Chargers vs. Dolphins Preview

Both of these teams really need a win this week, so look for a hard fought battle the whole way through. The Dolphins are probably shocked they've started the season at (0-2) and they lost a close one last week, so they will come out and play like their season is on the line. San Diego can't afford to lose a second home game in a row, especially since they're traveling to Pittsburgh next week to face the Super Bowl Champions. The helmets will fly in this one.

More than super-accurate "dink" passer Chad Pennington, the Chargers need to worry about the Wildcat and the running game with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Last week, the Dolphins exploited the soft middle of the Colts' defense with some option run plays up the middle. With Jamal Williams out, the Charger's middle is now soft as well. Stephen Cooper admitted that last week he wasn't aggressive enough, and Kevin Burnett hasn't shown he can stick his helmet in there and make a stop at the line of scrimmage when it matters. The inexperienced defensive tackles, Ogemdi Nwagbuo and Vaughn Martin were pushed around at times last week, probably due to lack of technique than lack of strength. The Chargers brought in a veteran Alfonso Boone this week, but he is a cast-off of the Chiefs, who aren't exactly stacked on defense. He seems like more of a desperation grab. The whole Chargers D has displayed poor tackling in the first two games. Hopefully they went back to the fundamentals this week.

With this situation, someone else is going to have show some run stopping toughness. San Diego can't afford to fall behind as they did last week, and let the Dolphins grind the clock and keep the ball away from the offense. Hopefully, Ron Rivera will stack the box, forcing the Miami to rely more on Pennington, or dare Ronnie Brown to fling a pass down field out of the Wildcat.

If the Chargers can get a lead and force Pennington to throw, I actually think the defense matches up well with a short passing offense. Both Cromartie and Jammer can play excellent man to man, while Cooper and Philips and Burnett have shown strong athletic ability in coverage. Deep balls aimed at Clinton Hart or Steve Gregory are what give this defense the most trouble.

The Charger's offense has proven it can move the ball against anyone. The challenge this week is going to be punching it in the end zone. Look for Norv to make a much more concerted effort to run the ball with Michael Bennett, who didn't get much of a chance last week.

In the passing game, Rivers will take advantage of his tall receivers again with big plays over the smaller Miami DB's. If the Dolphins focus too much on stopping Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers and Malcolm Floyd, look for Gates to have a big game over the middle.

Lastly, San Diego has that magical wild card in Darren Sproles. Whether on kick off returns or in the screen game, even when you, I, the other coaches, the fans in the stadium and the cheerleaders can see it coming, he manages to make a cut a full speed that no one else can make, and wind his way down the field for huge play after huge play. He will again this week.

Chargers 27, Dolphins 24

Check out the NFL Films video preview:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-previews/09000d5d812e291a/Week-3-Dolphins-vs-Chargers-Preview

Norv Haters Relax!

Yes, the Chargers have lost a game they could have won and looked less than great in both match ups this season. They seemed timid versus the Raiders and didn't stand up to the Ravens until the second half.

However, Norv didn't smash LT and Nick Hardwicks' ankles, Louis Vasquez's knee, nor did he rip up Jamal Williams' triceps. Norv actually had a strong offensive game plan for attacking one of the league's best defenses as San Diego moved the ball up and down the field. Some stupid delay of game penalties and pressure up the soft middle manned by backups actually caused the greatest problems in the red zone.

The Chargers' last offensive play call was not the best call despite the UT's Sullivan's rambling defense about tendencies and all the studies the staff does before the game. During the game it's still a chess match and Norv made the wrong move that time.

More important for the entire season than one bad call was the way the heavily depleted offense gained yardage in chunks and how a defense without it's most important piece stood up to the Ravens in the second half. It's important to note that many "experts" have the Ravens currently ranked 2nd in the league in their power rankings behind the New York Giants.

In many ways, the offense looks much better and more polished than it did at the start of last season. I'd like to see more use of Michael Bennett this week (Turner said he thought Bennett should be used more). It just seems wrong to ask Darren Sproles to return a kickoff then come right in and take a hand off up the middle on first down.

This team still has a lot of confidence and fight in it. Norv has something to do with it. San Diego should and will stick with Norv Turner and see what happens. I think this season still has a good chance to be special.

Chargers Fall Short in Loss to Ravens

This was going to be a close game that came down to the wire even if the Chargers hadn't lost numerous key players to injury. It did come down to the wire anyway, and San Diego fell short due to weakness in the middle of the offensive line more than anything else.

