What We Learned: Chargers 17 – Titans 20

Sep 15, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams (26) pushes San Diego Chargers running back Danny Woodhead (39) out of bounds during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. The Chargers defeated the Eagles 33-30. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Danny Woodhead – Rushed 5 for 31 YDS, he averaged 6.2, and 7 catches for 55 YDS. Also Danny Fumbled? (WHAT!?) everybody does it, the key is to limit them to 1 every 4 years. Coach McCoy talked about “doing what’s best for the football team…” RM was 16 for 58YDS, averaged 3.6 and no catches. Ronnie? 5 for 6YDS, no catches. What am i missing? RM is better of the edges and both Ronnie and RM can make plays in the open field, yet none of this was done. I understand “Game Plans” (more on that later), however if Woodhead is making plays for the team, out of the backfield, keep feeding him the ball. “Do what’s best for the team”.

Jahleel Addae – He made some great plays, the big hit on Kenny Britt to force a 4th and 10. Then he made a heads-up play on the bad snap to the punter, which lead to the TD (to me it was) to Royal in the corner. Look, if the team is looking for someone to start next to Weddle, Addae is making a strong case for more playing time. It’s not just “making a play” or “big hit” in a game, it’s the timing. Addae is making plays “when they need them”, he is still young and can still improve, all I’m saying, he’s got my attention several times when he’s in. I hope someone in Chargers Park is taking notice.

Mike Harris – Played good. Good enough not to give up the sack. I believe that was Troutman’s gimme. He allowed no hurries and his run blocking was good. This is what you are supposed to expect from a swing tackle. As matter of fact, he looked better than Clary and Fluker at the RT spot. I wouldn’t be surprised if DJ is a RG and Harris is RT going into 2014…we’ll see.

Tourek Williams – Should have played, however the Chargers did not get the paperwork in to de-activate Butler, and left Tourek sitting on the side lines. Coach McCoy is right, they did make to many mistakes in that game, he can start with himself and the staff. That was simply a lost opportunity to have the young man go out and see if he can make some plays for team.

All Fired Up – It finally happened, Philip got flagged. I appreciate PR’s fire, now learn from this. Stop arguing with the officials and spend your energy getting your team up to the line for the next play. Whether you know this or not, the refs study film too, and they take notes of “plays” and “players” that have been getting away with things in previous games. As for the call in question, you got away with one against the Texans with the same play, and the refs threw a flag on it then. Now that it’s on film, the refs studied and threw the same flag. I guess they couldn’t come to an agreement and let the TD against the Texans stand.

Penalties – The Titans were penalized 11 times for 116 YDS. The Chargers? 5 for 45 YDS. Usually the team with the most penalties loses. So what happened? It’s simple, the Titans played better in other areas to overcome those “set-backs”. Example Time-of-posession SD 28:28 Ten 31:38. First downs SD19 Ten 23. 3rd Down Conversions SD 3/9 – 33%, Ten 6/14 – 42%. Total yards SD 277, Ten 452. And this is the biggest, the final score was 17- 20? Do you remember the blocked field goal? Add PR’s melt down and that is potentially ten points the Chargers did not get that would’ve changed the outcome of this game.

Game Plans – I understand there was a plan in place, I hear what Coach McCoy is saying about not second guessing those decisions. They made a call and it’s over. I disagree with that or what is the whole point of learning from film? it’s to evaluate, (second guess) decisions that were made in the game. Look, The best player on the offense is Phillip Rivers, yet the game plan was to pound the ball with RM24 and the run. As a Charger fan, we’ve seen this before and it has never ended well. PR has been carving up defenses left and right. PR has ONE pick in THREE GAMES. The Titans had no time outs, and you decide to run into a tough defense? Hey, I’m not a genius, but PR is getting paid $94 million dollars and has been doing his job. So make an adjustment, put the game plan aside and let PR do the one thing that “The Coach” has ben Preaching….. LET PHILIP RIVERS “FINISH” THE GAME!!!!!

Game Plan part 2 – the Chargers are second in leading the league in yards allowed with 470.7 per game. The Redskins are #1 with 488. Who’s #3? Philly, with 438.3. The chiefs are 24th with 309, the raiders are 16th 352.7, the broncos are 12th with 370.3. The Chargers are dead last in allowing an average of 7 YDS per game in passing. How is that? Playing 5-10 yards off receivers. Not making tackles. Allowing YAC (Yards after Catch). Lack of pass rush. Stopping the run 5-7 yards down the field, instead of at the Line Of Scrimmage. Or is it simply the scheme that needs to change? Whatever it is, these are the results of doing the same things, that they believe to be the way to go. I don’t know about you, but everybody has a plan, until they get hit in the mouth. Hey Pagano, when you get tired of watching your D give it up like a hooker at a frat party, you might want to pass out some condoms, so they at least can look like they know what coverage and protection looks like.

Now let me wrap this up. I know there are more things we learned from that game, however, it still seems the Chargers are not learning fast enough. I could go on and on about the defense again, but what would be the point? There are DB’s are still playing too far off the receivers, and some how, refuse to “bump” them at the line of scrimmage. The Titans had no such problem. Hey even the Raiders, Chiefs and Broncos had no problem doing it, in their games. At the end of the day the entire “Team” lost this game, I can’t put this “ALL” on the D, they did their part. That’s all they did “their part”. Special Teams is still letting teams get beyond the 20 and not getting to the 20 on returns. Offense, find your playmakers get the ball to them and let the other teams stop them. Kenny Britt, Chris Johnson and Locker is all they needed to concern themselves with. And in the 3rd straight game The Chargers have failed to stop or just limit the other teams playmakers. The sad, part none of these players are blowing up the stat chart.

With all that said we’re 1-2 after three games. That doesn’t concern me as much as “HOW” the Chargers got there. On to the next game.