One play into their first defensive series against Miami, Shawne Merriman gimped off the field for the San Diego Chargers, not to be seen from again. Combined with the previous losses of Jamal Williams, LaDainian Tomlinson and Nick Hardwick, the Chargers now had four All-Pros sidelined, two for each side of the football. Any surprise there were some bumps on the road to victory?
Domination will have to wait. For now, these Chargers will have to simply get by with what they have.
The Bolts’ 23-13 win over Miami was far from a masterpiece. The defense started off poorly, got lucky once, made a couple of plays, and took advantage of a young quarterback. The offense hit big passes downfield and stalled in the red zone like a stick-shift Fiat going down Lombard Street.
And yet, the Chargers are 2-1, something they were not able to say in Norv Turner’s first two years as head coach.
Hear from Philip Rivers, Kris Dielman, Vincent Jackson, Kevin Burnett, Eric Weddle and Luis Castillo after the jump:
Vincent Jackson made the big catches but the Chargers sputtered in the red zone/(AP Photo/Chris Park)
If you are one of the many skeptical Chargers fans in this town, Sunday’s win gave you plenty of ammunition. For every gorgeous rainbow Philip Rivers arced to his high-flying receivers, there was a drive stuck in the mud just yards from its target. 1-for-6 in the red zone, two straight games of field goals, and players like Kris Dielman start to get frustrated:
Vincent Jackson, who had his second straight 100+ yard receiving game (5 catches, 120 yards), knows that the Chargers need to tighten up the details in order to convert their big plays into six points:
Naturally, the ever-confident Philip Rivers feels that with some renewed focus, study, and elbow grease, the red zone problems will go away sooner rather than later:
Regardless of the optimistic words from the players, a couple of concerns stand out. First, a big-play offense is going to suffer inside the 20, when the big play is no longer an option. Second, no matter how much you and I may love him, Darren Sproles is not an every-down back and is exposed in short yardage situations. Add it up, and you need to be tough in the red zone, you need to run the ball for hard yards…and that’s the territory normally covered by L.T. and Nick Hardwick.
The Chargers gave up yardage while Pennington was in the game but not points/(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Meanwhile, the territory normally covered by Jamal Williams was being trampled for a while, as Miami came out running the ball right up the middle. On their opening drive the Dolphins gashed the middle for 7 and 8-yard gains repeatedly, marching from their own 5 to the Chargers’ 1/2 yard line. Then, Chad Pennington botched a handoff to Ronnie Brown, the ball was pushed out of the back of the end zone, and the Chargers had caught a game-changing break.
The second series wasn’t much different, as the Dolphins eased their way into a first-and-goal situation. Then, Luis Castillo stood up Ronnie Brown for a big loss behind the line of scrimmage, and the Chargers’ defense forced Miami into a field goal. For the rest of the game, the Dolphins ran but not as effectively.
That’s in large part due to the efforts of the man trying to replace the irreplaceable Jamal Williams at nose tackle. Ogemdi Nwagbuo is going through a learning curve in the heat of the NFL trenches, but Castillo sees great improvement and a great attitude from a young man who by all means should be in over his head:
Another newcomer, linebacker Kevin Burnett, delivered his biggest game of the young season. Seeing more reps with Merriman out of the linebacker rotation, Burnett recorded 13 tackles and a sack. He sees week-to-week improvement by the defense:
And when things are picking up in the front seven, the back four get to make big plays on the ball. Free safety Eric Weddle already was starting to play closer to the line of scrimmage when Pennington injured his shoulder, handing the QB reins over to the unpolished Chad Henne:
The benefit was for Weddle to be anticipating when Henne turned his way to fire yet another pass in the flat. Eric jumped the route, made the interception, and then looked around and was amazed to see nothing but green grass between himself and the end zone:
It was an afternoon that, in the end, delivered relieved smiles to the Chargers’ locker room. But there is plenty of turbulence on the horizon, and not just on the upcoming cross-country plane flight to Pittsburgh. Without Hardwick and L.T., the red zone issues aren’t going away anytime soon. Without Williams and with Merriman hobbled, young players are going to continue to be put in situations where veterans are needed.
But, as Kevin Burnett said, the Chargers got a week better on Sunday. If they can start to get a week healthier as well, come December they might be on to something.
