LTowns515

This offseason has seemed to drag on for an eternity, but it has finally come. The most wonderful time of the year: football season! It is upon us men! Im sure many of you have already done your fantasy draft and read countless articles on how your team is going to do this season. I know i have never been so excited for a football season to start. That being said here are my week 1 picks, no spread involved.

1. Titans @ Steelers: this is one of the best matchups of week 1 and a great way to kick off the season. I take this as a tossup but in the end i gotta go with the defending champs and their scary good defense. Pick: STEELERS in a close one

2. Dolphins @ Falcons: two of the biggest suprises last seasons as both went from top 3 draft picks to playoff teams. But i dont see the dolphins doing quite as well this year as the wildcat wont suprise people like it did. Plus falcons have Tony Gonzalez now. Pick: FALCONS win comfortably

3. Chiefs @ Ravens: the chiefs look like they have the pieces to become a solid team, but for now they are just a pretty pathetic team until that talent develops, ravens d kills the weak chiefs offense. Pick: RAVENS destroy

4. Eagles @ Panthers: i love the eagles this year, they have a strong defense, good quarterback, young receivers, and solid running backs. They are, in my opinion, the team to beat in the NFC. Pick: EAGLES win, by more than you might expect

5. Broncos @ Bengals: are the donkeys bent on ruining their team? They have a good young quarterback in Jay Cutler and a great coach in Mike Shanahan, and what do they do? get rid of both of them! And now theyve suspended brandon marshall, theyre done this season. Pick: BENGALS by a lot.

6. Vikings @ Browns: why does mangini thinks he is smart for keeping the qb thing a secret? Everybody knows its gonna be Brady Quinn, unless hes really stupid. Brett Favre has a good first game for the vikes. Pick: VIKINGS kill

7. Jets @ Texans: unlike most people, im not at all sold on Mark Sanchez, i think he will not be a very good qb in this league and he will struggle mightily as a rookie. Matt Schaub had better do well, hes on my fantasy league. Pick: TEXANS win easily

8. Jaguars @ Colts: afc south games are always close, and this will be no exception. Im torn on who to pick, but in the end it comes down to quarterbacks for me, and there its no contest. Pick: COLTS in a close one

9. Lions @ Saints: come on, its that killer saints offense lead by the great Drew Brees versus the horrendous lions d. This one wont be pretty for detroit fans. Pick: SAINTS

10. Cowboys @ Buccaneers: i am not sure why, but something about them boys just doesnt feel right to me. Maybe its the loss of TO, or simply Tony Romo slowly revealing his inability to be the great player we expect. Pick: BUCS win in a slight upset

11. 49ers @ Cardinals: unless a miracle happens and Michael Crabtree signs with the niners before sunday, san fran will not have a very good offense, meanwhile the cards offense seems to be one of the leagues best. Pick: CARDINALS

12. Redskins @ Giants: im taking a page out of adam scheins book right now, so what time is it? UPSET SPECIAL TIME!! I for one am not convinced the gmen will be as good as people are saying, especially without plaxico burress. Who is Eli Manning gonna throw it too? And i love the skins d with the addition of Albert Haynesworth. Pick: SKINS win in an upset

13. Rams @ Seahawks: the hawks took a couple of steps back last year, but with Matt Hasselbeck being healthy now and them adding tj houshmanzadah(excuse my spelling), i see them rebounding this year. The rams? not so much. Pick: HAWKS by many points

14. Bears @ Packers: this is the toughest game to pick, both teams are very good teams with solid defenses and great young quarterbacks. But in this game i think Matt Forte is gonna be the difference by having a huge game. Pick: BEARS win in green bay

15. Bills @ Patriots: it seems like every year the bills are a pick to be the "breakout" team, im done buying into that crap. Tom Brady makes us forget about his shoulder injury. Pick: PATS win fairly easily

16. Chargers @ Raiders: loving the bolts chances of going far this season, they should win the division by at least three games and without injuries they should be much better than last year. Pick: CHARGERS win, no problem.

