State of San Diego...

[Puddleglum]

Time

For the record I'm a bolts fan, and I'm on your forum because talking with homers and the parrots of homers gets old fast. Now, on to the good stuff.

LOSSES

LT - As hard as this may be to believe, in San Diego there was an ever growing contingent of LT haters.

2006 - 5.2 yard average per carry
2007 - 4.7 yard average per carry
2008 - 3.8 yard average per carry
2009 - 3.3 yard average per carry

Source: http://www.nfl.com/players/ladainian...s?id=TOM683150

Ladainian is 30 years old and has had 2,880 carries. That's a LOT of punishment. It has been my opinion that he DOESN'T have much left in the tank and I doubt the Jets will prove me wrong. I'm glad he's gone he WAS great and is a future Hall of Famer, but I don't want him on my team anymore. Running back is a young man's game and as idiotic as it sounds (Ricky Williams not counting due to the green haze) 30 is ancient for a running back.

Cromartie/Chrome Dome - I loathe this guy, immature and refuses to defend the run. When he does decide to do something it is usually accompanied by a foul. I'd have kicked him in the arse on his way out if I could have.

Kassim Osgood - You don't know what you had til it's gone (in reference to special teams). He had been trying to play receiver for years though and given a bit of a logjam at receiver in San Diego at the moment. He was not going to play in the foreseeable future so he wanted out. A loss on special teams and they will be a little less "special" for it but we'll live.

Jamal Williams - True he had been dealing with injuries the past couple of seasons but has been a stud NT for years. I believe the Broncos were smart to pick him up, not only for knowledge of a conference rival but because he can still play when healthy. It's sad to see him go as he is a bit of a living legend in my eyes but it's time for the Chargers to move on at NT.

In closing I count most of these as good things, addition by subtraction as it were. Now if only we can unload Shawne "I suck without the roids" Merriman, and somehow Luis "Mr. Glass" Castillo (yes I know he has a ridiculous contract, but I can dream can't I?). Bottom line, it's gonna be an interesting draft.

[supercharg'd]

I have never had such a dislike for a qb than i have with Rivers.I hate the guy but have to admit they will always have a shot with him.

Can I ask why? I don't understand why Bronco fans despise him so much...

And I'm cool with what the Bolts have been doing.

We got rid of that worthless loser Cro. Any warm body will be able to tackle better than him.

LT will be able to be replaced with a rookie RB that can produce the same or more than LT did this year, which is fine. Hopefully our new RB won't trip over himself in the open field like a certain x-Charger...

We won 13 games without J-Wall last year, so I'm not terribly concerned about that.

[SoCal Dominance]

All that may be true until someone you say is more important than these guys get hurt...which happens in football a lot.

What happens if Gates goes down? What happens when Sproles gets laid out for the season? And it is amazing to see the Chargers fans talk about how Ozgood was nothing... the guy is only one of the best special teamers in the whole league...incredible!

Antonio Gates got hurt in our 2007 postseason game against Tennessee, and we still beat them & then the defending Superbowl Champion Colts. He also got dinged up in Week 1 of the 2008 season, and we still won the division & a playoff game.

Darren Sproles missed the entire 2006 season due to a broken leg suffered in training camp, and if I recall correctly we went 14-2 that season.

Kassim Osgood will likely be missed, but a good special teams player is much more easily replaced than a starting position player. He believes that he can cut the mustard as a full time NFL wide receiver, and Jacksonville will likely give him the opportunity to prove it. He was too far down on our depth chart at WR and should not have played in our offense at the expense of Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd or Legedu Nanee. With Osgood's height though, I would've liked to have seen him used in some goal line situations, but Gates excells in the red zone and is much more reliable.

California.

"We all have our faults - mine's in California!" - Gene Hackman as archvillian Lex Luthor in "Superman"

[OrangeCrushinMi]

The State of San Diego is.....

California.

[Chargerbomb]

All that may be true until someone you say is more important than these guys get hurt...which happens in football a lot.

What happens if Gates goes down? What happens when Sproles gets laid out for the season? And it is amazing to see the Chargers fans talk about how Ozgood was nothing... the guy is only one of the best special teamers in the whole league...incredible!

Yes, injuries are absolutely part of the game, and they can derail any team's season. I'm not sure you need to stop the presses with that stunning insight, but if you're banking on the Chargers dropping because of injuries, well, they've suffered more than their fair share of injuries to top players over the past 3 seasons. A lot of Charger fans point to those injuries as reasons why they haven't advanced to the super bowl in those years. I don't play the "what-if" game, but I know this team, like others, can adapt. If you're implying that they don't have much depth, well I don't buy that. I see them as having a couple of holes to fill, and suitable depth and talent everywhere else. If they don't address the RB or NT position in the draft or free-agency, then I'll sound the alarm.

Again, Osgood will be missed. But with one of the top 2 or 3 punters in the league, teams really don't have many chances to return the ball. A young guy will step up at the "gunner" position and hopefully fill Osgood's shoes.

[PopCornMuscles]

This should really be in the "Smack Thread." The problem is, no matter how our defense looks from the signings, our Offense is a problem. Chargers still have a QB that can hammer us.
Next year will be something interesting to watch, for sure.

He will not always hammer us...with pressure up front our HOF secondary can shut him down

[PopCornMuscles]

Lots of hand-wringing over very little real attrition. The team went 13-3 last season without Jamal Williams. Sure, they need a NT, but J-Wall is just about done, and not worth the $5 million he was scheduled to earn. The rotation they used last year might not get it done, which is why I'd like to see them draft Terrence Cody or another fat guy.

LT? He's been washed up for a season and a half. Yes, they need a primary ball-carrier who can run between the tackles, just like they did last season. It was their undoing when they couldn't exploit the Jets soft interior in the playoffs. Ryan Mathews at #28 maybe, or possibly Dwyer or Gerhart in the 2nd round.

