Jared W. Smith

This Chargers fan has seen this face far too much, and it needs to stop. Today’s performance was, once again, pitiful. They completely squandered LT’s first real healthy performance of the season with turnover after turnover, and they have completely forgotten how to play defense. There’s a REASON why Ted Cottrell was working in the NFL office before he became the Chargers’ D-coordinator!

But let’s get back to Norv. The Chargers are showing clear signs of being Norved — they’re disorganized, not playing defense, and there are a lot of selfish people on the team making plays for their own stats instead of for the overall big picture (Cromartie, I’m calling you out). Most importantly, they do not look ready to play. That’s where coaching and conditioning come into play.

Remember, Norv took a 14-2 team that was one dropped interception from the AFC Championship down to 11-5 and squeaked into the playoffs. Granted, he got one more playoff win than Marty Schottenheimer could muster, but the more I see this year play out, the more I feel like the Chargers — very, very trendy Super Bowl picks — are going to flame out as the most talented 8-8 team in NFL history.

I realize that injuries have hurt this team somewhat, most notably the absence of Shawne Merriman in the pass rush, but that’s no excuse for completely failing to play secondary, for somehow forgetting the fundamentals of tackling…ugh.

The Chargers are now 3-5 and it won’t get easier. It’s an uphill battle for them to get into the playoffs now, especially if the Broncos right the ship after their bye week. (And I refuse to blame Ed Hochuli for that bad call in the Denver game, in retrospect — yes, it eventually did cost them the game, but the Chargers still have to make that stop, and they couldn’t do it — twice.)

At least the Panthers won today. Might don that shade of blue for the weeks ahead if the Chargers can’t turn it around.

In case you haven’t heard, all indications are that Tom Brady is done for the year. Last year, the Patriots talked about playing through the adversity of Spygate, etc — but they had all their players remain reasonably intact. The rush of air you feel? The rest of the AFC East breathing a sigh of relief. While the Belichick-era Patriots are resilient, losing their superstar quarterback may be too much. The Patriots are definitely more mortal now, and the division is completely up for grabs now.

Meanwhile, I watched my Chargers and the Panthers tangle to the last second, when a Jake Delhomme miracle throw was caught by Dante Rosario for a game-winning touchdown with no time left. Incredible! I hate seeing the Chargers lose, but losing to the Panthers is the only team I can accept them losing to. The Panthers haven’t looked this good in years. Having Steve Smith out may not necessarily be a bad thing for Delhomme; he spread the ball out to everybody. Delhomme always seems to lean on Smith when he’s in the game. The playcalling was very well-balanced (though going for it on fourth-and-1 on their second drive of the game was foolish), and the defense was as strong as ever.

This game is a gut-check for the Chargers, who need to strongly rethink their policy of leaving players out completely in preseason. Everybody was shaking off rust, and the regular season just isn’t the time for that. One silver lining: Philip Rivers looks as sharp as ever. His mobility was all there — it’s uncanny considering that less than seven months ago he had his ACL reconstructed. The Chargers will bounce back and will be fine; they needed this game to get a few things in check.

Looks to be a fun and wild year ahead; I’m really glad football’s back, especially after such a dismal baseball season.

The last part of this AP article (via ESPN) is just shocking to me:

The fans turned on Carr and the Panthers quickly. After Carr’s third-down pass was batted down near the end zone, John Kasay kicked a 29-yard field goal to cut the halftime deficit to 10-6.

But not before fans started chanted “We want Moore.”

“It’s not like we were purposely trying to not score points,” Carr said. “They were chanting ‘More’ — that they wanted more points. And we were trying to give it to them.”

Moore, by the way, is Panthers third quarterback Matt Moore, an undrafted rookie. And yes, I want Moore too.

Anyone with any sense knows that it’s time to bench Carr, not just because he’s ineffective, but also out of concern for his own safety, because he is clearly delirious from all the hits he’s taken as a result of him holding the ball eight seconds in the pocket every friggin’ down. How can he possibly believe that the chant was anything but a call for the backup? I’d put him on IR at this point, I think — too many blows to the head. After the season’s over, I’d cut him. He is not part of the solution.