 Yesssss! LaDainian Tomlinson has signed a 3 year deal with the Chargers! i am so relieved this whole ordeal is over and that LT is staying a bolt, we would have been much worse without him. He appears to be healthy and i think he is primed for a much better season this year. Now we just need the bolts to get Darren Sproles to take a pay cut too and our team will be doing quite well

so what are your thoughts on the situation?

go bolts

So apparently the Chargers are considering to sing unrestricted free agent Jermaine Phillips, former free agent for the tampa bay Buccaneers. I havent heard to much about the guy but from what ive heard he is a solid player who is known for hard hitting. Hes certainly not spectacular, but he seems better than anybody we got.

I personally say that we should sign him because we are in definite need of a safety, i mean Clinton Hart is alrite, but i think we could use someone better, that person being jermaine phillips. I especially like that this guy is apparently a hard hitter because that would give the chargers another possible playmaker on defense, which we could definitely use.

overall i think it would be smart to sign jermaine phillips, for the right price of course

go bolts

Ok so the Chargers have some tough decisions to make this offseason, what to do with LT and sproles, what position to go for in the draft, etc. So here is my advice on what to do this offseason:

1. Keep LaDainian Tomlinson: this is the single most important thing the chargers should do this season, keep LT. Because LT had his worst season last year, yet his worst season was still extremely good and most running backs wish they could have a season like that. I think he is going to bounce back big this year because he wants to prove that he is not washed out. Losing him would be a big mistake that could come back to bite us. Keep LT

2. Go after Darren Sproles, but not for too much: i love sproles, i mean hes a great player who always gives his all. And i really hope the bolts are able to resign him this offseason, but only at a certain price. The chargers should not franchise sproles nor should they pay him top dollar. Sproles is good and can make the big play, but he can also be pretty inconsistent and definitely is not ready to take on a starting roll. My advice for the chargers is to make a play for sproles, but just dont pay too much.

3. Draft defense in the draft: our offense is fine, Philip Rivers is great, the receivers are good, the o-line is good, what we had trouble with last year was our front 7, and thats what the chargers should try and fix in the draft. I say they either go after a defensive end or an inside linebacker, because thats where we have the biggest needs. After we fix those two then we can do things like draft a running back or an offensive lineman. But we should try and mend the defense first.

That is my advice for the chargers this offseason

So another season has come and gone for the Chargers, a month ago it seemed impossible to make the playoffs, yet they did. Then it seemed impossible for them to beat the Colts, yet they did. And as soon as people started believing in the bolts, they got killed by the Steelers. Its like the minute they become the favorite, they falter.

First off i would like to say there will be no whining in this blog, the chargers played worse than the steelers and deserved to get beat, end of story. The refs made the right calls for the most part and in the end it was simply that the chargers resembled the 4-8 chargers instead of the chargers of the previous five weeks. The momentum really went the steelers way when they were down 10-7 right before the half and then went on a scoring drive and took a 14-10 lead, a lead they never gave up. From there everything went downhill for the chargers and it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong.

Now the third quarter was just despicable because the chargers only had one offensive play the whole quarter, and that was a Philip Rivers interception. Then as the chargers were gonna get the ball back, a punted ball hit Eric Weddle on the helmet and steelers recovered deep in charger territory. But in the end it was really Willie Parker who killed the bolts, they simply had no answer for him and he had a field day against our defense. I really think the chargers need a better defensive end, and i cant wait for Shawne Merriman to be back.

Anways, i guess ill just have to wait until next season for charger football, o well, at least i can root for the red sox until then.

So its another rematch for the Chargers, last week they played the Colts for the second time and won after losing in the regular season, this time they are meeting the Steelers for the second time after losing the first in the regular season. Now the previous game between the bolts and steelers was extremely close, 11-10 off a last second field goal, and i dont really see this one being any different. Most people seem to finally be giving the chargers some credit after their upset of the colts last week, yet they still definitely arent favored in this game. Here is how I see this game panning out:

Now the last time these two played the bolts were struggling and Philip Rivers had his worst game of the entire season, he will do much better this time. Because in the last 5 weeks rivers has been the best player in the league and i think he is going to have a good game, not a great game, but a good one. Look for at least one touchdown pass, perhaps to Vincent Jackson, who is looking to redeem himself after having no catches against the colts. Also look for Antonio Gates to stay involved, especially down the middle. Now the running game for the bolts shouldnt do all that great because the steelers are great against the run and LaDainian Tomlinson is still injured. That means Darren Sproles will step in and he will have an ok game running, but not that great, i see him getting more big plays in the passing game and on special teams. Of course, in order for any of this to happen the bolts offensive line will have to stop the steelers very strong front 7, but I think they can.

