Week 15

[lichtie23]

An AFC West matchup to kick off your red hot week 15 slate of games as the out of form, but playoff chasing Las Vegas Raiders face off against always funny to watch Chargers of Los Angeles. How many times will the Chargers coaching team make head scratching decisions? We are also blessed to have 2 Saturday games this week to feed our NFL habit! What a perfect way to forget your football sides piss poor performance that you’ve watched on a glitchy stream only hours earlier.

 

TNF

Chargers @ Raiders

Saturday

Bills @ Broncos (9.30pm)

Panthers @ Packers (1.15am)

Sunday (Early)

Buccaneers @ Falcons

49ers @ Cowboys

Lions @ Titans

Texans @ Colts

Patriots @ Dolphins

Bears @ Vikings

Seahawks @ Football Team

Jaguars @ Ravens

Sunday (Late)

Jets @ Rams

Eagles @ Cardinals

Chiefs @ Saints

SNF

Browns @ Giants

 

The Dolphins can end the Patriots playoff hopes if they can get the better of them in Miami. Alex Smith is an injury concern for Washington’s home game with the Seahawks. The Chiefs visit to the Saints is the absolute stand out game of the week 15 schedule and our Sunday is wrapped up with the Browns (fresh off a loss in the game of the season on Monday) trip to the Giants at MetLife.

[Boo Khaki]

Chargers will either win by one score or lose by 30

[resk]

Saturday night Josh Allen action!  I'm digging that.  

[ICTChris]

39 minutes ago, Boo Khaki said:

Chargers will either win by one score or lose by 30

I did think you were maybe going a bit overboard about the Chargers special teams play.  Then I watched the last couple of Chargers highlights.  Goodness me.

[GNU_Linux]

Derrick Henry up against the Lions D. I've got the fear.

[Boo Khaki]

3 hours ago, ICTChris said:

I did think you were maybe going a bit overboard about the Chargers special teams play.  Then I watched the last couple of Chargers highlights.  Goodness me.

It's all on the coaching. Main reason why I wanted Dave Toub as HC before we hired Lynn, and why I still want him when Lynn is eventually fired. Not because our ST's are a mess, but because ST coaches work with the scrubs and walk-on's, so a huge part of coaching a successful unit involves drilling sub-par talent in correct fundamentals. The very basics, i.e. blocking, tackling, game-management, kicking etc have been huge issues for this franchise since 2007. No problem putting up billions of yards and points, but game-winning FG's, not stepping on your own dick constantly, and actually playing to the demands of the clock... no. It's been a persistent shortfall throughout the tenure of the last three coaching regimes.

Something nobody has mentioned, but epitomises what I'm talking about, was the end of the game the last time we played the raiders. LAC lost by one score, as usual, with time expiring with Goal to Go at around the Raiders 10. Herbert threw a fade on 3rd Down, was ruled incomplete, game over. All the ire was reserved for the playcall, but nobody seemed to notice that on the final drive the Chargers got the ball at around their own 25 with something like 3:40 left on the clock. It took them until 50 seconds remaining to get to the Raiders 40 yard line, yet people were irate about the playcall on the final play and not the fact that they simply ran out of time due to utterly appalling clock management. It's something that's happened over and over in the last 10+years.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Boo Khaki

[Brummie Clyde]

Finally able to watch NFL again. Not thrilled about Chargers v Raiders tbh.

[lichtie23]

James Bradberry on the Covid list and will miss the Browns game on Sunday night. He has far and away been out best defensive back this season

[Boo Khaki]

2 hours ago, Brummie Clyde said:

Finally able to watch NFL again. Not thrilled about Chargers v Raiders tbh.

You, 99% of SoCal, pretty much every Chargers fan on the planet, and every Raiders fan as well, apart from the ones too stupid to realise they're not making the playoffs (which is a fair few of them tbf).

Edited December 17, 2020 by Boo Khaki

[Boo Khaki]

Fun wee game to pass the time tonight.

[Boo Khaki]

God almighty both of these teams are absolute garbage. Two bald men fighting over a comb.

[The Golden God]

Neither team wanted to win that.

[Nightmare]

Any chance a win last night keeps Lynn in the job?

Mariota looked decent. A couple of dodgy throws but lots of good plays as well.

