Chargers Fall at Home to the Raiders: Good, Bad, and Ugly

There is just no excuse for that. He was half-assing it all night long.

I thought he lost it. That said, I agree with everything else you said.

This is not a very good team – period . You can lay blame on whomever you like from Deano on down but the bottom line is the talent level of this squad is low . Kinda makes one wonder who thought this team was reloaded and ready to retake the division after "the best draft in years " and some free agent acquisitions . This squad has the look of a 6-10 team ,or worse . I’d relish the thought of a high draft pick but AJ and Co. will screw that up – again . I guess we should be reminded of a line from Rocky – “at least they had a prime” .

that when his pass attempts are over like 23 or 30, they lose.

but with that being said it truly does seem as if we have a lot of work to do in this upcoming offseason starting within the organization as well as at the player level. It really seamed like PR and VJ were just waaay off last night. Every pass PR sent VJs way seemd like it was terribly over thrown and VJ always ended up just stopping on the route.

Maybe the rookie Vincent Brown will start to come on but in some respects I don’t hope so because then AJ can say “See – I brought that guy in”.

I have been tellin folks for the last couple seasons that Jammer is not at the level so many fans claims he is. He definately got exposed lastnight. He is still talented and can still play the game but to me he is really moving into that realm as the 2nd corner or even Safety (where I think he would be a great fit). He does fine against strong, physical receivers but lightning quick and fast…. well he is great at playing “follow the leader”. Just saying that if that is our #1 corner it doesn’t bode well for us because that means we don’t have anyone better.

What do we need? Offensive line help has got to be #1 – and young talent too!; Then we need a true top-of-the-line DB that can compete against/cover any type of receiver – this would potentially fix two positions (our Corner and our other Safety position by moving Jammer back to Safety); then we need another playmaker in the front 7 on defense. If Barnes can continue to play at this level when a healthy Shaun Phillips returns along with Luis Castillo, then I think you are looking at drafting that game changing, field general, nightmare walking inside linebacker.

Just my thoughts.

Rivers is on the bad list because he is AWFUL terrible decison maker. I dont care how manty times they were in his face what ever happened to the 3 step drop and release. Stop defending him he is not a leader not a motivator like Drew Brees. He is a big baby who likes to point fingers and throw the ball away like a sissy I think Dan Marino may have been more mobile then Rivers. He is a waste of 92 million dollars take him Larry English and Corey Liguet and throw them all away. Your first round picks are supposed to be immediate impact players the guys San Diego drafts are always busts. This tema will be bad for a long time unless AJ, Norv and Manusky GO

He played bad in coverage all night.

   To Spanos: Please do your franchise a favor and fire AJ and Turner at the end of the season. Your 5 yr experiment has lost it’s luster. These are AJ’s picks, his coach but crappy results (deep playoff run). Who is AJ gonna blame? Yes injuries has been a problem but what has AJ done to remedy that?
   VJack is not elite anymore. If I were him, I’d leave San Diego cuz IMO the Chargers are regressing to a bad team. The Raiders are much improved on defense; Hue Jackson MOTIVATES HIS TEAM unlike Turner. VJack will be make boku money somewhere else but it’ll be like a broken record here in San Diege, sadly.

Special Teams. After a while it looked like the Raiders were intentionally trying to keep it away from our return men. I was very pleased with the field position. Also, Vincent Brown looks like he might just turn into something special. It’s a shame that that great touchdown pass that he came down with got called back.

For bad, I have to agree with the Vincent Jackson verdict. He has been all over the place this year, in some games playing great, but in most he just isn’t even trying. Especially on that interception. At least try to catch the ball.

Personally, I think Rivers was just fine in that game there. I didn’t see anything wrong with his play. The Offensive line after all of the injuries (Why do they ALWAYS get injured when we play the Raiders?!?) simply was not doing its job. I know they were a bunch of backups and I give them props for the times when they functioned just fine, but those instances were the exception not the rule.

Obviously it ended up having no impact on the game, but it sounded like Hochuli basically said because the defender had a hand on the ball and he was out of bounds that the play is incomplete?

Does that mean anytime a defender can just get their hand on the ball and they step out it should be ruled an incompletion?

I know the whole O-line suffered but we gotta call out Dombrowski in his own special paragraph. He was just wiffing, over and over again. Once it was clear that he was completely out-manned how does Turner not send the guy some help?

