3 years ago everyone was calling for Norv Turner to be fired because of the Chargers’ tendency to have strong regular seasons and then choke in the playoffs every year. I bet the Chargers would trade the last three years for that. Over the last 3 years, the Chargers have begun their underachieving earlier, missing [...]
Oakland Raiders (4-11) at San Diego Chargers (6-9) Aside from this being a divisional matchup, this is a completely meaningless game for these two teams. Both are out of the playoffs by a long shot. I have a rule against making significant plays on completely meaningless games. If the teams might not care about a [...]
Last week: 24 (+4) Record: 6-9 Net points per drive: -0.18 (21st) DVOA: -8.9% (22nd) Weighted DVOA: -6.8% (21st) Studs FS Eric Weddle: 8 solo tackles, 1 assist, 3 stops, 2 quarterback hurries on 2 blitzes, allowed 1 catch for 10 yards on 2 attempts ROLB Jarret Johnson: 2 quarterback hurries on 13 pass rush [...]
San Diego Chargers (5-9) at New York Jets (6-8) Ugh. How am I supposed to pick between these two teams? The Chargers have been incredibly inconsistent and the Jets are a mediocre at best team who has just been eliminated from the playoff race making a controversial move to start a former 7th round pick [...]
Last week: 17 (+7) Record: 5-9 Net points per drive: -0.23 (22nd) DVOA: -11.8% (23rd) Weighted DVOA: -10.3% (24th) The Chargers are 5-9 with 2 winnable games left on the schedule. The problem is, they don’t win winnable games. They’ve lost their last 4 games and 7 of their last 8 when favored or as [...]
Carolina Panthers (4-9) at San Diego Chargers (5-8) I picked the Chargers to win at home against the Ravens and Bengals respectively in week 12 and 13 because, among other reasons, they always start playing really well at this point in the season, even when their season has been lost. Well, they couldn’t quite close [...]
Last week: 22 (+5) Record: 5-8 Net points per drive: -0.08 (18th) DVOA: -8.2% (23rd) Weighted DVOA: -7.2% (22nd) Every year they go on a run to save Norv Turner’s job. This week, they got a huge upset in Pittsburgh after word broke that Turner might be fired. With remaining games against the Panthers, Jets, [...]
San Diego Chargers (4-8) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5) A lot of trends say the Chargers are the right side. Teams are 102-57 ATS as dogs before being favorites over the past 2 seasons and the Chargers are favorites next week at home for the Panthers. Meanwhile, road dogs are 57-33 ATS off back-to-back losses as [...]
Last week: 18 (-4) Record: 4-8 Net points per drive: -0.14 (19th) DVOA: -8.3% (23rd) Weighted DVOA: -6.8% (22nd) Studs LG Rex Hadnot: Allowed 1 quarterback hurry on 37 pass block snaps, run blocked for 6 yards on 1 attempt SS Corey Lynch: Allowed 1 catch for 7 yards on 2 attempt, 1 interception, 1 [...]
Cincinnati Bengals (6-5) at San Diego Chargers (4-7) Last week, I took the Chargers for a big play for several reasons. Philip Rivers was 31-19 ATS in week 11 or later. In the last 3 years, as mediocre as they’ve been, they were still 10-5 ATS in week 11 or later, including a cover the [...]
Last week: 17 (-1) Record: 4-7 Net points per drive: -0.03 (16th) DVOA: -10.9% (24th) Weighted DVOA: -9.7% (24th) Tier 5: Teams many predicted to make the playoffs at the beginning of the season, but that are long shots now Studs C Nick Hardwick: Did not allow a pressure on 45 pass block snaps, run [...]
Baltimore Ravens (8-2) at San Diego Chargers (4-6) The Chargers haven’t beaten a team other than the Chiefs since week 2, when they beat the Titans, who aren’t exactly great either and then before that they beat Oakland. Why would anyone pick them to beat the Ravens? Well, that seems to be the public sentiment [...]
Last week: 17 (+0) Record: 4-6 I think it’s time for the Chargers to go on their annual late season run. Unfortunately, just like the last 2 seasons, probably all this late season run is going to end up doing is saving Norv Turner’s and AJ Smith’s job and not actually help them make the [...]
San Diego Chargers (4-5) at Denver Broncos (6-3) In my Power Rankings this week I joked, “Why does it feel like the Chargers are going to lose to Denver, fall to 4-6, and then go on their annual late season run, finish 8-8 or 9-7, miss the playoffs barely, and save Norv Turner’s and AJ [...]
Last week: 15 (-2) Record: 4-5 Why does it feel like the Chargers are going to lose to Denver, fall to 4-6, and then go on their annual late season run, finish 8-8 or 9-7, miss the playoffs barely, and save Norv Turner’s and AJ Smith’s jobs? Oh, that’s right, that happens every year. The [...]
San Diego Chargers (4-4) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) The Buccaneers are surging thanks to Doug Martin’s improved play and the improved chemistry between Josh Freeman and new free agent deep threat acquisition Vincent Jackson. Josh Freeman has a cannon for an arm, but he wasn’t using it last year, throwing 20 yards downfield or [...]
Last week: 15 (+0) Record: 4-4 I was not impressed with their showing at home against the crappy Chiefs last week. If not for two defensive touchdowns, that could have easily been at the very least an embarrassingly close win to an inferior opponent for a team that held a 3 game losing streak coming [...]
Last week: 8 (-7) Record: 3-4 I’m not sure this is the same Philip Rivers anymore. I thought his high turnover rate from 2011 was an outlier and that he’d bounce back, especially since he played so much better in the 2nd half of last season (14 interceptions in games 1-8 and 6 in games 9-16). [...]
Kansas City Chiefs (1-6) at San Diego Chargers (3-4) Side note: It’s week 9 already?!?!? What?!?!?!? On Thursday Night, the rule of thumb is to take the home team, assuming they’re favorites, as home favorites are 45-27 ATS on Thursday Nights. This makes sense. The home team not only doesn’t have to travel on a short [...]
San Diego Chargers (3-3) at Cleveland Browns (1-6) I normally hate taking teams that are heavily publicly backed, but that’s exactly what I’m doing by taking the Chargers this week. I’m also taking a West Coast team on the road in the Eastern Time Zone at 1 PM, a situation that is normally bad for [...]
Last week: 8 (+0) Record: 3-3 On bye.
Last week: 8 (+0) Record: 3-3 Last week, Norv Turner was the 1st Head Coach to lose to an Interim Interim Head Coach and this week, he was the first to blow a 24 point halftime lead since 1992. And yes, I have the Chargers 1 spot ahead of the Broncos even though the Broncos [...]
Denver Broncos (2-3) at San Diego Chargers (3-2) From 2003-2010, Peyton Manning was 14-2 ATS as an underdog. This year he is 0-3. Does that mean he’s done or not the same player? Not necessarily. His QB rating is actually 6 points higher than his career average and his completion percentage (66.0%), his YPA (7.7), [...]
Last week: 8 Record: 3-2 Once again, the Chargers fell flat in a non-conference game. Norv Turner is now 8-14 ATS against non-conference opponents as Head Coach of the Chargers, 4-9 ATS before a divisional contest. This week is a huge early season test for them as they host the Broncos. I think at the [...]
San Diego Chargers (3-1) at New Orleans Saints (0-4) Last year, the Chargers started 4-1. It was a shock to many people before they’re normally horrible early in the season, especially compared to later in the season. Prior to last year, The Chargers were 14-12 from weeks 1-4 under Philip Rivers and 41-11 (41-11!!!) from [...]