On a call that I'm sure Norv Turner will wish he had back, Ray Lewis shot through the center of the line on 4th and 2 at the end of the game to hit Darren Sproles in the backfield. Had Nick Hardwick had been in the game at center, maybe that blitz gets picked up and maybe the Chargers go on to score that touchdown and win.

It did seem like a strange choice to run the ball in that situation with a double-tight end set when the passing game was working fairly well. You take away your own options and tell a run stopping defense that you're going to challenge them? With your patchwork offensive line? Fans will be upset, but I'm sure Norval will be having the same thoughts as he tries to sleep tonight: Why not a short pass to Gates? Hester in the flat? Naanee on a quick slant? Another jump ball for Vincent Jackson?

Despite this heartbreaking loss, I think this game showed a team that fought through mistakes, some bad calls, and bad luck to put themselves in a position to win the game in the end against a top tier opponent.

Even with the significant injuries sustained so far this season, the Chargers have shown they still have confidence and fight. They will win the AFC West and make their way into the playoffs again this year.

Because of the ongoing run blocking problems and the absence of Jamal Williams, San Diego will in all likelihood, not have one of the best records in the AFC and will again have to go through Pittsburgh, New England, or Baltimore on their home turf to get to the Super Bowl. It's possible to make it through, but also possible the Chargers will be shaking their heads again this January saying "Only if..." one more time.

Our saving grace on this squad is the amazing Phillip Rivers and Darren Sproles. These two seemed to will the team back into the game time and again. It seems like the offense is already clicking even though the Ravens kept us out of the end zone multiple times today. As long as the run game is broken, the Chargers will have trouble in the red zone, but the passing game seems as if it will be able to gain yards in chunks against any defense in the league.

The defense again had some breakdowns, but overall stood up to the Ravens nicely in the second half with some key stops. If they can find the rhythm and aggressiveness they had when the game was on the line today, San Diego will be close in every game this season.

So, even though the Chargers lost and are literally somewhat broken, they're head and shoulders above the rest of the AFC West and will get one more shot at the Super Bowl tourney.

Jamal Williams Out for the Year

The foundation of the Charger's defense has cracked. With Jamal Williams out for the entire year with a torn triceps muscle, the entire balance of the team and the season is thrown off. If the defense can't stop the run anymore, San Diego may not even win this terrible division and get into the playoffs.

This makes today's game an even more crucial test as the Ravens talented running backs will provide a good measuring stick as to what San Diego is capable of without Williams. In the past with Williams out, the middle of the defense was soft and other teams were able to control the clock and keep the Charger's offense off the field.

Rookie Vaughn Martin and last year's practice squad player, Ogemdi Nwagbuo will have to step up and play better than anyone expects for the Chargers to win today and have a chance this season. Nwagbuo did play reasonably well last week, recording San Diego's only sack against the Raiders. The Ravens will pound the middle and see what these guys are made of.

With the crucial injury to Williams, and LT out what looks like at least one more week, what looked like the most promising season in years is now under serious threat. Someone else on the team will have to step up and start making big plays.

Who will it be? The drama for today's game could not be greater. I'll stick with my prediction: Chargers 16, Ravens 14, but now this is simply a huge roll of the dice. Keep your fingers crossed in Chargerland!

San Diego vs. Baltimore Preview

The Silver and Black stench is clearing up and the Chargers will return to the blue sky and golden sun of San Diego this week. It's their turn to go a little berserk in front of the home crowd and smack the Ravens.

LaDanian Tomlinson will not go, but because the Chargers wisely retained Darren Sproles and Michael Bennett this off season, the Ravens will have to honor the run as Phillip Rivers looks to light up the passing game down field. He needs to avoid the best safety in the league in Ed Reed. Using Antonio Gates and Legedu Naanee across the middle against an older and slower Ray Lewis might be a wise choice and keep Lewis from being to quick to stuff the run up the middle. Look for screens and sweeps to Michael Bennett who still has unnatural speed.

The Charger's patchwork offensive line will be tested by Haloti Ngata (their younger version of Jamal Williams) and their own inexperience. I'm guessing the Chargers will attempt to use quick slants and screens to minimize the impact of the inexperienced line and not give much time for the Ravens to get to Rivers. That's good news when you have Bennett and Sproles in the backfield. Let's face it, the standard run game hasn't clicked for years, why would it suddenly gel this week against the Ravens, with the career back-ups in the game? Norv will have to get creative, BUT be thankful we have him. Martyball won't work this Sunday.