Cromartie? Too dumb to play zone and too soft to tackle. Cason will be an upgrade in many ways.

Manumaluena? He's only used sparingly in Norv's offense that relies on pass-catching TE's over blocking ends. No real loss.

Osgood? I hate to lose him, but he's a special-teams gunner. Who cares?


This happens every year. The Chargers lose more players than they sign, yet somehow manage to keep building talent. It's called building through the draft, and locking up the core players.




I think the defense will be pretty good, although they really need a 2-gap NT in the middle. It's a young unit. Most of the guys back there are just hitting their primes, and they weren't bad last year. Getting some D-linemen back who were injured last season will help a lot.

All that may be true until someone you say is more important than these guys get hurt...which happens in football a lot.

What happens if Gates goes down? What happens when Sproles gets laid out for the season? And it is amazing to see the Chargers fans talk about how Ozgood was nothing... the guy is only one of the best special teamers in the whole league...incredible!

[SoCal Dominance]

Like most Charger fans, I hate to see Big Mal leave, especially to a divisional rival but the fact remains that he has been hurt alot of late. The Bolts probably hoped to re-sign him at a lower salary, but the Broncos pounced once he became available. Time will tell if you overpaid or not. When healthy, Jamal is one of the most effective in the NFL at stuffing the run - at least we can take comfort in the fact that he won't miss yet another season with a broken ankle due to a Denver cut block, ala 2001.

Something tells me that we'll "survive" in San Diego without Williams though, after all we didn't have him after Week 1 of last season and we still won 13 games. I think that recent history has demonstrated that our front office really knows what it's doing. In the 5 seasons since 2004 we have only failed to win the division once, and we have 3 postseason victories since Philip Rivers became the starter in 2006, while no other AFC West team even has 1.

I feel a sense of deja-vu, it seems that every offseason we're kinda quiet and you all make a splash, start the season off real well, only to fizzle out later as we pick up steam and storm into the postseason. Something tells me that we won't experience yet another slow start like we have the past 3 seasons, but we'll see how it turns out this time!

[ArchAngel]

Amen.
SD has only 1 super bowl appearance(they got smashed), but yet there fans think there way past better than the Broncos who have 2 rings with 3 appearances,plus 7-8 division titles.

The NFL is a "what have you done lately" league and the Broncos havent done squat lately. At this point, the Chargers are the class of the division, until we TAKE it from them, lets not beat our chests and think the Broncos are better than we think.

[#1BRONCSFAN]

Our team is "way past better" than your Bronco team. What your "franchise" has done historically has no impact on this year's "team". If that were the case, then Oakland would be better than both San Diego and Denver (combined).

BTW....your Broncos have had SIX SB appearances, not just THREE. :salute!:

I think you are just a bronco fan in disguise. You have a lot of posts on here. Why didn't you just stay in charger land.. Quit using are smilies

[Boltheads]

Which team had a better chance of getting to the SB this decade? Denver did not Oakland or SD. Did you forget before 2006 Denver was the power house of the AFC west. So out of 10 years SD been the better team for 3 seasons,Oakland 1,Denver 5,and KC 0.

Where do you get your facts?

AFC West Champion

2000 = OAK
2001 = OAK
2002 = OAK
2003 = KC
2004 = SD
2005 = DEN
2006 = SD
2007 = SD
2008 = SD
2009 = SD

The fact that you think Denver was the team of the decade just shows that your arguments are based on emotion and not facts.

It's okay to lose an argument every now and then. Don't try and debate something that just isn't there.

[theshiverman]

The final 8 Teams from the playoffs can not sign a free agent unless some other team signs a free agent from their team first, Williams was cut, LT was cut so they dont count.

if i remember right the Bears signed the chargers backup TE and then they turned around and signed some no-name turd RB Marcus Mason that was on somebodys practice squad

[InsaneBlaze23]

While I don't agree, I understand why you think Denver is better than San Diego. But, by using your same logic, how is Denver better than Oakland? Oakland has more "rings" and they've even been to the SB more recently than the Broncos.

Please enlighten me to your style of reasoning.....

Which team had a better chance of getting to the SB this decade? Denver did not Oakland or SD. Did you forget before 2006 Denver was the power house of the AFC west. So out of 10 years SD been the better team for 3 seasons,Oakland 1,Denver 5,and KC 0. A field goal stopped Denver from playing in Detroit vs the Seahawks during the 05-06 season where Denver and Pitt went head to head. Back to SD, Denver has a better record vs other NFL teams than SD. Like NE, Denver is 8-2 vs the Patriots,and 5-3 vs Pitt. This season was Pitt first time beating Denver in Denver since the 90's I believe.

[Boltheads]

Which is five more than SD. Thanx for catching me on my own teams SB appearances.

Also SD is not better, This year y'all will have no D only a pass offense. Darren can't carry y'all on his own. When Denver chokes its during the season but when SD chokes its where it counts,in the playoffs. Denver does better in the post season than Chargers. Oh in about Oakland there good years where with Madden now its different, Oakland is not the "end your career here"team. The got beat by a not so good Tampa Bay team in 2002, since then the have how many AFC championship appearances? Oakland is also a bubble team like the Lions and Rams for worst NFL team.

While I don't agree, I understand why you think Denver is better than San Diego. But, by using your same logic, how is Denver better than Oakland? Oakland has more "rings" and they've even been to the SB more recently than the Broncos.

Please enlighten me to your style of reasoning.....

[LSIGRAD09]

This should really be in the "Smack Thread." The problem is, no matter how our defense looks from the signings, our Offense is a problem. Chargers still have a QB that can hammer us.
Next year will be something interesting to watch, for sure.