Now on defense I think bolts can have a good game by doing one thing: blitzing. If the chargers can successfully blitz against the steelers then they can force Big Ben to make some very foolish decisions, that could possibly lead to interceptions. Blitzing should not be that difficult since the steelers o-line is pretty weak and the chargers have a pretty good front 7. The chargers are also gonna have to stop the running game, but that really shouldnt be that difficult because Willie Parker has been pretty inconsistent. If the defense can simply force Ben to make the throw earlier than he would like than this could turn into a win for the bolts.

Overall I think the chargers are gonna play solid on offense and make plays on defense. I see the chargers fighting hard and winning this very close game due to a strong pass rush by the defense and a good passing game by the offense.

FINAL SCORE: CHARGERS 21 - STEELERS 14

I still am in utter shock after the Chargers win verse the indianapolis Colts, it was such a great game and even when it seemed like it was over for my beloved bolts, they kept fighting and found a way to win. I was actually at the game and let me tell you that was the most exciting game to be at the crowd was screaming the entire time and i really think we showed what charger pride is all about. Here are some quick thoughts about todays game:

1. Both defenses played better than expected, the bolts d kept Peyton Manning in check most of the time, while the colts d did the same to Philip Rivers. I think most were expecting this to be a high scoring game and it was much more of a defensive battle than an offensive battle. But it was still very exciting none the less.

2. Darren Sproles is a beast, i mean he can do it all, even when he fumbled the ball at the 2, he came back out like nothing happened and then kept on playing great. He definitely was tonights mvp when he so easily could have been the scapegoat.

3. This game was great for Mike Scifres because he punted beautifully on national television and showed just how good a punter can really be. He made some absolute clutch kicks and no matter how far we were the ball always ended up inside the 10.

4. Play of the game: when Tim Dobbins sacked peyton manning on third down with a little over 2 minutes to go. That play absolutely swung the momentum in our favor and after that play the chargers just kept driving and never really looked back.

Well thats it, I still cant believe how great of a game that was, and im really looking forward to next week, whether we play the Steelers or the Titans, i say bring either!

go chargers!

I still cant believe it, the san diego Chargers actually made it to the playoffs. A month ago, or even two or three weeks ago, the idea of the bolts making the playoffs seemed farfetched. Yet being three games behind the Broncos with only three games left in the season, the chargers were able to make the playoffs and avenge their week 2 loss by creaming the broncos in week 17 with the division title on the line. But I can only dwell on this for a moment, because now the chargers have to play the indianapolis Colts, lead by likely mvp Peyton Manning. Here are my thoughts on the game:

If the past two seasons have been any indication, this game will be close, everytime these teams have met in the past two seasons it has been a close game decided late in the fourth quarter. Now the chargers have won 3 of the last 4, but the colts won this season, on a last second field goal by adam vinateri. I think this game will also be very close since these teams both seem to have a good feel for the other and seem to match up well.

For the chargers offense, look for Philip Rivers to lead the offense and have another big game, the colts d is not as strong as it used to be and rivers was one of the best qbs this season. For the running game look for there to be a very balanced attack between LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles, due to LT's injury. Also look for both running backs to get involved in the passing game, especially on screen passes, which the chargers have used alot lately. I feel like this will be a good game for the offense and they should do well against the colts d.

Now on defense there could be problems, the d has been playing better under ron rivera, but its still far from perfect. My biggest concern is the lack of a pass rush, because if peyton manning is given a lot of time, he will destroy us. The defensive line is going to have to step up and put some pressure on manning so he is forced to throw it earlier than he would like. Now the chargers should not have too much trouble stopping the running game since the colts have one of the worst rushing attacks in the league, at least statistically. The main concern of the d has to be stopping the pass, if they do that, they stop the entire offense

Overall I think this has the makings to be a great game and i think its gonna come down to the wire. But in the end I think the chargers will have the edge because of their superior running game

Final Score: Chargers 35 - Colts 31

So it comes down to week 17, Chargers versus Broncos, essentially a playoff game. Winner moves on for another week, loser goes home. Four weeks ago this seemed beyond improbable, its seemed basically impossible. Yet here we are, tommorow decides the fate of two teams. One trying to maintain its slight lead, the other trying to complete their comeback, its gonna be a good one folks.

