Playoff Forecast:The AFC

Patriots

Colts

 Chargers

Steelers

 Jaguars

 Titans

Wild Card

Titans vs Chargers

Jaguars vs Steelers

The AFC once again proves why it is the toughtest confrence to compete in. Some players and coaches around the league believe that this year’s field is the toughest ever. They may have a point because there have never been a five seed that ever struck fear in opponents like the Jacksonville Jaguars. This team definitely have upset potential. The Jags’ two man running attack of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, the consistent play of David Garrrad, and a stingy defense propelled the team to an 11-5 record. The Jags ended the season 2nd in the league in rushing. While Garrad boast a 102.2 quarterback rating. The Jags’ d is’nt  too shabby either. They ranked in the top 10 in nearly every defensive category. Not bad for a team thatr playes in the shadow of the Colts.

Speaking of the Colts, everyone forgot that these guys are the regining Super Bowl Champs, and they went 13-3 for the year. Ironically, Coach Dungy wouldn’t have it any other way. Being under ther radar suits them. It really suits them because there is no pressure on the team. Its only motivation becaue right now, its all about New England and Jacksonville. However, injuries to key players are a huge caveat here. Marvin Harrison was injured for virtually the entire season with a knee injury. Dwight Freeny  is on injured reserve. The reports are that Harrison may be able to play in the divisonal round . The question is, how rusty will he be? The loss of Freeny is critical becaue no pass rusher=problems. The Titans, Chargers, and Jags are great in the backfield and they will exploit that weakness.

I am suprised that the Chargers made the playoffs this year. When AJ Smith dumped Schottenheimer for Norv Turner last Feb., I said ‘ Turner will ruin this team’. In the early half of the season, I was right. The Bolts, however, turned it up in the second half and the players may have bought into Turner’s system after all. I don’t know if it is the weakness of the AFC West, or maybe Norv Turner modified his coaching and bought into the players’ way of doing things. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it right.  The Chargers and the Colts are the true darkhorses of the playoffs.

To me, the Titans and the Steelers are the weakest links in the playoffs. Tennessee is one dimensional and Vince Young is inconstent and do not have quality receivers around him. With that said, he will move out of the pocket and scramble. Coach Jeff Fisher is basically using the possiblility of starting Kerry Collins as a ploy to throw off the Chargers’ D. We all know Vince will start. So, Fisher should stop the charade.

Pittsburgh may have won the AFC North but this is a weak team on defense. The Ravens exploited the hell out of the Steelers’ secondary on Sunday. If Troy Smith. Derek Mason, and Darling did that, what do you think Brady, Moss, Manning, Harrison, and Others will do?

For New England to continue their success, they must put 16-0 behind them quickly, and focus on 0-0. At the end of the season, the Patriots shouwd some dent’s in their armor. Primarly, their red zone defense. Offensively, I would like to see them run the ball more because opposing defenses will try and take away the pass.  Remember, four teams laid the blueprint for this, and would have won if they all didn’t choke at the end.   Now the stakes are higher, and there is no room for error for anyone.

 In the wild card round, I pick the Jags over the Steelers and the Chargers over the Titans.

FIRE NORV TURNER II: The Quitting Begins

Photo from NFL.com

Today, I read an intersting article by Michael Silver on yahoo regarding the San Diego Chargers .(http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-morningrush111207&prov=yhoo&type=lgns) After reading this piece, it is safe to say that the Chargers, just like the 2003 Raiders and the Redskins of 1994-2000 quit on this guy!  

Despite beating the Colts, the Chargers are not satisfied nor motivated and it is all because of Turner. The article said and I quote. ” The player’s dont respond to his leadership or motivational tactics, if you can call them that. They view his sideline demenor as frazzled and indecisive. And, perhaps worst of all, they are not embracing the strategic vision put forth on offense (by Turner, regarded as one of the NFL’s best play callers) or Defense (by Ted Cotrell)”

Wait, there’s more ! “We have the best running back in football, and yet we don’t sense a comittment to the running game.” One veteran said Sunday Night .  The veteran continued to say that the Chargers are running out of obligation and to establish balance with the passing game.

