#firenorv

I rarely write immediately after a game, but this has been building for quite some time.  What makes me the most upset about today's game is that I'm always conflicted while watching.  Earlier in the season, I felt like this team could become a different one from the squad we saw last season.  But  as I was watching today, I was thinking that there is no way that this team can win the west or even a playoff game.  I know that anything can happen in January, although Boltheads have only seen how that can lead to Chargers losses lately.  I saw Kevin Acee's Tweets that Tampa had such an awful pass defense so why was Norv calling runs?  I still believe that a team needs balance.  There are quarterbacks who can throw even when the opposition knows what's coming, but we don't have one of those.  Did we once?  It's irrelevant now.

At least our security's elite, by the way.  As you can see from the Tweet below, I really felt like we needed to run more.  Obviously, the line isn't up to the task.  However, Mike Mayock was right about one thing last Thursday.  There were plays to be had against the Queefs and Mathews couldn't break free.  It's those plays that he was drafted to make.  Sure, it was nice to see Rivers throwing to Floyd, Alexander and Gates like it was "old times," but I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.  We've seen so many bad decisions in the red zone by Rivers that it would be impossble not to be afraid.

Of course, I didn't want to Tweet that because I feared I'd jinx the team.  Who the fuck am I kidding?  We all knew it was going to happen.  So did everyone else watching.  This team has become so predictable under Norv.  The calls are just part of it.  Rivers cannot throw that pass under any circumstances, but I wasn't confident that the defense would hold if the Chargers tied with a field goal.

Sure, they held a little after the Pick 6.  But it was just another part of the big tease that they've become.  The thing is, they aren't even a tease.  We expect them to fail in the end.  However, I can't hear anymore how Rivers doesn't "have his weapons."  What did we win when those guys were on the Chargers?  I also can't even dignify the "Marty was better" supporters with a response.  AJ hired the guy no one else wanted to get them out of the first round and into the Super Bowl.  For one season, it seemed that he was right.  But after a 2-3 start, a team that was soft on both lines of scrimmage won out.  Yes, I remember goal line stands such as the one in Dallas.  But January football unmasks frauds.  We were one dimensional even though we tried (and talked about trying) to be balanced in 2009.  The Jets exposed them and Rivers, Gates and Jackson couldn't deliver. 

I could totally see the Chargers winning in Denver just to make it harder to put a nail in Norv's coffin.  Then again, the Bunkos have been getting better each week.  The same can't be said for the Bolts.  Right now, this team, this coach, this GM and this owner need to be put out of their misery.

It sucks not to have any hope after Week Nine.  But this was what The Organization did when they refused to make a change.  People are saying that this loss is not Norv's fault, but Rivers'.  Coaches are evaluated on results.  The one thing Norv's biggest supporters have always cited (along with his "genius" playcalling), is his development of quarterbacks.  Rivers has regressed beyond belief.  I don't know if he's even salvageable right now.  But we'll never find out unless we rid ourselves of the albatross in the Foster Grants.  Look at Tampa under a new coach.  Morris wasn't even there that long before he got canned.  I didn't hear the Bucs owners talking about "continuity."  They seemed to play with fire today.  Sure, they couldn't stop the pass but they were playing us.  I'm sure our propensity for self-inflicted disaster was mentioned during their meetings.

Sadly, Sammy bought this shirt for Aaron from Old Navy.  I'd like for my two-year old son to be able to wear it with some hope.  That can only happen if Deano can put on his big boy pants long enough to make a change that could actually pay off down the road.

RLW