Chargers Get Pushed Around — Literally

Tougher Miami manhandles San Diego

Push. Penetration. Surge. Whatever you want to call it, you should never underestimate the importance of line play in the NFL. It’s up front, in the trenches, among the big uglies, where individual battles are won and lost, that sometimes determines the outcome of a game. And that was never more evident than on Sunday in Miami, where the Dolphins outplayed, out-toughed, and out-physicaled (not sure if that’s a word) the Chargers en route to a 17-10 win.

Norv Turner must feel like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. As soon as one hole in the team is patched up, another more-gaping one presents itself.

It’s not often that Igor Olshanky, Luis Castillo and Jamal Williams get physically manhandled, but Miami’s offensive line did the trick on Sunday. The trio combined for only four tackles. Worse than that, they allowed Dolphins’ running back Ronnie Brown, usually set up in the single-wing “Wildcat” formation, to run roughshod all over them, to the tune of 125 yards and a touchdown. What’s frustrating is that everyone in the stadium and watching on TV knew what was coming, but San Diego could do nothing to stop it. Make no mistake, Brown could have suckered the defense in and thrown a pass (much like he did against New England in Week 3), but he’s NOT a quarterback. If he’s lined up in a shotgun formation, he’s going to either hand off to another player or run it himself. The Chargers didn’t have it in them to take it personally, shed a blocker, step up, and go hit him in the mouth. With six minutes left, and the Bolts needing a stop to get the ball back and a chance to tie, all the Dolphins did was march down the field, converting on all four third-down opportunities. Pathetic.

The offensive line wasn’t much better, as the Dolphins’ undersized front four consistently got into the backfield and stopped LaDainian Tomlinson for negative yardage or no gain. That penetration was never more apparent than when LT was stuffed on fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line, stopping short of the goal line and a tie score. Wasted.

One HAS to question the play calling on that sequence. I don’t know, maybe the rain short-circuited Norv’s headset or something. The Bolts had just scored to cut the deficit to 7. They’d just gotten a turnover and were deep in Miami territory, the momentum clearly shifting. They get the ball down to the 10 on a great effort from Darren Sproles on a screen pass. First and goal, from the 10. Run for 3 yards. Run for 1 yard. Pass for 5 yards (God forbid they actually throw it into the end zone). Then LT’s fourth-and-none. Brilliant.

It seems to me that a team that could only gain 60 yards on the ground all day might want to try slinging it for the much-needed touchdown. Especially when you’ve got four chances to do it, and only 10 yards to go. Awful.

This team needs to stop feeling sorry for itself after what happened in the first two weeks. The Jets game was a step in the right direction, but they were lucky to win in Oakland last week. They got manhandled by a tougher Miami team that just wanted to win more than they did.

A message to all of the Chargers reading this. Enough “we should be 5-0” talk. You’re right, you SHOULD BE 5-0, but you’re not. You’re 2-3 and trailing the Broncos by two full games (three with the tiebreaker). Be embarrassed about what’s gone on this season. You are a better football team than what is being displayed every Sunday. And you know it.

Now, if an inflammatory pep talk from a sports blogger isn’t enough to get this team fired up, I don’t know what is. I see a total annihilation of the Patriots next week! That is, of course, unless they get pushed around again.

Eric Yates, much like the rest of the city, isn’t a native San Diegan. He’s been here for the past eight years and has adopted the Padres and Chargers as his own. Serving as a full-time and freelance sportswriter while in San Diego, he’s covered the beat for both the Padres and Chargers. A sports fanatic, his crowning achievement as a fan was appearing on the ESPN game show Stump the Schwab and coming within one question of toppling the big guy.

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