San Diego Super Chokers....Fuck You Kaeding!!

SAN DIEGO — New York is halfway toward that Super Bowl parade promised by coach Rex Ryan after rookies Mark Sanchez and Shonn Greene led the Jets to a stunning 17-14 upset of the San Diego Chargers in the divisional playoffs Sunday.

Sanchez threw a go-ahead, 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dustin Keller three plays into the fourth quarter, then Greene gave the Jets some breathing room with a 53-yard scoring run on their next possession.

The upstart Jets (11-7), who have won seven of their last eight games, advanced to the AFC Championship Game at top-seeded Indianapolis next Sunday.

The Chargers (13-4) not only saw their 11-game winning streak end, but suffered yet another playoff pratfall after earning the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

"A kicker is paid to do ONE thing and ONE thing only!! Statistically, I don't give a fuck whether or not Kaeding is the best kicker in NFL History, HE LOST THE GAME THREE TIMES OVER!. HE HAS CHOKED MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE PLAYOFFS!! FUCK YOU NATE KAEDING, FUCK YOU!" - J.D. Harrison

Chargers Team Report 1-13-10

Source: USA Today

Spry? A spring in their step? Set to go? Whatever the term, the Chargers’ bye week went as planned.

Coach Norv Turner said the Chargers were at full strength as they began preparations Monday for the Jets.

The two teams tangle on Sunday in an AFC Divisional Playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium, with the winner advancing to face the Colts-Ravens’ victor.

The Chargers are going through a regular work schedule after enjoying the weekend off as the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

The team looks to avenge a playoff loss to the Jets in the 2004 season.

The Chargers will do so while being as healthy as they have been in quite some time. That’s especially true for outside linebacker Shawne Merriman.

“I feel pretty good,” said Merriman, who has been battling a foot injury. “The last four or five games I was pushing through so we could get in the position that we are in right now where not only myself, but some of the other guys were able to get some rest. I feel good and I’m ready for a great week of practice.”

Merriman didn’t play in the regular-season finale win over the Redskins, then took all of last week off.

How close to 100 percent is the three-time Pro Bowler?

“I really don’t put a percentage on it because I can go out there and say that I’m 100 prcent but you just never know,” he said.”But I feel pretty good though.”

The Chargers are upbeat about knowing their opponent after having to wait for the Jets, Bengals and Patriots to sort things out.

“It helps to get into more detail in terms of who you’re playing,” Turner said. “I thought we had great work last week. We need to work on things that have given us problems, things that we thought we could do better. We got work on that last week. Now you zero in on a team.”

With a 0-0 record, the Chargers face a team that is 1-0 and feeling good after upsetting the Bengals.

“They’re a good team,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “Anybody you face, we said last week, is going to be a really good team. I think they’re just that.

“They played really good football down the stretch, which is what you want to do: be playing your best ball at playoff time. As far as their defense is concerned, it’s going to be a challenge. They’ll be as good as any we’ve played so far and again, that’s what you expect. You get to this point in the season – the playoffs – and it’s going to be a lot of good versus good out there.”

NOTES, QUOTES

—Among the interesting matchups Sunday is the Chargers’ defense going against a Jets offense which looks familiar. Brian Schottenheimer is the Jets’ coordinator, and Marty’s kid is running a lot of the same stuff Cam Cameron did when they were both in San Diego. “There is some familiarity there,” Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said.

—Rex Ryan was passed over for Turner when the team replaced Marty Schottenheimer after the 2006 season. The Chargers went 14-2 but lost a home playoff game to the Patriots and Schottenheimer was canned.

—QB Philip Rivers’ game is accuracy. That is why it meant a lot when he finished the regular-season avoiding double-digits in interceptions — he had nine. “You’d like to keep this one at zero,” he said about his number heading into the playoffs.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

PLAYER NOTES

—OLB Shawne Merriman is back practicing after giving his sore foot an extended rest.

—WR Vincent Jackson is out of his boot and working. He took some down time with a sore Achilles tendon.

—FS Eric Weddle (knee) has returned to practice and is a go for Sunday.

—WR Malcom Floyd could be poised to build on his 140-yard receiving day in the regular-season finale. Vincent Jackson figures to get most of the Jets’ attention at wide out.

—RT Brandyn Dombrowski and RG Louis Vasquez will be making their first playoff starts.

