It is filed under Matthew 5:5 in the Bible and it says the following: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Though you may hear it referenced on a Sunday morning in your local Parrish, it’s pretty doubtful that it’s a saying worshiped much in the church of A.J. Smith. Put another way, one could say that good old Matthew himself definitely wasn’t speaking of the National Football League.
In the NFL, the meek’s faces and mouths may inherit the turf, but certainly not the earth. In fact, the NFL is no place for the weak to seek — or for the meek to survive from week-to-week.
This brings us to today’s sermon on Chapter 1:1 of the new testament: the one that goes by the title of San Diego Chargers 2009. Looking back to the season opening-game against the Oakland Raiders, one might say: Blessed are the Chargers, for they somehow managed to overcome.
But you know, and I know — and I would like to believe that they know as well — that they won’t be winning much longer should they continue to play as meekly as they did on Monday night.
One need not know even much about football to have noticed that it was gladiators dressed in baby blue that were being trampled in this particular Coliseum, and it was those with lightning bolts on their helmets that were constantly being carted off to the Lions.
Sure — thanks to a couple of saviors known as Philip Rivers and Darren Sproles — the Chargers returned home as conquerors. But you have no need even for prayer to tell you that they barely made it out of town alive.
In case you forgot or haven’t noticed, the AFC is currently ruled by powerhouse, stomp-on-your head football teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. Pittsburgh, of course, won the Super Bowl last season and many think the Steelers can do it again this year. The team they beat in the AFC championship game was the Ravens. The team that had the best regular-season record in the conference last season was the Titans.
Those three teams have few stars on their rosters and even fewer manners. They ride into town, crush the opposition, pillage the locals, and tear apart anything that isn’t tied down. They play football as if somebody just stole their Blackberry‘s. The don’t care about the score; they care about scoring direct hits. They intimidate, they win, and they inflict pain.
Baltimore, in fact, is coming to San Diego for a game this weekend — you may want to hide the women and children.
Meanwhile, the pass-happy, pinball-offense domination days of teams like the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts are yesterday’s news. Sure those teams have cover boys like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to lead their charges, and sure they make all of the highlight-reel plays on Sundays. But just how many playoff games did those two franchises win last season? (Answer: zero). Furthermore, like the Chargers, both the Pats and Colts were fortunate to escape with Week 1 wins.
So, what kind of team do you suppose the Chargers want to be? The stompers, or the stomped-on? Even though they were winners against the Raiders, I think we all know what category they fell into on Monday night.
Among the walking wounded were LaDainian Tomlinson, Nick Hardwick, Louis Vasquez, Jamal Williams and Luis Castillo. Not a single one finished the game, and all are listed as the proverbial day-to-day heading into Week 2. Among those who’s bells were wrung in one way or another, you can add to the list Shaun Phillips and Stephen Gregory. Among those who were unable to answer the bell in the first place, make sure you throw in Jacques Cesaire.
At this rate, the Bolts won’t have to worry about gaining revenge in Week 3 for last year’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, they’ll just have to worry about fielding 11 men on both sides of the ball. If the lowly Raiders could inflict this kind of pain, what havoc will the Ravens wreak when they show up for the home opener this Sunday?
There are tough men who play for the San Diego Chargers. There are big men. There are men whose biceps are bigger than your thighs. Those whose thighs are bigger than your waistline. Those you certainly wouldn’t want to mess with under any circumstances.
Nevertheless, they were the meek on Monday night in Oakland.
That can’t continue to happen if the Chargers eventually want to attain their ultimate goal. Continue to play like that, and the Holy Grail will once again elude them.
– Ello –