It seems pretty obvious how the Ravens will attack the Charger's defense. Tight End Todd Heap down the middle until the Chargers stop it and deep passes in the direction of Steve Gregory and Clinton Hart, all set up by pounding the running game. The Ravens have some talented running backs in Willis McGahee, Ray Rice and big Le'Ron McClain.

Hopefully, the adjustments San Diego made after the first quarter of last week's debacle against the Raiders will carry through to this week. The Chargers have to hope Jamal Williams is healthy enough to play and be effective. The home field setting should help the defense get a little more pumped up in getting off the ball and making aggressive plays.

Raven's quarterback Joe Flacco looked like a Hall of Famer against a terrible Chiefs defense last week. This week San Diego will expose him as a mildly inexperienced quarterback not ready to be anointed the next Dan Marino just yet.

This one will be low scoring, close and ugly. The Chargers will pull it out by a field goal:

San Diego 16 Ravens 14

UGLY

The offensive line of the Chargers did not block well, showing a lack of push and aggressiveness. Without the run game working, the defense of the Raiders could pin their ears back and go after the quarterback. The pocket continually collapsed both before and after Louis Vasquez and Nick Hardwick went out with injuries.

Critical breakdowns at the safety position again stung the Chargers... just like last year. AJ Smith thought he could get by without bringing in a proven veteran to this position. Steve Gregory and Clinton Hart (just clueless) have had enough time to show they're not much more than practice squad players. AJ: FIX IT!

The Raiders were home and played inspired football, doing most of the hitting and showing themselves as the aggressors throughout the game. Norv and the Chargers need to question why they have come out slow and with a lack of fire the last few seasons.

JaMarcus Russell showed he's still not a real NFL quarterback, missing numerous open receivers. It's a shame the Chargers couldn't get to him more and let him have as much success as he did.

The Chargers weren't able to get into a rhythm, partly due to first game jitters, bad luck and some inspired play from the Raiders under Tom Cable (maybe choking threats work).

Rivers' last drive and the calm the team displayed at the end of the game show why the Chargers are the best team in the AFC West. However, they still aren't playing complete football. If the Raiders had anyone resembling a real quarterback, they would have beaten San Diego tonight.

Hopefully the injuries to Hardwick and Vasquez aren't too serious. If they are? This could dash the Chargers Super Bowl hopes this season. Rivera also needs to figure out why his linebackers aren't getting to the quarterback. Has the 3-4 defense jumped the shark? Does it no longer confuse anyone?

This game should serve as a wake-up call for the Chargers to rededicate themselves to fundamental football: aggressiveness and blocking. They have a short week to prepare for the Ravens next Sunday. Despite everything, A WIN IS A WIN! GO BOLTS!

Chargers vs. Raiders Pre-Game Analysis

The Chargers should win this one going away tonight. They have a superior organization, coaches and players. The Raiders are a complete mess with ancient owner Al Davis calling the shots. Their head coach, Tom Cable, is not a real NFL coach, and he's only there because he will play JaMarcus Russell and quarterback no matter what happens. Davis had some strange vision that Russel will be a great quarterback leading the Raiders to many Super Bowls and he's going to stick with it despite what reality presents.

Some have said that Russell did better at the end of last season, but in the preseason, he still couldn't make the reads quickly enough. If his first option was covered he was done. Some folks, no matter what they do in college(look across the Bay to Alex Smith), just don't have what it takes to be an NFL quarterback.

This presents the Chargers with some interesting possibilities tonight. Sacks and interceptions should be there for the taking. If the Charger offense has a good night and the Raiders are forced to pass a lot to try to catch up, Russell will be exposed. Shawne Merriman should have a chance to test his burst and see if he can still do it in the NFL. Also, look for some new wrinkles from the Ron Rivera defense. I'm interested to see if the front seven can create more confusion and havoc than last year.

On offense, the Chargers will get to see if an inexperienced right side of the line will hold up. Starting rookie Louis Vasquez at right guard and Jeromey Clary at right tackle is one of the biggest gambles San Diego is taking this season. They will get to face the intimidating and talented Richard Seymour, who just flew in from the Patriots on Saturday. If the line can gel, open holes in the run game, and pass block well, the Chargers will have an incredible season.

I'm also predicting LaDanian Tomlinson will return to form this year. He seems to have absorbed the Marty-Hate for the Raiders (a Raider intentionally cracked his rib in a pile four years ago), so he should be looking for a big game. This game should be a good indication of LT's physical abilities the rest of the season.

Final score? Chargers 38, Raiders 10