REPORT CARD FOR REGULAR SEASON

PASSING OFFENSE: A — Philip Rivers was sensational this season, cementing his reputation as one of the elite players at his position. Rivers, who led the league in yards per attempt, didn’t blink when shouldering more and more of the Chargers’ offensive load. Vincent Jackson continues to emerge as one of the NFL’s rising stars with his second straight 1,000-yard season. Antonio Gates had one of the better seasons of his career and that is saying something. To throw as much as the Chargers do, the pass-blocking has to be consistent and it was — despite the unit being shuffled because of injuries.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D — The Chargers never found a steady rhythm running the ball as they hovered around the bottom of every critical rushing category. LaDainian Tomlinson didn’t show his burst at all times — he missed two games with an ankle injury — and Darren Sproles made the majority of his contributions as a receiver and return specialist. It remains to be seen if this shortcoming will be exposed in the playoffs.

PASS DEFENSE: C — The Chargers’ pass rush wasn’t much early on and the result was rival quarterbacks having a fair share of success. But they shook up the back end by cutting Clinton Hart and inserting rookie Kevin Ellison at safety and making a few other tweaks. Shaun Phillips became a force stripping footballs from quarterbacks — franchise-best seven forced fumbles. Shawne Merriman battled knee and foot problems throughout the season and was far from his Pro Bowl-like seasons.

RUSH DEFENSE: C — When T Jamal Williams went down this unit was shell-shocked. It finally came around with the contributions from street free agents and other newcomers. But the Chargers were 20th in stopping the run and this is another area which could bite them in the playoffs.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A — The Chargers have one of the better kicking games in the NFL with steady K Nate Kaeding — a Pro Bowler — and P Mike Scifres, who continued to be a weapon with his pinpoint accuracy. Sproles fueled a return game; he averaged 24 yards on kickoffs, 7 on punts. The coverage units had a few hiccups but for the most part were fine.

COACHING: A — Norv Turner was Mr. Tar and Feather after starting 2-3. But he stayed true to his plan, didn’t panic, and the Chargers rolled out an 11-game winning streak and won their fourth straight AFC West title. Turner deserves credit for getting this offense on an impressive level and continuing the development of Rivers. Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera was rocked with injuries, and somehow patched together a unit which got better as the year progressed.

Scouting the Jets

Source: SD Tribune

In this era of pass-happy teams, the New York Jets are a throwback to the days when the formula for winning was running the ball and playing defense – two things these Jets do extremely well. They ranked No. 1 in the NFL in six major statistical categories – rushing yards; fewest total yards allowed, passing yards allowed, first downs allowed, third-down conversion percentage allowed and points allowed.

While the Chargers have scored at least 20 points in 22 consecutive games, just five teams scored more than 17 points against the Jets this season, none in the last seven games, when their opponents combined for just 61 points (8.7 per game). For the season, including Saturday’s playoff win over Cincinnati, the Jets gave up 14.7 points a game – or almost exactly half what the Chargers scored (28.4 average). Cornerback Darrelle Revis had six INTs and is the favorite to be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

New York’s offense ranked 20th in total yards and 17th in points, with Thomas Jones rushing for more than 1,400 yards and the rest of the team combining for almost that many. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez threw 20 INTs and ranked near the bottom of the league in most categories, but he was 12-of-15 in his playoff debut.

Last meeting

The teams played at Qualcomm Stadium on a Monday night in Week 3 of the 2008 season and the Chargers opened a 31-14 halftime lead en route to a 48-29 victory.

Series history

The Chargers also beat the Jets in New Jersey in 2005 and hold a 19-12-1 series advantage, including 12-7 in California. The Jets won three straight games at Qualcomm Stadium before the Chargers’ victory in 2008.

Playoff history

Few Chargers fans will forget the only postseason meeting between the teams. It happened after the 2004 season and the visiting Jets shocked the favored Chargers 20-17 in overtime. Chad Pennington threw two TD passes as the Jets took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter. The Chargers forced overtime on a TD pass by Drew Brees with 11 seconds left, but Nate Kaeding missed a 40-yard field goal in the overtime before Doug Brien converted a 28-yard field goal for the Jets after 14:55 of extra time.

