Week 4 Analysis - It Wasn’t Pretty, But It’s Still A Win

The San Diego Chargers continued their roller coaster season yesterday with a 28-18 victory over the Oakland Raiders at McAfee Coliseum. Although Oakland was easily the better football team for most of the game, San Diego escaped with the victory and sole possession of second place in the AFC West. If you missed the game, you can rest assured knowing it was almost identical to what we have seen from San Diego through the first three weeks of the season. The Chargers were forced to overcome yet another horrendous start, after allowing the Raiders to dominate the early stages of the game and take a 15-0 lead at half time. If it wasn’t for the Raiders collapsing and allowing San Diego to mount a furious 4th quarter rally, the mood surrounding the Chargers organization would be very different today. Let’s take a look at the six main reasons that helped San Diego win ugly yesterday.

NFL Monday Quick Six

1) The 4th Quarter - The Chargers still haven’t played a full sixty minutes so far this season, a trend that should be causing nightmares for the San Diego coaching staff. Although the Chargers horrible start should indeed be cause for concern, it shouldn’t diminish the dominant 4th quarter that San Diego played yesterday. The Chargers made numerous key plays on offence, defence and special teams during the fourth quarter to change the momentum of this game. Subsequently, the Raiders appeared to lose confidence and San Diego took control of the game by outscoring Oakland 25-3 during the final 15 minutes. The Chargers looked awful during the first three quarters yesterday, but the 4th quarter was probably one of the most dominant fifteen minutes of football that you will see this season.

2) See, Defence Can Win Football Games…. - The Chargers defence was the story of this game, limiting a dangerous Oakland running game to 3.1 yards per carry and forcing a couple of crucial second half turnovers. The Chargers defence also came up with the big stop on numerous occasions yesterday, allowing the Raiders to only convert on 3 out of 15 third down opportunities. The San Diego defence was extremely impressive throughout the entire game, and kept the score close until the Chargers offence finally awoke during the 4th quarter.

3) One Word: Resilient - The San Diego offence looked awful during the first half yesterday, gaining only 85 yards during the first two quarters. The Chargers didn’t even pick up a 1st down until there was only 5:10 remaining in the 2nd quarter. The Chargers offensive line was humiliated by the Raiders front seven, which plugged running lanes and created havoc in the backfield all game long. The Chargers offensive stars couldn’t produce anything, being hampered by the Raiders speed and physical play. However, when the game was on the line Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and the rest of the Chargers offence stepped up and made some huge plays. This Chargers offence is quickly gaining a reputation for getting better as the game goes on, having already scored 60 points in the 4th quarter so far this season.

4) The Sproles Factor - What can you even say about Darren Sproles? The man is quickly becoming one of the few players in the league that is capable of changing the momentum of a game every time he touches the football. Although the Chargers diminutive fourth year back struggled for most of the game yesterday, his 67 yard kickoff return during the final moments was crucial to the victory. I’m not exactly sure why the Chargers haven’t utilized Sproles more this season, especially when you consider the injury problems that have been plaguing LaDainian Tomlinson. I mentioned in my pre season articles that I would like to see San Diego utilize Sproles in a more unconventional manner, similar to how New Orleans has utilized Reggie Bush this season. It still hasn’t happened for some reason, and I’m not sure if it ever will……but why not give it a try?

5) It Hasn’t Been Pretty So Far, But We Will Take It - I think there are a lot of varying opinions about the San Diego Chargers right now, and rightfully so after a chaotic start to the season. If you want to look at things from a negative perspective, you could argue that this team still hasn’t played a full sixty minutes and has cause for concern on both sides of the ball. If you want to be optimistic, you could argue that San Diego is a blown Ed Hochuli call away from being 3-1 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC West. If you want to be objective, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. There is no question that the Chargers have failed to meet expectations this season, primarily because of problems with their defence and running game. That being said, the Chargers have made steady improvements over the course of the season and appear close to regaining their form from last year. When you consider the injuries that this team has suffered and the chaotic start to the season, I’m pretty sure San Diego will accept the 2-2 record for now.

6) What’s Next? - The San Diego Chargers will head to Miami next Sunday to play the Dolphins at 1:00PM (ET). Although this looked like a “guaranteed win” for the Chargers when the schedule first came out, Miami should have some momentum after beating New England a couple weeks ago. Also, the Dolphins are coming off their bye week and that means they have had some extra time to prepare for this game. If San Diego plans on putting together their first winning streak of the season, they can’t underestimate this Dolphins team. The Chargers have lost their last six meetings against the Dolphins, including most recently in 05′ when Miami defeated San Diego 23-21.

Alright Everyone, that’s it for now. Be sure to check back later in the week for my analysis of the Chargers vs Dolphins, till then have a good week.

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Last post (s) by Brandon Campbell

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