People will say the Panthers’ defense isn’t as good this year. Statistically, they’re not, but considering they’re always on the field, I can understand why they look worn, weary, and exhausted every game. They’re just not given an opportunity to stay off the field for any period of time, it’s as simple as that.

On an aside, keep Sean Taylor of the Redskins in your thoughts. He was shot at his house early Monday during an apparent burglary. His troubled past aside, this is a guy who’s been doing a remarkable job getting his life back on the right track — and he almost had it all taken away Monday morning in front of his girlfriend and daughter in his own home. He’s still in critical condition (he lost a lot of blood and apparently flatlined twice during surgery), but the fact that he’s made it this far is certainly reassuring.

UPDATE: Sadly, Taylor passed away early this morning. Very, very tragic…

This is one of those Lousy Football Days that I will just care to forget…

• David Carr is not the answer for the Panthers. Period. He may be a warm body at the quarterback position, but there’s nothing that tells me he knows how to win. This is his second start where a touchdown in garbage time avoided the shutout. I hope Vinny gets better soon, and if not, then it’s time to call it a season and put Matt Moore in. Carr was, fairly, given a second chance outside of Houston, but he’s just rattled, porous line or otherwise.
• It’s too bad the Titans are in the Colts’ division. They’ve played all-out gritty football this year. I have to give kudos to a team that keeps its head coach around longer than three years, too. Jeff Fisher is one of the good ones.
• John Fox embodies the definition of insanity: Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. More David Carr starts will result in more near-shutouts. He is not directing that offense. Fox needs to put away his blind loyalty to his starters and put Carr on the bench.
• Whatever comes of Jake Delhomme’s recovery from Tommy John surgery, it’s time for the Panthers to think very hard about drafting a quarterback next April, just in case.
• Something’s wrong with John Kasay. I don’t know what it is, but he is not as automatic as he used to be.
• And here I thought the Chargers were making progress. Instead, they lose to a 2-5 team and give up 296 yards to one player, Antonio Cromartie’s NFL-record 109-yard short field goal return notwithstanding.
• Brad Childress had better be awful careful not to burn out Adrian Peterson now. That’s a weapon he’ll want around for years to come. There are so many great running backs that have had their careers cut far too short because of being worked too hard (Terrell Davis, Jamal Anderson, and soon, Cadillac Williams, for starters)
• The Packers are 7-1. The Lions are 6-2. No, I can’t believe it either.
• The Saints will still win the NFC South. They are most definitely back on track.
• …and yes. The Game. It was a good one, too — one the Patriots should have probably lost — but they kept plugging away. Make no mistake, they beat a good team that largely outplayed them most of the day, and yet they found a way to win. The Patriots proved today they can win ugly. This team has the best chance I’ve seen at going 16-0.
• The disgusted look on Peyton Manning’s face as Brady was kneeling to finish the game really said it all. I can’t say I blame him.

I find it hilarious that David Carr still thinks he should start for the Panthers at quarterback when Vinny Testaverde, who studied the Panther offense for a grand total of four days after getting off his couch, ran it much better than Carr ever has during the duration of this season. Carr looked lost in his starts, he held the ball way too long (his offensive line is no longer an excuse), and he paid a physical penalty. He’s clearly still rattled in the pocket, and should not be starting.

Yes, I realize Vinny’s won one game, and was against the Cardinals — not exactly a defensive juggernaut. But I would much rather have the veteran Testaverde starting against the Colts in two weeks versus Carr, who claims that he should start because he saw the Colts twice a year in the AFC South. (He didn’t mention that he only won one of the games on a last second field goal.) Even a broken clock is right twice a day, after all.

The media is going to frame this as a quarterback controversy, but there’s no controversy — Testaverde needs to be the starter.

I’ve had a lot of reservations in the weeks leading up to the kickoff of the NFL season about the performance of the Panthers and the Chargers. The Panthers looked awful in preseason; they looked flat and one-dimensional. The Chargers were entering the 2007 season with almost total turnover of their coaching staff, headed up by Norv Turner, who had won two games as head coach of the Raiders in 2006 and held a 58-82-1 record overall.

