Random Charger Thougts This Past Week

The Chargers came up short against the Broncos 24-17 this past Sunday.  It wasn't much of a game for Chargers fans until the 4th quarter, when the Chargers scored all 17 of their points.  Chargers bid for a comeback ended when the Broncos ran out the last 3:53 of the game converting on a 3rd and 17, a 3rd and 6th, and finally a 3rd and 1. Backup LB Bront Bird was in the game due to injuries and he was absolutely lost in pass coverage.  Both the 3rd and longs were completed in Bird's area of coverage.  I'm not blaming Bird though. Bird had played earlier in the season due to injuries so the coaches new he wasn't the best in coverage. The smarter move would have been to blitz Bird.  Would it have made a difference?  Who knows, but I believe Bird would have been better utilized as a blitzer than in coverage.

 Although the failure of the defense to get the ball back sealed the Chargers faith, overall it was a good defensive effort. Three of the four lowest scoring games the record setting offense of the Broncos put up were against the Chargers.  28, 20, and 24 points for a team that was averaging about 39 a game. The other team that held the Broncos under 30 were the Chiefs on Week 11 (27 points).  I also have to wonder if the game would have turned out differently if Shareece Wright hadn't dropped a sure interception on the Broncos 1st drive.

I've been hyping rookie WR Keenan Allen all year and he was really the only one that showed up on offense on Sunday against the Broncos.  6 catches, 142 yards, 2 TDs.  The coaches were way too conservative against the Broncos. Rivers only threw 8 passes in the 1st half and ended the game 18-27, 217 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs.  It wasn't garbage stats. The game was still in doubt when the Chargers started to throw the ball. There was still 3:56 on the clock when they closed the score to 24-17.  I had all the confidence in the world that if they had gotten the ball back that Rivers would have led them to a tying TD.

I was pretty prophetic in my preseason post on the Chargers (Last Look Before the Season).  In that post I said the Chargers look to be a .500 team and could possibly make the playoffs with a 9-7 record if they caught a few breaks.  I also gave tight end Ladarius Green some props and thought he would eventually be Antonio Gate's heir apparent. I also thought that the coaching staff had a plan for Danny Woodhead even though he didn't play much during the preseason.