Sunday, November 16, 2008

That's all folks

With San Diego losing to the Steelers 11-10 today, the Chargers can all but kiss their playoff hopes goodbye.

Positives:
- LT's looking better: 18 carries for 54 yds & a TD isn't a whole lot to brag about, but remember, he is playing with a injured toe and he's not the explosive running back that set the NFL single-season record for most rushing TD's, but with time, he'll be back to full strength.

- Finally the defense came alive (at least thought the first three quarters) today.

Negatives:
- The Broncos beat the Falcons 24-20 today, now sitting atop a two-game lead in the AFC West, and San Diego needed a win to stay one game behind. Denver had to choke the rest of the way in order to clinch the title and the fourth seed in the playoffs.

- Philip Rivers, for lack of a better word, sucked in this game. Two pics and a safety coming in the 1st quarter.....come on, Philip, you're better than this.

- Receiving was abysmal - nuff said.

- No matter how this season ends, the 09 campaign will be a make-or-break year for both Norv Turner and Philip Rivers. San Diego doesn't make the playoffs next time round, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if on of them, or both, were run out of town on a rail. The person who should be worrying about his job right now is A.J. Smith. All his controversial moves - from firing Marty Schottenheimer, to replacing Drew Brees for Rivers - are coming full circle on him. If anyone should be worried about finding a new job, it's the Chargers GM. Plus, I respect both Rivers and Turner after what they did last season, and to an extent, I believe they take a lot of unnecessary blame from the fans.

The best the Bolts can do is play for next season and finish strong, preferably a 10-6 or 9-7 finish to end the regular season. Other than that, there's not much else the Chargers can do but hope that New England, Buffalo, Baltimore, and Indy slip up for the Wild-Card spots.

No comments: