That's All She Wrote

The season is now over and I can finally bring myself to post. Bolts lost the game and the Jets won! The best way to put it, in the words of Jim Rome, "Who put Marty Schottenheimer in a Norv Turner mask?" This is obviosly referencing the non-inspired and very conservative play calling that Norv called.

It almost worked but in the end, it wasn't enough. Baseball season is around the corner, but the Padres resemble a minor league team than a big league ball club, with the exception of Adrian Gonzales.

Signing off till baseball season!

Colts Smotls

I know the Colts are on an unreal run...19 straight wins...regular season wins that is. I dont see what the big fuss is all about. They have only really won 11 straight. Thats elven games in 2009.

Why is it only 11 games? Because Darren Sproles dominated overtime in the playoffs and ended the Colts 2008 season! What a game!

For some reason the Chargers have had Peyton's number in the past couple years. Dating back to 2005 the Chargers are 4-1! Not to shabby against a team that has basically the best winning percentage in the world of professional sports!

BEST PART OF THE STORY: Two of the Chargers wins in the past two years against the Colts have come in the Playoffs! Which means the Bolts have ended the Colts season the past two years!

Let me ask you this... Will Peyton be happy if he faces the Chargers in the 2009 playoffs?

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!!!!

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!

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!

Momentum

Ya, I know the Chiefs are terrible but, you got to start somewhere. And why not pick on the Chiefs?!?!

Let's take a look into what the Chargers did good today:
1. Down Field passing. This has been the most consistent part of the Chargers game this season. VJ leading the pack

2. Special teams looked solid. Bolts even blocked a punt and picked it up in the endzone. (And by that I mean, Jacob Hester blocked a punt and picked it up in the endzone)

3. Running the ball. LT had his longest run of the year today. That was followed by red zone issues inside the 5.

4. Run Defense. The D Line and LB's looked to actually push a team around. Haven't seen that in a while.

5. Can I really be writing PASS RUSH?!?! Yes I am, 4 sacks, granted two were by the secondary, but two were added by Shaun Phillips himself!

6. Pass D. Basically had a solid game, no big plays.

All around, the Chargers beat the Chiefs pretty bad, in all phases of the game, which makes 4 straight against the team from KC! Look for them to continue this in their next game against the Raiders.

Season prediction (12-4 or 11-5):
@Chiefs W
Raiders W
@Giants L
Eagles W
@Broncos W
Chiefs W
@Browns W
@Cowboys W/L
Bengals W
@Titans W
Redskins W

PS How Sweet did those uni's look?!?! All white!

Believe in the Bolts

"Believe in the Bolts," a phrase coined in the '94-'95 super bowl season. As bad as they have looked at times, we did show improvement, in some areas of the game last night.

On D, everything but the pass rush looked better. We slowed the run, newly signed Ian Scott did his best Jamal Williams impression. Secondary did well considering they had to cover receivers for extended periods of time. Rookie Ellison was in on a ton of plays in the second half (he was either being picked on by the Broncos or he was all over the field), either way, making plays!

On O, everything but the pass protection looked good. Rivers got the ball to his receivers when he had time to. LT looked strong (didn't get the ball at the goal line???). I know we have the largest receivers in the league and can get the ball down field, but can we get a slip screen to a receiver for god sakes. Every team in the league runs those plays but us! Running those type of screens draws the safeties up and opens up the down field even more!

Special Teams, cover your kicks!

All in all, we need to improve pass rush, pass protection, kick coverage and PLAY CALLING!

Let's take a look at the Wild Card picture... Out of second place, AFC Divisional teams, the most wins are 3. That puts us 2.5 games out behind... the Steelers and Bengals and 1.5 behind the Ravens, Jets, Texans and Jaguars. NOT OUT OF IT YET...

Now let's look at the remaining schedule:
@Chiefs W
Raiders W
@Giants L
Eagles W
@Broncos W
Chiefs W
@Browns W
@Cowboys W/L
Bengals W
@Titans W
Redskins W

Let's say conservatively we go .500 against NFC East Opponents. And at least the Chargers don't face the Saints, Colts or Vikings! (Brees, Manning or Favre)

Current Record (2-3). Predicted Record (12-4) or (11-5).

It is a daunting task... Can the Chargers do it? Maybe. If they do? We will have quite a streak going into the playoffs!

Say it with me now "BELIVE IN THE BOLTS!"

Immature Reality

I feel as if the majority of the Chargers are immature 20 somethings who don't get it (MOSTLY DEFENSE). They have been given the responsibility of holding each other accountable BUT do not execute!

If I can make a comparison to a household with an immature young adult. Right now the head of the household (Norv) can not get his young adults (Defense) in line! That was never a problem with Marty. We all knew who was in charge and the D was held accountable every play! It's too bad Marty told AJ to go F-himself one too many times!

But that "go F-yourself, it's my way or the high way" is the best way to treat the 20 something, newly made millionaires. But now we have a "yes man" in Norv.

This post is not a blast on Norvs play calling (Which I also think is terrible), it is about his management and coaching style.

The above picture says it all! Would you want to do anything to piss this guy off? Go to Camp Pendalton and get a drill instructor to get these Bolts in line!!!

Don't Panic... Yet

Chargers Upcoming Games:

Broncos Win
@ Cheifs Win
Raiders Win
@ Giants Loss
Eagles Win
@Broncos Win
Current Record (2-2). Predicted Record After 2 games against Broncos (7-3)


Broncos Upcoming Games

@ Chargers Loss
@ Ravens Loss
Steelers Loss
@ Redskins Win
Chargers Loss
Current Record (5-0). Predicted Record After 2 Games against Chargers (6-4)

My point... don't panic. Yes, we didn't expect the Broncos to be 5-0 at this point. And more or less, I expected the Chargers to be right where they are or, one game better. The Broncos have a difficult schedule coming up and I expect them to be one game behind the Bolts after week 11.

If the bolts do happen to be unsuccessful next Monday versus the Broncos, HIT THE PANIC BUTTON!

Thank You NFL Network!

Thank you NFL Network for airing the Chargers Dolphins game from 1995. This is the comeback game before the bolts went to Steel-town to beat the Steelers and eventually go to the superbowl! I remember this playoff run like it was yesterday! After Stan "the man" Humpries, Natron Means "business," Junior "Say-Ow," and one of my favorites Stanley "the sherif" Richards take down the Dolphins I remember a young Tyler losing my shirt and running like a mad man through the neighborhood! Besides the win, my favorite part was Don Shula riding around on the Rascal! HAHA Here is what a RASCAL is...

For those of you who don't have NFL network here is a link to the last few minutes of the game! Enjoy!

For a blast from the past here is the '94-'95 roster.

Lowered Expectations

Remember that Mad TV skit called lowered expectations. Well Kevin Acee of the UT is trying to get us to buy into this theory but replace date matching with the Chargers. Here is the UT Article if you want to reference my comments...

I feel it is quite presumptuous of the UT to think they have the power to lower our expectations. And I do expect them to win every game! Or at least have a chance to win every game. They very well had that chance (many times in the redzone) to win that game. A lot of the blame is on the shoulders of Norv and some has to fall on the players for not getting in the endzone. Personally, I blame Norv, bad call at the end of half with 10 seconds left and on the last play of the game. The players got them in position for Norv to make a play call to get them in the zone.

Kevin Acee... I'm not buying what you are selling. I watch each week (just like the bolts step on the field believing) they can win this game.