What a great season it would have been if they went all the way. Oh well, maybe next year.
Those Steelers looked really good Sunday. The Chargers? Not so good.
Phillip Rivers was great when he actually got the chance to play. He had two plays that I think really messed up the Chargers chances. The first was in the 2nd quarter, I think. Vincent Jackson broke free on a stop and go but Rivers put a little too much on the ball. Jackson laid out and almost made a great play. If Rivers hits him in stride, he may have gone all the way.
The 2nd play was that dreadful interception after mini-me's great kickoff return. The thing is, it wasn't River's fault. That ball was deflected at the line of scrimmage and made like a punt with the ensuing hang time. Bad luck.
Rivers finished 21 for 35, 308 yards, 3 touchdowns and that lamer interception. Those stats look pretty good except that 62 of those yards came on Darren Sproles 62 yard "mercy" touchdown (if the game was close, Palomalu would have rocked him).
Darren Sproles, the hero of last week's upset of the NFL MVP was significantly less stellar. He only had 270 all purpose yards. You might think 270 is a lot... and it is. You have to remember that the Steelers scored 5 times and therefore had to kick off 6 times. Darren got 5 of those kick offs and 2 punts, racking up 164 return yards. The biggest return was the 63 yarder that was capped off by a crappy interception. There was also one punt he didn't get to return because Weddle thought he was playing soccer and tried to header the football. And don't forget the 62 yards gained on the "Mercy" touchdown.
The part of the game that really made me mad was the Charger's defense. Everyone knows the basics of the 3-4 defense. For those that don't, here's a quick explanation... the 3 stands for three down linemen. The 4 stands for four linebackers. The three linemen generally rush the quarterback or try and stop the run. The four linebackers are supposed to defend the short to intermediate pass and also plug gaps in the case of a run. Also, coaches sometimes blitz one of the linebackers so that there are four defenders to contain the quarterback. The trick of this scheme is to disguise which linebacker is going to blitz.
I guess that sounds crafty but it really isn't. Any high school offense line can defend against a basic 3-4 pass rush, even if one of the linebackers blitzs. If you really want an effective pass rush, you need to send more than just one linebacker. The Chargers, for some reason, don't do this. They only sent one linebacker on pretty much every single play.
I understand that the Steelers had established the run. I also understand that sending two or three linebackers on a pass rush when the offense decides to run can be really bad. But you at least have to guess and blitz the crap out of them every once in awhile... like on 3rd and 11 or 3rd and 6 or any of the other 3rd and long situations that the Steelers converted on with great ease because Ben had a ton of time in the pocket.
Maybe I'm on crack. Maybe I have this all wrong. After all, I'm not the football coach in the family... that's my brother Brandon. But it seems to me that the defense that did such a great job making Peyton Manning cry last week was a completly different set of guys for this game against the Steelers.
Maybe next year.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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3 comments:
My problem wasn't with the blitz. Watch the game on NFL Replay and you'll see pressure on Big Ben whenever someone wasn't being held. This is my problem with the defense: On third and x yards to go, why do we let that stupid bunch formation get off the ball clean? Don't you think we should have learned that the last drive of the last game when they did that same formation right down the field? If you break up the timing pattern, Big Ben has to hold it longer. Then the refs would be forced to call holding. [giagantic sigh]
OK . First The Chargers held almost every down in the game. SO to say that holding was a factor is up to which side of the ball you were on. Second I agree with the unimaginative Defense. But the problem isn't the tragedy or the coaching . Its the players. The Chargers just don't want to win " ALL THE TIME " . They are great when the game is close or they are winning. But when it gets ruff and things start to go wrong , they implode. Watch the game and you can see the Steelers running up and down the sideline cheering jumping and moving like everyone of them was in that game the whole time. They never quit. Take a look at the Chargers sideline. LT pouting on the bench, guys sitting back looking at the sky. The only one who was in the game the whole time was Phillip Rivers.If he wasn't playing he was standing and running up and down the field mentally pushing the guys to play. The Chargers don't lack a good game plan or High end players , They have talent oozing at almost every position. Even Norv is playing in top form. They lack the one thing that will get you to the Big show. Ask the Pats ( I hate them above all else). That's how they have made it all these years . You have to have Heart to win. When the Chargers find there heart then they will find that AFC ring again.
All I have to say is I'm sad cause my husband's sad that the Chargers lost. I mean we went all the way to San Diego to get him some Chargers gear and he was only able to wear it for a week. I mean if he was a true fan he'd still wear it, but I'm sure he stopped wearing it so he doesn't have to hear crap from his friends/co-workers. Poor honey. You should just be a Niner fan like me and then you wouldn't be in the position of almost making it...but rather just not even close to making the playoffs at all and then there's no expectations or disappointments...its all expected. Darn...what happened to the Niners...I miss Steve Young and Joe Montana :(
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