My God the Chargers look good - Page 4

lastchance · #1 09-18-2006, 12:21 AM

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They looked absolutely fantastic. With any other coach they would be serious SB contenders.

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There are a lot worse coaches in the league than Marty Schottenheimer.

MacGuyV · #2 09-18-2006, 12:27 AM

Even against arguably the two worst teams, very impressive so far. We know their run D is excellent; it'll be interesting to see if their pass-rush is still dynamite against a good offense. If so, they'll be tough to beat as they won't be playing from behind very often, which obviously they don't want to do w/ a 1st yr QB.

bottomset · #3 09-18-2006, 02:29 AM

they will overuse LT again this year, moreso than last year and fade at the end of the season again

CharlieDontSurf · #4 09-18-2006, 03:24 AM

They have Turner...who is basically like LJ when Holmes was the starter in KC

anatta · #5 09-18-2006, 02:52 PM

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they will overuse LT again this year, moreso than last year and fade at the end of the season again

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The good news, LT doesn't take a lot of hard hits. Bad news, just takes one. So long as he has his quickness, I am not too concerned with all his touches early in the year. Its when he tweaks something later, slows him a bit, then starts getting into car wrecks a regular basis...

Unlike Priest Holmes, at least LT doesn't have to worry about Merriman turning the lights out.

anatta · #6 09-18-2006, 02:42 PM

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They looked absolutely fantastic. With any other coach they would be serious SB contenders.

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Neither I nor my friends are fans of Marty. I find what seem like obvious mistakes in his play calling and game decisions. His problems in the playoffs are well documented.

GM AJ Smith isn't exactly enamored with Coach either, as I understand. Fortunately, he has surrounded him with good coordinators, Wade Phillips for example. AJ's eye for talent is certainly impressive (Castillo, Vincent Jackson, McNeil in the 2nd, Merriman, Cromartie with middle first rounders).

Marty does have a rare combo of old-school coach and a fired-up "rah-rah" mentality. I think the guys respond and certainly play hard. In the playoffs, when everybody is jacked up anyways, I would rather have Bellicek to dissect and prepare a team.

On the bright side, Marty did open up offense for Rivers yesterday, and the defense has switched from a bend don't break to a more aggressive approach as their talent level has improved.

anatta · #7 09-23-2006, 05:35 AM

A little Bolts Brief as they head into the bye week.

In a post last week I said, "Antonio Cromartie is as suspected a total freak who plays nickel situations and he matched up well with tall guy Bennet and shut him down."

To elaborate, that's "freak" as in: 4.28 forty and 42 in. vertical freaky. He's a 6'2'' 210 pound rookie corner...arms to his ankles. Check him out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htdp7JRi0hY

This guy fell to 20th pick due to injury history. He started all of ONE GAME at Florida State! His numbers are from the combine so its clear he has healed. This could be the steal of the 2006 draft. (well okay Reggie Bush is THE steal...)

Merriman fell to 12th pick overall, picked just after Dallas' LB Ware. I heard on draft day that there were questions about his attitude. He was known as a workout beast, but I think a they thought he partied too much or something. Maybe his friendship with Lavar Arrington hurt him. No problems in reality. He is obsessed with film study and wants to be an all time great. Trivia: He was the youngest player in the league last year. His "lights out" nickname comes from his high school days when he knocked out 4 players in one game...as a sophomore [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] !!

DE Luis Castillo fell to the 28th pick overall after he admitted to all 30 teams in a letter to steroid use in college for an injured elbow. He could join fellow lineman, All-Pro Jamal Williams (widely considered the best nose guard in football), in Hawaii. (Jamal was a supplemental draft pick in 1998 and anchors the 3-4 defense).

The late GM John Butler (who died of lung cancer at 58) signed hoopster TE Antonio Gates who hadn't played football in 4 years, since high school.

BTW, I want to congratulate the Raiders, who due to their bye, won't be losing this week. Commitment to Excrement.

MacGuyV · #8 09-23-2006, 08:44 AM

Merriman might be the first player ever to lock up the Defensive POY after 1 game; what a beast.
What a horrible time to have your bye week though; early and with all that momentum.
Butler made a couple headscratching FA signings in his day, but I suppose that's true of most personnel guys. Very good on draft day.

anatta · #9 09-23-2006, 04:39 PM

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What a horrible time to have your bye week though; early and with all that momentum.

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I would like the bye to come later when they were more in need of rest and recovery. Still they get Igor back healthy, which they will need vs. Ogden and power running Lewis. The first games of the year are emotional, coming after a long training camp, a break now isn't all bad, like a really long preseason for them up to this point. The Chargers can have a good time for two weeks, give Rivers more time to prep, and build team comraderie or whatever.

But yeah, its like poker, when yr beat up and running bad thats when to take the break.

Jeff W · #10 09-23-2006, 10:01 AM

I think that while Cromartie technically started only one game at FSU, he probably got the majority of the snaps at CB in his sophomore year--he earned first-team all-ACC honors.

He is a beast tho... FSU coaches said he's the best athlete to come out of FSU since Deion Sanders. He's played well so far and hopefully he can continue to develop and avoid injury.

Marcus McNeill also looks good so far at Left Tackle--very impressive for a rookie.