am not overly concerned about the position we are in at the current moment. Sitting at 4-3 is not where the Chargers want to be but, in no way can you write us off!

I'm not even calling this a make or break game. Sure, a win will tell us we can hang with tough teams. A win will inch us closer to the Broncos. But if we go 2-1 in our next 3 I think we will make the playoffs! Not looking down the barrel of the New England or Indy or New Orleans gun for the rest of the regular season is promising.

How do the bolts get there... Let's start sunday by beating the Giants through the air on their home turf. Keep Rivers upright, and keep his Super Bowl Ring hopes well alive!

Believe in the Bolts

And Then it was 13

The Chargers have extended their winning streak against the Raiders of Oakland. The current win streak is now up to 13 consecutive games against the Raiders. This game in San Diego had its moments and the Raiders were mathematically close to capturing victory from the jaws of defeat. Luckily for the Chargers, JaMarcus Russell is the QB of the Raiders. As long as he is the quarterback of the Raiders, the Raiders will not be successful. He misses too many wide open receivers. He just is not accurate.

A few game notes:
-Shaun and Shawne both had sacks! And Merriman actually looked like he wanted to be there.
-Great first half on all sides of the ball.
-Offense looked in control and even scored on the Wildcat!
-Defense was dominate. Turnover and good against the run with the rushing TD exception.
-Special teams
-Second half was less productive in all areas. Half time adjustments were not made, or the wrong adjustments were made.
-Lost the field position battle due to a Sproles fumble. The poor field position defensively led to scores by the Raiders.
-Offense was not productive in the second half on a whole. On the other hand, when they needed to score Philip Rivers and the Chargers took the ball the length of the field to set up Kaeding for a chip shot and an 8 point lead.
-On the last drive the defense did stop the Raiders but I do feel JaMarcus did a better job at stopping the Raiders.

All in all, I'm excited about the win, the Broncos loss, 2 TD's for LT and the fact that the Bolts are taking on the Giants when the are not playing consistent football!

News from Oakland...

BREAKING NEWS OAKLAND (CA)--Oakland Raiders football practice was delayed after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. Head coach Tom Cable immediately called federal investigators. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to players was the GOAL LINE. GO BOLTS!

*Nothing is true about this breaking news except the Raiders suck!