Why are we not effective on screens? Why can we not hit Ryan like we used to hit Sproles? When the ends are just teeing off like that we should have some space.

we saw a team get beat that has more talent than an opposing team. It all boils down to coaching and adjusting. When Mcniell went down the raiders pinned their ears back and rushed every time. Did norv adjust by calling slants? did he go to the run game with Tolbert up the middle to stop the outside rush? The answer is no. He tried a little of this at the start of the second half but when you are already down 2 scores in the NFL you do not have much of a chance to come back. Hugh Jackson out coached Norv Turner period. He was active on the sideline he talked with all his players not just one (Norv and Rivers). For instance when that player on the raiders can’t remember his name fielded that punt at the 1 and then was taken down at the 10 (which was negated by a penalty) Jackson called him over and basically was like you messed up once get your head in it. Norv doesn’t do this, he doesn’t get his players motivated to play for him and they are done playing for him you can tell. This is Wade Phillips situation all over again. If this organization has any balls they would fire him today.

Was PR overthrowing or was VJax just not hustling? To my eye VJax was not trying. He wasn’t cutting hard. He was slow to turn his head and look for the ball. His hands weren’t up like he was expecting the ball. PR sucked last night (decision making, throwing) but at least he was out there fighting (and taking a beating). VJax on the other hand looked defeated and like he was just giving up. I can’t think of anything worse than giving anything less than 100%. PR looked pissed on that throw to the end zone where VJ looked like a little girl out there. When he made is “cut” he clearly saw the ball. Even if he lost it (which I seriously doubt) you at least get up there. You don’t just fall down and flail your arms. I hope there’s some reason for VJ playing like he’s a quitter – like he was really ill but tried to tough it out.

due to the fact tv was smashed by Chargers coffee cup brought upon Chargers loss last night. Black Thursday here I come!

Raiders had bad field position all night.

doesn’t have a chance. Horrific O-line, slow WRs and a hobbled Gates. The idea that this disaster of a season is simply that Rivers isn’t playing well is foolish. Total team breakdown.

From Rotoworld

Chargers OT Brandyn Dombrowski now holds the two worst single-game grades Pro Football Focus has ever given.
In just over three quarters of action as LT Marcus McNeill’s replacement, Dombrowksi was worked over by Kamerion Wimbley for four sacks and five more QB hits. He was also whipped relentlessly by Seahawks DE Chris Clemons in Week 3 of the 2010 season. Philip Rivers has to hope McNeill returns for Week 11 against Julius Peppers and the Bears defense.

From my POV, Rivers wasn’t the worst in this game. His protectors were. He got sacked way too many times, had a lot of pressure from the Raiders, and didn’t get many good chances at a clean shot. How many times did he have to run out of the pocket in order to try and keep the ball alive and make a play?

Although..Ed Hochuli…what a crazy call. VB had clear control of the ball, had both feet in the endzone, and was still holding onto the ball when he finally landed. Any other time, with any other referree, that would have been a touchdown. Even the commentators on the game thought the call was bogus.

Overall, the team is lacking speed. They just don’t seem to be able to keep up with their opponents.

I only got to watch the first half and the last “drive” of the game. I can’t say I was too surprised to see it end that way. Whenever I see Rivers with a chance to win or tie under 2 minutes these days, I expect to be let down.

The truth is, this team hasn’t been good since 2010. In many ways, I think Norv should be commended for keeping the team from completely falling apart. This is a mediocre team. If they were as talented as a lot of people seem to think they are, they would be able to take control of this lame division; something they haven’t done in 2 years.

Even though I just defended Norv, I agree that it’s probably time to make a change. Not because he’s the terrible coach everyone thinks he is, but because this team needs to be reset. It needs someone to come in and revamp the identity in the trenches.

Lack of depth all around and aging talent. I think it’s no longer a win now situation.

Time to stop any grasping at straws and start the full rebuild. Stockpile draft picks, let the aging talent walk (Gates/Floyd/ Mcmichael/ Crayton etc). Let Jackson go…..in my opinion he’s simply not worth WR #1 money. He disappears constantly. Matt Moore threw at Revis all night to Brandon Marshall and was successful because Marshall was winning the one on one match up.

We’ve got a good QB, good depth at RB, some good young talent on the DEF side of the ball to build around.

Time to stop hanging on to any delusion it’s “win now” time. The window has closed. Time to load up on young talent and get some depth since our entire team dies every season!

No excuses for lousy play but as THIS article points out, it’s downright cruel.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell this week told a San Diego audience that the league’s priority is to “make the game safer for players”