Indecisive? Frazzled? these two things a NFL coach should not be whatsoever! You can be calm and confident (Dungy), stoic (Nolan), manulpative (Bellichick), firery (ex Coach Cowher), a damn fool (Coughlin) or even cocky but braindead (Billick), but you cannot be indecisive and you cannot be frazzled because you will lose all crediblility with your players. I mean, act like you know something!

These two exerpts from the article says to me that Norv Turner is a fraud. He is not the same man that help spearhead Dallas’ Super Bowls in the 90’s. How in the hell can you have the best running back in the league and not commit to the run, especially when thats all you have!  Is he serious? Is he sick? At this point, I don’t believe that Turner deserve the credit for the Cowboys’ dynasty. Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Head Coach Jimmy Johnson deserve the credit, not Turner.

Turner instead is the blame for running an AFC champion into the damn ditch and turning the Chargers from sugar to shit in less than a year! Many sports reporters credit Norv for developing Alex Smith. Well, look at him now! Alex Smith can’t throw a tantrum!

So, in closing,  AJ Smith should wake up and fire this clown as soon as the season is over, and hire wisely!

Re Charged?

Photos from NFL.com

The Chargers had an offensive breakthrough and straight whipped the Broncos Sunday.  Obviously, the team tuned out their incompetent head coach!  San Diego piled up 484 yards of total offense and won the time of possession battle easily. This breakthrough reveled the emergence of RB Michael Turner. If Norv was any kind of coach, the possiblilities of a LT-Turner duo would be endless.

Antionio Gates caught 7 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown while LT racked up 140 yards in total offense. I guess insubordination is a good thing.

San Diego should have never given Norv’s clown ass money!

Dedicated to the limp offense of the San Diego Chargers. Get rid of the coach and you won’t need this anymore!

FIRE NORV TURNER!

 

The quote from page 117 in Jerry Rice’s autobiography bears repeating again but this time I will write it in its entirety. Recalling his time with the Raiders post Super Bowl XXVII, Jerry wrote and I quote, “Norv was never really head coach material and hadn’t been successful in that role. He couldn’t control players, and guys like Charles Woodson walked all over him. Woodson routinely showed up late for practice and meetings when he felt like it, along with  some teammates. Even as we were losing, there was no sense of urgency.”

Today on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, Tom Jackson said the same thing about San Diego not playing with urgency especially during the “revenge game” against the Patriots last week.  Today, Norv and the Chargers turned in another passionless, half assed effort against Green Bay and the result was a 21-34 loss.

After three games of the Norv Turner era, I believe that it is time for General Manager AJ Smith  and Owner Alex Spanos to fire him because the state of the Chargers will not get any better. When the team replaced Marty Shottenheimer with Norv in the offseason, I just knew that he would ruin this Super Bowl caliber team. In three weeks, Turner  made a high powered, explosive offense impotent. LT has yet to break the 100 yard plateau, Phillip Rivers is still in need of quality receivers, and the defense  is doing all they can to help the team stay competitive. Overall the San Diego Chargers are reverting to thier loosing ways and it is all because of Norv.

This “coach” did the same thing in Oakland when he took an AFC Champion and ran it into the ground. Turner’s ways is what probably made Charles Woodson and other players apathetic. If this keeps up, I’m sure there will be some Chargers that will quit on his ass also. Why should they care if the coach obviously doesn’t?

I have a question for you guys out there, if Smith and Spanos in fact fire Norv, who should be his replacement?

RED ZONE’S SEASON FORECAST: AFC WEST

1.  Chargers

While I’m not really confident in General Manager A.J. Smith’s and CEO Dean Spanos’ decision to dump Marty Schottenheimer for Norv Turner, I believe that this team can easily win the AFC West and become a problem for the conference’s elite.  While Turner’s hire only benefit QB Philip Rivers, San Diego is a team that can basically run itself. Despite having a talented offensive coordinator yet flawed head coach at the helm, this team will preservere.

