I hate to ruin everyone else's fun and Super Bowl plans, but the San Diego Chargers are a bad football team. So bad, in fact, that they're going to lose at home on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs while the game is blacked out locally. Los Angeles will write articles laughing at our fanbase and saying how they don't even want the Chargers until Norv Turner is gone, and they'll be right.
Not one person can explain to me how the 2011 Chargers is any different than the 2010 Chargers, because there is no difference. "But this team has Vincent Jackson", you say. Shut up, adults are talking. You are a baby that is too dumb to realize that Antonio Gates' might actually be playing on a prosthetic foot and nobody has told us yet. Those two things cancel each other out. Last week, with Richard Goodman and Wes Welker not able to get open against the Patriots terrible CBs, it looked an awful lot like the terrible 2010 Chargers team.
Here are the things the Chargers have become known for:
- Putting up big offensive stats, and sometimes defensive stats.
- Playing up or down to the level of the competition.
- Winning or losing every game in the 4th quarter.
- Never, ever winning the turnover battle unless it's handed to them on a silver platter.
- Playing as if it's the first time anyone on the team has been introduced to the sport of American Football.
To me, those things easily add up to what we've seen over the last few years. Every Chargers win is almost by luck, needing absolutely every bounce to go their way, and every loss is because the team shoots itself in the foot. The team is never prepared with a functional gameplan to start the game, essentially handing opposing teams a double-digit lead. This is why the Chargers can not beat good teams. This is why the Chargers suck in the playoffs.
The Kansas City Chiefs might be the worst team in the league. All that means to me, at this moment, is that the San Diego Chargers will play like one of the worst teams in the league this week and spot the Chiefs a double-digit lead before trying to make some furious comeback and eventually failing due to idiotic mistakes.
Earlier this week, in talking about the loss to the Patriots, Norv Turner said....and I quote....."Yesterday, we were four turnovers away from having a chance."
Deep breath. Take a deep breath.
I am almost certain that Norv Turner does not know what a turnover is. I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand the game of football at all. Are we sure that he doesn't think that this is basketball? Because in basketball, a four turnover difference is not a real big deal. In football, nobody is ever "four turnovers away from having a chance". At that point, you are just a bad team and you don't stand a chance unless you're playing a really terrible team.
When the Chargers lost to the Patriots last season, it was because of a four turnover difference then too. When the Chargers stomped the
Jaguars in 2010, it was because of a 3 turnover difference in the Chargers favor. When the beat up on the
Cardinals, a 2 turnover difference in their favor. This is not difficult to figure out. If you have less turnovers on offense than the team you're playing, you have a chance to win the game. If you turn the ball over four more times than the other team, you have no chance at all. Shouldn't Norv Turner be a little more concerned that his team never, ever, ever wins the turnover battle against good teams (unless that team is the
Colts)?
In two games against the Chiefs last season, the Chargers went 1-1. They turned the ball over 3 times and forced no turnovers. Not one. The time they won had a lot to do with the fact that Brodie Croyle wouldn't have been able to hit the ocean if he were throwing a football from the beach on that day. The time they lost it was because they kept it close, made mistakes and stereotypically left it up to luck at the end of the game to determine the winner. Luck has grown tired of helping out San Diego.
Just because the Chiefs don't have
Jamaal Charles or
Eric Berry or
Tony Moeaki this season does not mean they're any worse than the 2010
Seahawks,
Bengals,
Rams, Chiefs or
Raiders. The Chargers gave every one of those teams a chance by playing terrible, mistake-filled football. I've yet to see anything that shows me that this iteration of the Bolts is any better than that one.
Considering the team's confidence in response to another loss caused by their terrible, mistake-filled football on Sunday, they seem okay with playing this way. Don't be surprised if the Chiefs are in this game in the 4th quarter, with the winner determined by luck.