Playoff Veterans

SAN DIEGO — It’s in the newfound boringness of so many previously talkative Chargers. It’s in the way they work on Wednesday and the way they walk away from games on Sunday, ready for Monday and what comes next.
It’s in how they finished the season, making it important even when it didn’t matter.
“I’m just amazed by the focus at this point,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “The preparation is still the same. You can sense we’re just mentally sharp.”
Therein lies the difference that will just maybe make this time different.
After an earned week off, the Chargers will give it yet another try in the playoffs with a home game Jan. 17 at Qualcomm Stadium.
It will be their fourth straight playoff appearance, fifth in the past six years and their 14th time in the postseason since winning the 1963 AFL Championship.
It’s the recent history that weighs heavily on a team that has won so many regular-season games and yet fallen short of the ultimate goal.
The Chargers are one of just two teams, along with Indianapolis, to have reached the postseason four straight seasons.
The Colts have their Super Bowl, and the Chargers believe they can follow the suit of Indianapolis, which went to the playoffs five consecutive seasons before winning its championship on the sixth try, after 2006.
The Colts said after that title that their getting there was a process. If the Chargers are celebrating amid blue and gold confetti, passing around the Lombardi Trophy come Feb. 7, they will voice something similar.
“We have a lot of guys who have been in the playoffs and not only been in the playoffs, but won games and won close games,” head coach Norv Turner said yesterday. “They’ve experienced that, and they’ve experienced the other side of it. I do know our guys understand it can end real fast if you don’t go out and do the things you’re capable of doing.”
Especially should the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday and come to San Diego the next weekend, there will be much rehashing in the coming weeks of what happened following the 2006 regular season.
After the Chargers won 10 in a row to finish with an AFC-best 14-2 record, the Patriots came to Qualcomm Stadium and beat the rusty/overwhelmed Chargers 24-21.
“This is a totally different team,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “The guys who were here, yes, we remember it. Yes, we know we made some plays we can’t make and win, but this is a totally different team with a totally different approach and totally different mentality. We’re a long way from that game.”
It seems so. But they are a long way from that game in part because of that game.
Where the Chargers had 21 players who had never been in the playoffs that year, including Rivers, Marcus McNeill and Shawne Merriman, they have 12 playoff rookies this season. Twenty-four current Chargers played in that loss to the Patriots.
The way Rivers puts it is that the Chargers “have been through ups and downs and seen about everything we can see.”
Asked about a consistent focus that seemed to carry them through this season — from a 2-3 start to 11 straight victories to finish it — veteran Chargers reached back to 2004.
That year, the Chargers went to the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. They lost in the first round. Amid high expectations they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs the next season. Then came ’06, after which Marty Schottenheimer was fired.
The Chargers began 1-3 under Turner but won eight straight en route to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to New England after the 2007 season. Last season, four December wins overcame a 4-8 start and got the Chargers into the playoffs, where they won a game before losing to Pittsburgh, the eventual Super Bowl champion.
“Enough is enough” is sort of the mantra.
“You get to a certain point,” cornerback Quentin Jammer said. “You get to the playoffs, then have a year you don’t go, then go out in the first round, get to the playoffs the next year and get further, then get to playoffs and don’t make it as far as you did the previous year. Guys get fed up, and we’re going to do whatever needs to be done.”
Certainly, this is a talented team. And some skepticism must remain after so many early endings and a team having posed before as a mature group.
But these Chargers talk less, practice with more precision and appear unfazed by the downs and, especially, the ups of a season.
“The one-week-at-a-time mentality we have is more than we’ve had in the past,” running back LaDainian Tomlinson said recently. “It’s the experience. Guys have played a lot of football games.”
In 2006, with the football world talking about how great the Chargers were and 11 of them headed to the Pro Bowl, players were talking Super Bowl by Christmas.
There is no such talk now. Too many lessons learned.
“I hate to say we weren’t as focused back then,” Rivers said. “But maybe there is some truth to it, that you grow from all that. Maybe all our emotions and experience and everything is channeled in the right area. Maybe that’s why we got through 2-3 and won 11 in a row and are here now.”

