Bring On The Chargers

Well I hope we have our players at 100% or very close to it, if and when the team plays the Chargers, because frankly SD plays the Colts tough each and every game and have been the Colts downfall of late.

Noooooooooo. I want no part of the Chargers and their freakishly tall receivers. You thought Jennings covering Marshall was awful? ALL OF THEIR RECEIVERS ARE THAT SIZE.

No way. Give the Colts a tune up game first.

In fact, I was rooting for the Chargers to beat the Cowboys and the Bengals next week, because I hold out hope the Pats jump over the Bengals to the three seed. That way, if the Bengals survive Denver (the likely 5 seed) the first weekend, they come to Indy Jan. 16-17. Meanwhile the Pats presumably beat the Jags/Jets/Fins/Ravens (well, the Ravens might be a better test than the other three) and have to play SD in SD that same weekend. Then, pick your poison: SD—and those freakishly tall WRs + Gates—or our most bitter rivals. Honestly, I’d rather play NE at this point, even though that would not be a day at the beach.

If you look at last year’s game the same WRs didn’t contribute heavily to the win. Rivers can be disrupted easily with an efficient pass rush and once we stop the run game (which this new defense can thankfully do) we have SD beat.
Also I don’t think Manning will be flustered by the :02 defensive formation change which Ron Rivera used to great effect last year, as I’m pretty sure #18 has already worked out the cure for it. SD’s defense also doesn’t have an effective pass rush and has inherited Indy’s weakness: no run D.

But there is no magic. They are no better than the Colts and have won squeakers over us, assisted by some unusual circumstances. 6 INTs? A slew of injuries? Four penalties called on the one OT possession? If you bet on those happening in Vegas, you’re probably pooping money right now—the odds were pretty long.

All of the areas where they had a lead over us in 2007/2008, such as running, stopping the run, and most markedly special teams, are no longer advantages for them. In 2007 they were ranked #5 in ST and we were #32, according to FO. Last year it was 12 and 24. This year that’s reversed and we’re ahead of them! No more Sproles two TD returns on punts.

Yes Rivers is playing well and yes their receivers are tall. That’s nice for them—I hope they can put their Christmas tree-toppers on without a step ladder (like the Bumble—lookee what he can do!). But if we played them essentially even over the last four games, despite their significant statistical advantages in some areas (like ST, which no longer exist) and flukey circumstances (which might or might not recur), then I am pretty confident in our ability to prevail the next time we face them. Hey, if Freeney breaks a foot again, we’re in trouble. Manning throws six picks, yeah, we’re in deep. If the WRs and OL decide to go “fight club” and maim each other the night before a game, yes, we’re in peril.

But if it’s a typical 2009 Colts game versus a typical 2009 Chargers game, then it looks okay for us. Not easy—they’re still a talented team. But nothing to worry overly about.

chargers have an old declining rb and bad coach