[lichtie23]

Why was Mariota in last night?

[Boo Khaki]

2 hours ago, Nightmare said:

Any chance a win last night keeps Lynn in the job?

Mariota looked decent. A couple of dodgy throws but lots of good plays as well.

I think if the Chargers finish 7-9, and it's a possibility because they only have to play a garbage Broncos team at home, and finish with a game against what could be KC's scrubs, then Telesco may well blame this season-long shitfest on injuries and give Lynn the benefit of doubt. It happened before with McCoy. It was abundantly clear by mid way through McCoy's second season that he was completely hopeless as a HC, yet they let him linger on for a full four year stretch, blaming the constant ineptitude on injuries, as if that's not something that all NFL teams have to deal with.

To be charitable to Lynn, I think had the team been reasonably healthy the entire season they'd probably have eked out a couple more wins, but injuries don't explain the utterly horrific game management, Bradley's total inability to slow down even powderpuff offenses, and the endemic piss-poor fundamentals through every facet of the team. They're lucky in that they've evidently got a rookie phenom at QB and that is masking just how truly terrible the coaching is. I think had Tyrod started all 16 games we'd be looking at a 2-3 win season.

1 hour ago, lichtie23 said:

Why was Mariota in last night?

Carr pulled a groin muscle scrambling near the end of the 1st.

Another Chargers speciality - bum backup QB's having career nights

Edited December 18, 2020 by Boo Khaki

[Nightmare]

46 minutes ago, Boo Khaki said:

I think if the Chargers finish 7-9, and it's a possibility because they only have to play a garbage Broncos team at home, and finish with a game against what could be KC's scrubs, then Telesco may well blame this season-long shitfest on injuries and give Lynn the benefit of doubt. It happened before with McCoy. It was abundantly clear by mid way through McCoy's second season that he was completely hopeless as a HC, yet they let him linger on for a full four year stretch, blaming the constant ineptitude on injuries, as if that's not something that all NFL teams have to deal with.

To be charitable to Lynn, I think had the team been reasonably healthy the entire season they'd probably have eked out a couple more wins, but injuries don't explain the utterly horrific game management, Bradley's total inability to slow down even powderpuff offenses, and the endemic piss-poor fundamentals through every facet of the team. They're lucky in that they've evidently got a rookie phenom at QB and that is masking just how truly terrible the coaching is. I think had Tyrod started all 16 games we'd be looking at a 2-3 win season.

Carr pulled a groin muscle scrambling near the end of the 1st.

Another Chargers speciality - bum backup QB's having career nights

Chargers are one of the few franchises I could see sticking with a lame duck coach like Lynn. As you said, the ready-made excuses are right there, and additionally I’d guess they might be not be too thrilled about the options out there to replace him. It seems to me that you’re either gambling on an NFL coordinator who is unproven leading a team, or a college HC, who often have a sketchy history of transitioning to the pros. There’s no “must hire” HC out there right now, and even if there was would the Chargers be the first option for him?

4-12 would have spelled the end for Lynn regardless, but 6-10 might just be enough to prolong it. Keeping him would be a terrible decision but not a particularly surprising one.

 

Re: Mariota, I think it’s actually quite an interesting situation. He’s arguably the best backup in the league right now, and his performance last night having not taken an NFL snap for about a season and a half was pretty good. I think he fits Gruden’s style of play better than Carr because you always have to account for his mobility (as last night showed) and Gruden loves play action and keeping the ball on the ground. If he starts and wins the last two games of the season (big IF against Dolphins & Broncos defences which are better than the Chargers), there could be a real QB controversy kicking off.

[Fife Saint]

Freddie Kitchens calling the Giants plays sunday night. If he derails the Browns playoff push I'm fucking done with it all. I cant take it.

 

 

[lichtie23]

Drew Brees back for the Saints to face the Chiefs

[Antiochas III]

No longer looking forward to the game this week.  No Smith, no Holcomb, no KPL and Gibson doubtful.  

[peasy23]

49ers at Dallas, our record against them is the polar opposite of our record vs the Rams. Cowboys have won 5 of the last 6. Kittle was back in practice this week but hasn't been reactivated from IR yet, Deebo Samuel is done for the season.