Now a lot of people are saying this makes the Hoculi call mean nothing, but thats actually not true. Because if Ed had made the right call and the bolts would have won that game, then the chargers would have already clinched their division by now. But still, its just good to have this oppurtunity and at this point the chargers cant blame their woeful season on one lousy call. Anyways on to the game.

This game will be high scoring, of this I am sure. It has all the ingredients for a high scoring duel: 2 high powered offenses lead by young and talented quarterbacks and 2 overall weak defenses. But I think the bolts are gonna do better overall on offense because they can exploit the broncos weak run d by using Darren Sproles and LaDainian Tomlinson. Also, this is just my opinion, rivers is a better qb than cutler and is less mistake prone and i think rivers will have another huge week. Look for the bolts offense to score at least 28 points, probably more.

The chargers defense has not been great, but they have been playing better since ron rivera took over, they finally seem to be playing with the intensity they were lacking before. Now its not gonna be a dominating game by the defense, but if they can get some pressure on cutler it could lead to some turnover opportunities. They shouldnt have to worry that much about the run either since Tatum Bell is running, so the key for the D is shutting down cutler, if they can do that, this will be a blowout.

Overall I think the chargers have all the momentum and Rivers is playing in MVP form, so i see the chargers winning this game, but the broncos are sure to put up a good fight.

Final Score: Chargers 31-Broncos21

So the pro bowl rosters have been announced, and there are two Chargers on it: Kris Dielman and Antonio Gates, both are extremely deserving and have played very well. But it is kind of funny only having two representatives because im so used to having like 8 bolts in the past few years, but not too many bolts are really deserving this season. But there are quite a few snubs that should have made the pro bowl but did not from the chargers. Here they are:

1. Philip Rivers: i mean i understand Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler being there, they both definitely deserve it. But what I do not at all get is that Brett Favre got chosen over rivers. Rivers has more touchdowns, less interceptions, and better qb rating. So how does favre beat him? Pure popularity, its ridiculous to say the least. But that can happen, and its just the pro bowl

2. Mike Scifres: easily the best punter in the league, i mean this guy is so good at positioning the ball and just last week against the Chiefs he had a successful onside kick. I dont get how he didnt make it

there you go, that is my two cents, have a happy christmas

Im back! I have been out of town a lot the past two months so I haven't had much time to blog or post. But i still have remained faithful to my beloved Chargers, and I honestly just have one question: how are we still in this?

I mean I can not believe we still have a chance at a playoff spot, i mean its not a great chance, mind you, but it is a chance nonetheless. We have lost too many close games to still be in this, I feel like we should have been out of contention a month ago. And yet here we are, two weeks left and two games behind, and if i have only learned one thing this season its this: anything is possible when it comes to the NFL. So who knows, maybe the bolts will make the playoffs after all, but im getting ahead of myself.

Now about todays game, I think this was my favorite game of the year, it was a really exciting game. Just when I started to think it was over, Philip Rivers decided to start playing again and suddenly we were down one score with 1:13 left. Then came the miraculous onside kick, that couldnt have worked better in our favor, i began to believe it was fate. After that rivers threw the bomb to Vincent Jackson and we were at our own 20 with less than a minute, down 5. My heart was out of control by now, two plays later rivers threw a perfect pass to jackson and i went absolutely ballistic. Are we actually gonna win this game? Well there were 36 seconds, we were up 1, and the Chiefs had no timeouts, things looked good.

But then the bad came, the chiefs got a big return and were at midfield with 30 seconds. Tyler Thigpen made a foolish run and was at the 50 with 15 seconds, then there was pass to Tony Gonzalez and it appeared the game clock would run out. But the bolts got stupid, Antoine Cason foolishly blocked the ball from the ref and basically the chiefs were given the chance to win the game on a 50 yard field goal with 2 seconds. I began to have flashes of the Colts game all over again, and couldnt believe or season might end like this.

