Mike Florio talks about the Chargers not making the playoffs next year

by Stephen (shaynes41) on May 16, 2009 7:00 AM PDT in San Diego Chargers Radio Interviews

XTRA Sports 1360 : Josh and Brian interview Mike Florio (mp3), 5/13

Mike Florio writes for SportingNews.com and ProFootballTalk.com and wrote a story identifying 6 teams that made the playoffs last year and might not next year, and the Chargers were one of them.

Last year, the San Diego Chargers needed a miracle to capture the watered-down AFC West and make it to the playoffs.

This year, lightning might not strike again.

On paper, the Chargers have the talent. But questions persist regarding whether Norv Turner is the right man for this or any NFL head-coaching job.

So even with Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson, Darren Sproles and a healthy Shawne Merriman and a healthy Jyles Tucker and a rookie first-rounder who does the same thing that both of them do, it might not be enough to make it four straight division titles in a wide-open AFC West featuring teams in Kansas City and Oakland that might be more dangerous than expected. (We can forget about the Broncos.)

Will the AFC West be competitive finally? It was competitive last year, if 8-8 wins it, it is competitive, it may not be good, but it is competetive
Florio's problem with the Chargers is the coach not the talent. Norv has not achieved what the talent should and could achieve, and because of that you cannot assume that they are going to live up to that and have another great season.
Half the teams that make the playoffs one year don't make it the next. You could make the argument that since the Chargers have made the playoffs three years straight they are due not to make it (Note: Vegas loves it when guys like this play Roulette... 3 reds in a row? I'm putting all my money on black!)
Is Norv to the point where he needs to win the Super Bowl to be embraced by the city? Yes, at some point. He came to city after past failures as a Head Coach. Kasim Osgood said Norv was a great offensive coordinator but maybe not the best to pull everything together.
What is the national perspect on the Chargers' future free agents (Rivers, Gates, Merriman, etc.)? A lot depends on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). If no new CBA, Merriman will be a restricted free agent. Rivers will be franchised. Someone will be an unrestricted free agent. They can keep them, but it won't be cheap. There are two franchise tags in the uncapped year. In the uncapped year, the team will have a few more options for keeping guys that it wouldn't under the current CBA.
Andre Smith (the OT from Alabama) has fired his most recent agent and is going back to his old agent. Speculation is that Smith fired his first agent before the draft to make himself more attractive to teams so he would get drafted higher. Now that he has been drafted, he is firing agent #2 and going back to agent #1... the old bait and switch. Apparently Merriman did something similar when he was drafted and picked up the Poston brothers after the draft. (who have also since been suspended for two years and are now back)
Florio thinks the future for the NFL is international, with a team in London. Growth potential is much bigger worldwide than just in America. Timeframe is probably decades.
Team in Vegas? Probably not, the NFL doesn't want to mess with the gambling thing. More likely to put a team or two in LA first (Note: Chicago could probably handle another team as well.)
Guys like Holmgren, Shanahan, Gruden, Billick, and Cowher are making sure the owners remember them. It makes any current coach's hot seat even hotter.

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Comments

He's welcome to his opinion.

But you could say the exact same things about the Colts and it would be even more true because they actually have other good teams in their division.

There is a point to be made about how it’s difficult to stay good for many years in a row. But the thing is, we already had our down season in 2008. Just about everything that could go wrong did and we finished 8-8. We just got lucky enough to be in a sucky division and still made the playoffs.

So it actually makes a lot of sense for us to rebound this year after a sub-par year last year.

by Zach (maestro876) on May 16, 2009 1:19 PM PDT reply actions

And there's no way Rivers gets franchised.

That deal’s going to get done, one way or another.

by Zach (maestro876) on May 16, 2009 1:37 PM PDT reply actions

I agree

I think it was more speculation about what would happen if we made it to the end of the year without a new CBA and without signing any of our big FAs.

by Stephen (shaynes41) on May 16, 2009 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions

First and foremost - It’s the O-Line that dictates our success next year.

Merriman is back,
Upgraded the front seven in the draft
We cleared out that conservative Ted Cotrell (hey Ron don’t make Ted’s mistake just go after the QB)
The D is going to be as good as or better than last year

We have the skills on offence, so pass or run comes down to the big boys.

I don’t think they are telling us the whole story about Marcus McNeill. Personally I don’t expect him to return to the game, I think he’ll retire or return and be ineffective/get hurt further and be PUP’d or IR’d. Thank you Marcus for all you’ve done, sorry about this unfortunate and serious injury. Left side protection GONE. Left side run blocking GONE.

Who is on the right side (G &T) committee again? Yeah another patch work Chargers O-line… I’ve seen that movie before and I know how it ends. The blocking schemes break down… The run gets stuffed and a really good quarterback has to retire due to head trauma.

If the O-line has the problems I anticipate, our Offence is going to sputter.

by Trendsearcher on May 18, 2009 3:20 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

we are definately think at the OT position

with LJ Shelton as the only backup with significant NFL experience. We didn’t even draft and OT, although we signed a could UDFAs. That leads me to believe that the FO thinks McNeil is coming back healthy, but what do I know? We will see once camp starts. It would a shame to have this season go down the tubes because of a lack of OL depth.

by Stephen (shaynes41) on May 18, 2009 7:45 PM PDT up reply actions