Official Game Day Thread: Chargers @ Lions - 12/24

The starters need to be pulled. No reason to risk anymore injuries.

Can't the chargers just forfeit that game, is it really necessary???????

What a pathetic end to a c%$^# season!
The ownership is to blame! You get what you pay for.. Marginal 2nd hand coaching - get's you a marginal team....

Happy Holidays!

Goodman is a horrible returner.


Lol Dan Dier-derp

They want to torture us just a little longer.

At leaat it was in spectacular fashion, now there is no way Spanos can justify keeping Norv by saying we fought hard.

Chargers give us all a lump of coal or should I say poo for Christmas.
Thanks Norv!

Hats off to the Lions. They played with heart, and took it with force.

I dont see how he could justify keeping either. He may have to swallow 12 million....

I still think Norv and AJ are back.

I will sit out the season in protest sir!

Boo ****** hoo to the billionaire. I hope he learned his lesson, don't hire a pussy to do a man's job

Anyway... MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

12 million... Maybe... I worry they might be back, or AJ will and he is the greater of the two evils IMHO....

it's about time. Good for Detroit.

judybattista Judy Battista

RT @richeisen: NFLN research: only way Jets make playoffs is win at MIA and get CIN loss, TEN loss and Oakland loss or Denver loss #nyj

Lets beat the Raiders just to spite the damn Jets.

Nothing for me to say,I've been apathetic for awhile with this team. Nothing surprises me or upsets me. I'm just disappointed

How the Chargers couldn't come out all fired up... before kickoff we found out we're still in thanks to Buffalo totally kicking Denver's azz. Oakland wins. We could still win it and then Norv motivates the boys to a fever pitch... and they lay an egg. Norv... Lookiing up piece-o-**** in the dictionary and I see his face. This loss should nail his f-ing coffin. His time has run out here in San Diego... a true Christmas miracle.

As someone who has been (and still is) agnorvstic since the the day after he was hired,
I've surprisingly found myself defending the Charger coach from absurd, irrational rants
from simpleminded, underinformed "fans" who want to blame every thing that goes wrong on Norv.

But the "don't lose" strategy against Denver angered me. It was so obviously a bad plan.

And, though Norv called a brilliant game against the Ravens, today reminded me of
another season-long beef: The Chargers never got squat out of Goodman this year.
Maybe he's tearing it up in practice, but in games, the Chargers have been handicapped
by pitiful after-kickoff field position. Goodman never came close to breaking one,
and he often didn't get back to the 20. By mid-season I was asking
"Why is this guy still returning kickoffs? Obviously, the coaches believe in the guy,
but as far as I'm concerned, the head coach has got to say, at some point:
"We need better production out of the kickoff returns" and address the issue.
(maybe train up Todman, or something)
But failing to fix this season-long problem, I think, is one of the most legitimate
gripes about Norv as an HC in 2011. By week 3 it was clear that kickoff returns were
a squandered opportunity...that they still are is inexcusable.

Oh, and M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S, everyone...

tough way to go out.

Just numb really......... that could be a combination of alcohol and lack of sleep though.

Biggest fault of Norv is the defensive gameplan.
It's obviously valid to blame it on Manusky.
But it's not like the DC operates independent of the HC. That coverage scheme had to be approved by the HC.
Ted=Vanilla.
RR= Vanilla.
Manusky=Vanilla.
That's a problem with the guy hiring (recognizing that AJ hired TC).

Schwarz: "Santa was at Ford Field tonight"
Was he dressed as Manusky?

You don't think that AJ was in agreement regarding Manusky?......... I think he pulled out his rubber stamp.

Hell yeah.
But during the season, it was up to Norv to give Manusky some guidance. My point is only that Norv takes blame for the defensive scheme as well as Manusky.
AJ gets blame for everything. He's the GM. He hired the HC. He gets the players. The buck stops at AJ.

Manusky was fooled into thinking that last week's strategy would work again...... big mistake. The Chargers created pressure against the Ravens..... nonexistent today, and the Lions' WRs are in a different class. The team speed just isn't there to cover those guys if we don't get pressure....... we didn't. End of story.

I posted that earlier in this thread, but just fargin around.
There's no way anyone sane thinks the Lions bring the same offensive attack as the Ravens.
Then again, the accepted myth is that 'football guys' are smart.

Maybe AJ has more then one wheel?

Its the little stuff like this that makes me step back and look at a larger picture. I swear 31 other teams fanbases are fans of the team and probably half of those fans probably couldnt even tell you who their General Manager even is.

So it goes we HAD a GM worth braggin about and even moreso a GM we heard endless praise for from the rest of the NFL as to how Great he was/is. I just wonder why did I have to join into a fanbase that even gives a shiz about who the OFFICE guys even are?? I thought we were supposed to be fans of the actual playing and players of the game.... IF the guys up at the top cant get their shi together and put a winning product on the field then there is reason for the HMFIC of said hypathetical team to take care of business and get back to winning to make $$.

The bitter fact that the NFL IS a buisness is something that also sucks to really know about. Would be much ezier to be a fan of the stat sheets tahn the bank checks wouldnt you think?

Chargers suck and all that. Merry Christmas too, y'all.

OYEA and that draft wheel is funny as hell. OLD, but it still makes me do a inner smirk. Only b/c I know that its true from what I have been shown by AJs pickins.

I didn't even see a full recreation of the scheme we ran against the Ravens. At least against the Ravens, while we ran zone most of the game and got pressure we were also playing a bit more up on their players. Today... I **** you not, I swore I was watching Manusky calling Prevent D in the 1st quarter... while we were trailing by 2 scores! There is no sense of defensive logic that suggests in any way, shape, or form that that strategy should ever work. At numerous points in the game we had as many as 5 DB's playing more than 10 yards off the LOS. Save for some nifty catches on CJ's part, well over 75% of Stafford's completions were to uncontested and wide-open receivers.

Fact is, this was, as was touched on earlier in this thread, Norv and Manusky implementing the "play to 'not lose' strategy" approach rather than going for the jugular or even for a telling blow. The onside kick, for all the praise it'll get for succeeding and catching Detroit by surprise, was basically an act of needed desperation.