State of the San Diego Chargers (Part 3)
This is the third part in a series of article discussing the state of the San Diego Chargers National Football League (NFL) team.
Their defence could go downhill now that Ron Rivera left to coach the Carolina Panthers but bringing in Greg Manusky was a good idea, along with keeping their linebackers coach John Pagano, who will be able to work very well together since Manusky, Pagano
and Rivera all focused on having a solid defensive line especially at the linebackers’ position.
On top of all that, the American Football League Western Division (AFC West) isn’t really a strong conference to begin with. The Oakland Raiders will most likely be taking a step backwards because of their coaching staff and roster troubles, specifically
getting rid of Tom Cable. He was doing a great job with the Raiders and then they get rid of him and bring in Hue Jackson out of nowhere, it just seems like a performance that the franchise is putting on to show that they will be improving, whereas they were
doing great with Cable.
The Denver Broncos are having trouble with their starting quarterback, Tim Tebow, who was selected first overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He still has a bit of time before he is comfortable in the starting position but their decision to team up head coach
John Fox and executive vice president of football operations John Elway. However, the Broncos are still a year or two away from being a major threat in the league. The Kansas City Chiefs had a great year but it would be hard to do the same thing this year.
When you look at the Chargers, they have the number one total offense and number one total defence. The thing that kills them is turnovers. They fumble too much and give up turnovers way too much. They also led the league in non-offensive touchdowns with
nine, which created a problem for them in being competitors for the playoffs. It’s the little things that the Chargers are doing wrong that penalize their team because the defence can only save you for so long.
Another thing that you can tell from the games that the Chargers played this season is that there not only is there a significant change in the guard but that there is also something seriously wrong with their special teams. Their punter, Mike Scifres, is
one of the best punters in the league but kept on getting his punts blocked. This is not a fault of Scifres but instead the rest of the special teams that does not do a good job of protecting him.
We just hope that the team can fix that problem because when you have touchdowns against you in special teams, then your chances of winning the game are minimal. They have addressed the issue in the offense and have done an adequate job of upgrading that
position. One of the reasons why they had so many problems with their special teams is that they had so many injuries, especially to their linebackers. They were shuffling new and old players in and out and when you’re doing that, it’s hard to be consistent.
All in all, nothing more can be said about the 2011 season because, well, it hasn’t happened yet. All we can do is wait and see how the Chargers do.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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