But it didnt, chiefs missed the field goal and we won, and to top it off the Broncos lost, what a great day. Lets hope the Buccaneers suck next week

go bolts

So the Chargers lost again, but i honestly felt like we were gonna squeeze out a win until late into the 4th quarter, then i knew that once again the bolts were gonna blow a game. I mean we could have beaten the Steelers, and that really bugs me. Now here are the three that I blame for this pathetic loss by the bolts:

1. Philip Rivers: i mean he has played great this season, but the past few games he has just made too many dumb mistakes, i mean he has thrown interceptions that are completely unncecessary. I dont know what he is doing differently, but whatever it is he needs to get his game back. He is the most important part of the bolts offense and without him playing well we arent gonna score much points

2. Norv Turner: honestly, how do we keep losing these close games? Its ridiculous, and after a while you got to start blaming the coach. I think norv just may not be good at helping us win games we should win. His play calling is kinda stupid and it often gets really predictable. Like run, run, pass? That is sooo stupid. He needs to start being more innovative in his play calling, or else

3. Nate Kaeding: listen I know its tough to kick a field goal over 40 yards at Heinz Field, but the stats show that he has missed 6 of the past 8 field goals of over 40 yards. Im starting to think he will never be  the clutch kicker we need to be, and could it possibly be time for us to start looking for someone to maybe compete with him for the starting job? Well perhaps Im overreacting, but it still bugs me

But here is one good thing about the game, the defense really is playing well, i mean theyre doing their best all season. I think Ron Rivera is really starting to get this defense going, hopefully the offense does too and we start winning some games

Alright so were through 10 weeks and although some division races seem just about settled, some are still close. So here are my predictions for who will win each division and the two wildcards:

AFC East: Patriots, bellicheck has shown just how good of a coach he is, winning without Tom Brady

AFC South: Titans, the Colts are improving, but the titans are the best team in football so far

AFC North: Steelers, very good team, although they have been struggling lately

AFC West: Chargers, havent played well, but theyll beat out the Broncos

AFC Wildcards: Ravens and Colts, ravens will barely miss division, and colts have been playing well lately

NFC East: Giants, finally being recognized as a powerhouse, although they have had some weak games

NFC South: Panthers, good team, Jake Delhomme needs to rebound from that bad game against the Raiders

NFC North: Bears, too good on defense, but they need Kyle Orton back

NFC West: Cardinals, finally their year

NFC Wildcards: Eagles and Redskins, the nfc east once again has 3 playoff representatives.

Those are my predictions, love or hate em, im sticking to em.

go bolts

So the Chargers finally won a close game, it took half a season, but the bolts were finally able to hold on for a close game. This definitely was not the best game the bolts(or Philip Rivers) have played all season, but a win is a win and us chargers fans will gladly take it. Here are my thoughts on today's win:

Everybody has a bad day, and today rivers had his. He threw two very dumb interceptions and also made alot of innaccurate throws, he just didnt look like his usual self. But he played well late and was able to make two much needed touchdown throws and once again rallied our team. Malcom Floyd is continuing to play very well lately and may very well be our best receiving option right now, Vincent Jackson is also playing well but he drops the occasional ball he should catch. A really encouraging part of this game was the play of LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates, who both once again played well and look like they are near 100%. Overall the offense played well but they really need to do better in the red zone and punch in some tds.

This was a pretty good day for the defense, played same as usual in the first half but then really stepped it up in the second half. they seemed to be playing with real intensity, I dont know if that was ron riveras doing or what but I hope their passionate play continues. The first half the Chiefs pretty much had their way with us when it came to the passing game and the bolts did not look good defensively, but then they stepped it up in the second half and really played well. The bolts caused three straight three and outs and played how they should have been playing all season. Lets hope that this is how the chargers defense starts playing under the helm of ron rivera.

Overall it was a pretty good game by the chargers, we should have won by more if it wasnt for that stupid pass interference call against Clinton Hart late in the game. Hopefully the chargers kick it into a new gear next week against the strong Steelers.