Look for the bolts’ defense to be stronger than ever this year as Ron Rivera brings his championship winning Tampa 2 scheme to the West Coast.

2007 projected record 13-3

2. Broncos

Offseason Tragedies aside, this is a strong and solid football team. I see Jay Cutler coming into his own as a starting QB. Skill players such as RB Chris Henry and WRs Javon Walker and Rod Smith are only three weapons that Cutler will rely on.

Denver’s defense was ranked 14th in the league last year. While their stats are not stunning, they managed to keep the Broncos conpetitive.

 2007 projected record 10-6

  

3. Chiefs

Granted, Larry Johnson received his big pay day and is currently in camp, it just doesn’t matter without a passing game to take the pressure off of the pro bowler.

The defense is pretty much shot. The linemen are going to have some hard times this year. Well at least, these guys play to win the game!

2007 projected record 9-7

4. Raiders

Just wait ’til next year, Baby!  The defense, while menancing and nasty, cannot win games alone.

 2007 projected record  8-8

Tomlinson to see more passes?

According to Chargers.com and ESPN’s NFL Live, Norv Turner is planning to use LaDainian Tomlinson more in their passing schemes.  Honestly, I really don’t know why this is newsworthy because most everyone uses their running back in passing situations. When all of your primary receivers are covered, your running back have to step up and catch the ball.

This is the main reason why many coaches want a Marshall Faulk like back-to give the quarterback an extra option or even a luxury.

In the Chargers’ case, it really doesn’t suprise me that Tomlinson was second to Antonio Gates in receptions because Phillip Rivers did not really have the receivers to have a effective passing scheme. But then again, passing is nearly an afterthought in ‘Marty Ball’. With Turner, passing matters because he was obviously spoiled in Dallas.

In this case, Turner is creating formations that will have LT and Gates work off of each other and to prevent double teams. So what does this mean for the rest of the AFC? To me, it means you will have a hard time stoping LT on the ground but it is possible to contain him in the air.  More often than not,  The Chargers will probably run the variations of the “Air Coryell” offense meaning, they already have a power running game (LT) but they will try and stretch the field by passing.

 Remember guys, this will only work if you have a strong running game AND passing game. LT is great on the ground and air and Gates is a great TE but the receivers are the weakness here. Having LT to catch more indicates the lack of depth at receiver. 

My guess, Chicago and Baltimore will exploit that weakness all the way to a couple of wins.

Not Convinced

 

“Norv was never really head coach material and hadn’t been successful in that role,”

-Former 49er and Raider great Jerry Rice in his book “Go Long! My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame”

If the San Diego Chargers would have read page 117 of Jerry’s book and paid close attention to Norv Turner’s record with Washington and Oakland, they would not have hired him. I don’t believe that Turner would have even been considered for the job if the Chargers’ brass would have really done their homework.

Dont get me wrong, Norv is a talented Offensive Coordinator. His system won back to back Super Bowl rings for Dallas. Unfortunately, the success that he had as an OC, did not carry over to the stints as head coach for the Redskins and Raiders. His record as a head coach is 58 wins and 82 losses with one appearance in the playoffs.

While the Chargers is a bonifide AFC powerhouse and have an immense upside for the 2007 season, I am afraid that Turner will come in and destroy what Schottenheimer, Tomilison, Brees, and Merriman worked so hard to accomplish. While ‘Marty Ball’ had it’s critics, it thrived in San Diego and LT have the stats and the MVP trophy to prove it. The only reason why the Chargers’ lost in the divisional playoffs was because of a penality that had nothing to do with the coach.

I believe that firing Schottenheimer without cause is a terrible mistake, and a mistake that they will pay for with Norv. The Chargers will pay for it not only with their wallets (they still owe Marty $4 million) but with their 2007 record.