After today, I felt a little better. The Panthers, while it appears they still have some work to do, played really well today (especially in the second half) in defeating St. Louis 27-13. I was concerned that it took a whole half (and an injury to Rams offensive lineman Orlando Pace) for the Panthers to put anything resembling pressure on Marc Bulger, but they eventually did. Consider me a fan of new offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson’s new scheme — the Panthers hadn’t called plays that creatively at any time in John Fox’s tenure. Jake Delhomme was as calm as he’s ever been, and he wasn’t running for his life, either. The Rams aren’t a slouch of a team, either. Let’s see how the Panthers do against Houston next week — that will be an interesting game to see Matt Schaub go up against an actual defense for the first time this year.

Chargers-Bears was, to put it lightly, quite the defensive exhibition. Both defenses were all over the field, hitting extremely hard and making their presences felt. The Chargers made some crucial mistakes on offense, and it was their defense that did a marvelous job in keeping it a 3-0 game into the half. The Bears had LaDainian Tomlinson’s number throughout the game — but there’s something about that LT. You can’t keep a good man down long, so if he couldn’t run with it, he’d throw it, and throw it he did to Antonio Gates for the go-ahead touchdown (which ended up being the game winner). This is one of those games that also will remind Charger fans just how lucky we are to have Michael Turner spelling Tomlinson in relief. He’s very much a changeup back, almost a perfect compliment to Tomlinson’s style, and he helped soften up the Bear D so that the Chargers could finally make an impact. Fourteen points won’t cut it in that high-octane Charger offense, though, so they do have some work to do. I think today made a good case for Tomlinson to resume taking some reps in the preseason. He’s been held out of preseason the last two years to avoid injury, but it also means he has to find his game shape in the regular season, not exactly the best time to find that.

Keep your thoughts with the Bills and, specifically, tight end Kevin Everett. He underwent surgery for a potentially serious cervical spine injury suffered on the field earlier today after he covered a kickoff. After the violent helmet-to-helmet collision, he showed no signs of movement. It’s a very frightening reminder of just how violent and dangerous football can be.

The San Diego Chargers won’t leave San Diego for the duration of the playoffs except, God willing, to go to Miami for the Super Bowl. It came at a price, though — both Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson — winner of this year’s NFL rushing title — got injured in the game. Good thing they’ve got that first-round bye to rest up. Hopefully they’ll be alright.

Kudos to Jake Delhomme, for coming back for his first game in a month and ending on a high note as the Panthers beat the Saints in a pretty meaningless game. It’s something to build on, at least. Rumors are swirling that Keyshawn Johnson is seriously pondering retirement — check out Jay Glazer’s report. I’ll talk more about the Panthers as the offseason moves begin.

This 49ers/Denver game is like watching a football game in 1997 — primitive graphics, standard definition cameras, no yellow line…eep! Good game though — in fact, Joe Nedney just hit a 36-yarder to win the game, and just like that, the Broncos are out of the playoffs. The Chiefs are in as a result. Crazy. I kind of wanted the Broncos to get in, because the Chargers beat ‘em convincingly both times. The 49ers’ Frank Gore is an impressive runner — I haven’t seen much of him this season. Alex Smith has clearly come a long way (quietly, too!), and Jay Cutler clearly feeds off high pressure, but it just wasn’t enough for Cutler today. Good things will happen for him, though.

The Lions and Dallas…well, that’s why Week 17 is always interesting. Wonder what (Really) Drew Bledsoe will have to say on the subject.

Tonight will be a Brett Favre orgy on Sunday Night Football as the Packers travel to Soldier Field to meet up with the Bears. This game is pretty meaningless, too, as the NFC playoff field is settled and the Packers are out, and the Bears have had the number one seed wrapped up for a while now.

So that’s it for Week 17…going to record tonight’s game. I’m off to get ready to do…something. I think.

