No need to wait until the last minute to go Christmas shopping for the Chargers. First thing this team needs is an alarm clock — and somebody to set it for them.
Game time in Pittsburgh on Sunday night was 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Nobody gave Ron Rivera’s guys the memo. Fire Norv Turner? How about somebody lighting a fire under the Bolts?
The only thing different about the Steelers first drive last night compared to Miami’s first drive last Sunday at the “Q” is that the Steelers forgot to fumble the ball through the end zone once San Diego’s defenders escorted them down inside the five-yard line.
Pretty much the same thing happened in the early going against Oakland on opening night and versus Baltimore in the home-opener. I sense a trend. Let me be the first to point out that following the bye week, the Chargers’ next game — a Monday nighter against Denver — is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
If the Chargers start actually playing that game by dinner time, they might have a chance.
You can sleep-walk for a quarter or two against Oakland and Miami…you want to beat playoff-caliber clubs like Baltimore and Pittsburgh, you might want to answer the opening bell.
Once it was 14-0 at Heinz Field, Rivera gathered his bewildered defensive troops on the sidelines and gave them a tongue-lashing. The message seemed clear: “Lets start playing some football!”
Is Rivera not telling them that before they get out on the field in the first-place? I don’t know, what do you think?
Of course, buying the same gift for every single player might get a little boring. Perhaps your local retailer may run out of those alarm clocks. So here are a few more gifts you can consider.
For Antonio Cromartie, how about a map? If you find that a bit cumbersome, at least give him a set of Google directions. He had absolutely no idea where the hell to go all night. The Steelers lined up four receivers on his side of the field, so Cromartie decided to cover none of them.
If this guy ever lobbies for a spot on the All-Pro team again, or decides to announce to the world that he plans on being the league’s single-season record-holder for interceptions, I’d get him a tape of his performance against Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward. The guy was absolutely clueless out there.
For Stephen Cooper, a good gift would be a set of pillows. This guy was pile-drived into the Pittsburgh turf so often on Sunday night the only thing that could have saved him was a safe place to land. He did finish with 11 tackles, but on most of them Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall looked like the guy who was tackling him.
Of course, Cooper wasn’t the only Chargers defender who spent the evening as road-kill. Luis Castillo was man-handled, Jacques Cesaire and Ogemdi Nwagbuo disappeared quicker than Lance Burton’s lovely assistant, and Alfonso Boone was practically driven out of the back of the end zone on at least one goal-line running play.
Boone was buried so deep in the Heinz Field turf that, had it been Giants Stadium, Boone may have found himself lying next to Jimmy Hoffa.
Meanwhile, you might want to consider getting quarterback Philip Rivers some bug repellent. Because the Pittsburgh pass rush swarmed him all night long. The Steelers came free from every angle and most of their front-seven seemed to spend the entire evening inside his jersey.
That Rivers managed to somehow throw three touchdown passes in the second half was rather remarkable given the fact that the yellow-helmeted Pitts-burghers looked like bees attacking an open jar of honey. LaDainian Tomlinson was unable to keep the Steelers off his quarterback either as a blocker or a runner. The once-great running back looked like a turnstile against the blitz and like a moth caught inside a light bulb on his seven carries (which went for 15 yards).
All-in-all, the Chargers were once again pummeled physically. Oakland did it to them, Baltimore did it to them, and even Miami did it to them. We should have known that Pittsburgh would do it to them.
Simply put, San Diego has played this season like it is trying to properly represent the overall softness of the city it plays in. As a matter of fact, even if the alarms sound and get the team to start showing up on time, its doubtful the clocks can do a whole lot to make the Chargers tougher.
Maybe the Bolts’ players can throw them at their future opponents to try and slow down the coming onslaught.
– Ello –