Chargers Team Report 1-5-10

Source: USA Today

The Chargers enjoy a bye this week, thanks to earning the AFC’s No. 2 playoff seed.
But the Chargers won’t be kicking completely back. They know their real season is about to start, and they will treat this week accordingly.
Coach Norv Turner said the players would attack practices in a manner that doesn’t allow for rust.
“I think it’s something this team has done a good job. … We practice fast,” he said. “This week we can reduce the reps just a little bit, but when we go, you just have to go fast and you have to maintain that type of mentality. I think that’s the strength of this team.
Turner said it has been that way whether the Chargers were 2-3 or 13-3.
“Even when we were struggling, I know I commented on it, and it doesn’t help when you say it but you’re not playing as well as you’d like, but we have practiced well, and I believe we will continue to,” he said.
The Chargers don’t know their opponent, but they learned Monday they will play on Sunday, Jan. 17, at Qualcomm Stadium. Their opponent will be the Patriots, Bengals or Jets.
With so many potential opponents possessing so many varied approaches, it makes it a challenge to prepare for a particular skill set.
But Turner is embracing the postseason bye week and isn’t complaining.
“It’s the position you’re put in, and we will prepare for the situations that are going to come up in this game,” he said. “We just talked about it — whether it be red zone, whether it be backed up, whether it be goal line, whether it be two-minute — we will get those situations handled and we will work hard on them.
“We will look at different things that teams do and do a little bit of each, but in those situations, things tend to be a little more standard. There are a lot of similarities between all the teams you play. Obviously we have to wait until this weekend is over to find out exactly who we’re playing. Then we’ll get into the specifics of that team.”
What is clear is the Chargers are hot, winners of 11 straight games as they advance to the playoffs for the fourth straight time.
“We’re playing at a real high level,” Turner said. “I think there are a number of teams that are playing extremely well.
“We had an outstanding game with Dallas in early December, and they’ve really taken off. You look at the teams in the AFC, and they’re going that way (up).
“To me it’s not what you’ve done or how well you’ve played. You get a 3 1/2-hour game and you need to play better than the team you’re playing against.”
NOTES, QUOTES
—It’s believed defensive coordinator Ron Rivera will be interviewed for the Bills’ head-coaching vacancy.
—Quarterback Philip Rivers speculated that his offense was in for a big day Sunday — if the starters hadn’t been pulled after two series. “We moved the ball pretty well,” said Rivers, who directed the team to 10 points in two possessions. “I felt like we were rolling pretty well.”
—The Chargers’ win on Sunday came thanks to another late drive by backup quarterback Billy Volek. He did the same thing two years ago when filling in for an injured Rivers against the Colts.
“Nobody panicked,” Volek said of the drive that resulted in a 2-yard scoring pass to Mike Tolbert with 35 seconds remaining. “We’ve been doing it. I think we’ve got great coaches on the staff who prepare every position to get ready. Hopefully, I won’t play in the playoffs.”
—Wide receiver Buster Davis was active for the first time all season, and the former first-round pick didn’t blow his big chance.
“I wanted to get out there in front of 60,000 fans and show what I can do,” said Davis, who had six catches for 52 yards. “It’s very frustrating to be on the sideline every week. Never have I had to sit for this length of time.”
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES
—LB James Holt, who has been playing well especially on special teams, will undergo shoulder surgery. He is out for the season.
—DE Jacques Cesaire (elbow) will start practicing this week.
—RB Jacob Hester (shoulder) didn’t play Sunday but will ease into a practice routine.
—WR Vincent Jackson (Achilles) didn’t play Sunday, and the Chargers will monitor his practice time.
—OLB Shawne Merriman (foot) will practice sparingly but will start in the playoff game.
—WR Legedu Naanee (foot) will practice this week.
—FS Eric Weddle (knee) will practice this week and play the following week.
REPORT CARD VS. REDSKINS
PASSING OFFENSE: B — Philip Rivers wasn’t in the game long, but he was there long enough to lead the Chargers to 10 points in two drives. Billy Volek showed some rust — not a shock — but came on strong at the end to pull out the win. The pass blocking was spot-on. Kudos to WR Buster Davis, as he showed he might not be a bust. Malcom Floyd was effective with a team-high 140 yards on nine catches.
RUSHING OFFENSE: C — Not much here, as the Chargers couldn’t crack the 50-yard barrier or the 3-yard-per-carry standard. The run blocking was merely OK; there were a lot of changes with the massive substitutions. Michael Bennett had 28 rushing yards on 11 carries but added 62 yards on four catches.
PASS DEFENSE: C — The Chargers had some tackling issues with their backups, in particular CB Dante Hughes. Antoine Cason, a former nickel back, held up well and led the team with 12 tackles, one for a loss. The pass rush didn’t gather huge numbers — one sack — but Jason Campbell seldom was able to set his feet or look comfortable in the pocket.
RUSH DEFENSE: B — The Redskins had only 64 yards rushing as the Chargers front line often won the battle up front, and the linebackers were active as well. LB Brandon Siler had a tackle for a loss as he continues to shine. LB Kevin Burnett is working his way back into shape after a neck injury; he had five tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Nate Kaeding was perfect on three field-goal attempts, including one from 45 yards. The coverage units were on the mark, but the Chargers didn’t get much from the return game. P Mike Scifres remains solid.
COACHING: A — Norv Turner needs to be in the discussion for coach of the year honors. He was able to walk that fine line Sunday of getting his regulars some work — and then out of harm’s way — while recording a win behind his backups. Turner has the Chargers’ attention, and they are focused heading into the playoffs.