You know, with my return to work just a few short days away (Tuesday, to be exact), I really should be working on getting my sleeping patterns in better alignment. However, with New Years’ tomorrow night, perhaps this will work out to perfection. Tough to say. I’m still debating on what to do. I’m leaning toward the walking to a random bar thing though. At least it’d be something out of the house for a change.

In any event, last night was the night of bullet points. Tonight, paragraph-sized blurbs, sans bullet points, but with bolded subject headings in all caps.

FOOTBALL: So Week 17 has arrived, and the Giants, for all intents and purposes, are in the playoffs. Three NFC East teams in the playoffs…pretty amazing how that all went down. Wow, the NFC is a terrible conference. With this in mind, the Panthers need to start Brett Basanez tomorrow, though it appears Jake Delhomme is healthy and will go. Meh. Low-impact game in New Orleans. It’s interesting; if the Panthers lose tomorrow, this will mean that in every even year of the John Fox Era (2002, 2004, 2006) they will have gone 7-9. Every odd year brings at least an NFC Championship appearance. So, by virtue of mere year numbering, things are looking up in Carolina next season.

I fully anticipate the Chargers finishing their season 14-2 with a win over Arizona tomorrow. Then again, the Cardinals have actually started to put together something resembling decent football, though this week they’ll be without Leinart. I hope Marty leaves the starters in — maybe play LT a little less in favor of Michael Turner (this may be blasphemy, but letting LT have half the game off in favor of Michael Turner doesn’t really take that much away from the Charger offense — Turner is a fantastic runner in his own right and would be a starter on over 3/4s of the teams in the NFL) — but he needs to give Philip Rivers time to tune himself up for the playoffs. He certainly could use it, though the comeback win in Seattle was more than encouraging.

One random college football thought: Tommy Bowden hasn’t been fired yet? LOL.

PERSONAL WEEK OFF REFLECTION, ETC: It’s been nice to have a week off, though I’ve felt kinda crappy for most of it. Maybe it’s the whole being sedentary and wandering around the house thing. Who knows. It’s been a nice break though. I’d like to think I actually accomplished a few good things, especially with rearranging the room. I really do like it better, but there is one thing that is blowing my mind: My Bluetooth mouse has not performed very well on this side of the room. In fact, I relocated the receiver to the monitor which has made it better but there is still some interference over here that is nuts. I’m tempted to get an RF meter to see what’s going on, though that’d be one expensive tool (though it may be worth it in the future as well).

One thing that didn’t happen was the relocation of the Nightwind server to my room in favor of Healer running the weather station, but that will be postponed indefinitely as I continue to work out the power situation. I also need to change the light bulb of the overhead light. Not having the overhead light is — wait for it — low value. Though I will say this: I hate replacing overhead lights that are extremely high up. First, I have a thing about ladders — not a big fan. Second, this is one of those glass things I have to carefully rotate off, and yeah…ugh. That’s going to be fun.

MOVIES I WILL CLAIM TO BUY IMMEDIATELY BUT NEVER GET AROUND TO DOING SO: Snakes on a Plane comes out on DVD January 2. I never saw it in the theater, so I totally missed out on the cult aspect of it. I’ll still probably get it, though — just not on January 2nd. I’m not sure when I will — depends on when my impulses find Amazon.

COMING UP: I’ll be working on a “2007 Predictions” post of some kind to be scheduled for later on today, I think. That could very well close out the blogging of 2006, though!

Catch you all later…

J

Of the two games I can get right now, Colts @ Jaguars has been a much more compelling contest than the latest Panthers humiliation, at home against the Giants. This is a very, very interesting game — the Jaguars are up 37-17 right now, with 11:13 to go in the 4th quarter. If the Jaguars pull off the upset, the Chargers — pending their game at home against the Broncos at 4:30 — will be the number one seed in the AFC!!!

So yes, for today at least, my favorite of the two 1996 expansion teams is most definitely the Jaguars.

As for the Panthers, Chris Weinke is demonstrating why he’s a backup. He’s made some terrific throws and then he’s made some outright boneheaded plays. Put Basanez in, and FIRE DAN HENNING!