WFT vs Bolts Pre Game Discussion

[equivocation]

NFL fans also have the "the Chargers have pre season hype every year" thing.

10 AM games are never fun.

[Charge!]

Line did shift to the WFT.

yes, it has nothing to do with which team is better.... it has to do with balancing the wagers equally on both sides so vegas wins no matter what.....

[Charge!]

NFL fans also have the "the Chargers have pre season hype every year" thing.

10 AM games are never fun.

the positive thing is that we dont have to wait for the game to start..... and remember this is almost like an entirely new team, coaches, and systems so our horrible past does not matter.... they have kept it a secret what this team will look like starting tomorrow.... i dont know if we will be good to start this season, but I believe these coaches have a plan to move this team in the right direction....

[Redskins1]

NFL fans also have the "the Chargers have pre season hype every year" thing.

10 AM games are never fun.

I would love 10am games on the eastcoast cause im a early bird and very anxious for kickoff...lol

[Redskins1]

Well dang I have a 100 post already I just noticed,that was quick..Just tell me to shutup..

[DragonIce]

I disagree. The Dolphins were in the playoff race last year and made the change because they believed that Tagovailoa gave them the best chance to win. In Fitzpatrick's defense, there were dissenters, but that was the basis of the decision. No team sacrifices a potential playoff berth to get reps for a rookie QB just for the future.

I also disagree about Fitzpatrick being a huge upgrade over what WFT had last year. I think that is he represents a small upgrade over a one-legged Alex Smith.

-Smith is Mr. check down. Almost never throws downfield. 6.3 yards per attempt
-Fitz is aggressive and pushes down the field. 7.8 yards per attempt

Fitz also has surprising movement skills for his age. Six running TDs in past 24 games. He actually led Dolphins in rushing in 2019, which is both hysterical and absolutely true.

[Bolt-O]

yes, it has nothing to do with which team is better.... it has to do with balancing the wagers equally on both sides so vegas wins no matter what.....

Exactly. They want the pain to be as even as possible. That said, they are pretty good at what they do. They expect a lower scoring game too, o/u 41

[Charge!]

-Smith is Mr. check down. Almost never throws downfield. 6.3 yards per attempt
-Fitz is aggressive and pushes down the field. 7.8 yards per attempt

Fitz also has surprising movement skills for his age. Six running TDs in past 24 games. He actually led Dolphins in rushing in 2019, which is both hysterical and absolutely true.

Fitz is a gamer who can do it all on any given game....... throw 5 TD passes or 5 picks...... he can scramble or run..... his only real flaw is that is is consistently inconsistent..... he is the ideal backup QB and usually plays amazing coming off the bench.....

This is a scary game..... for fans.... lol ....since none of knows what kind of team or systems we are really using....only 16.5 hours left to find out.... lol

[BayAreaBoltz]

I'll admit. I'm a pessimist. A cynic. Especially when it comes to the Chargers (for good reason). But I'm as hopeful as the next person that we will be a great team once again. And will rejoice louder than anyone should that happen.

But, I just don't see us winning this first game out of the gate.

1) East Coast Game: 10 AM. These are historically bad for us (for most West Coast teams, but it seems like it hits us hard most years).

2) WFT's Dominating Defensive Front: Whatever we've done to improve our line (and, on paper, it is significantly better) we still are starting off against a proven and strong front 7. This will be a challenge I'd rather face in week 7 then Week 1. Especially on the road in the crowd noise making line calls more challenging.

3) Joe Lombardi: This is just my way to lump the whole new offensive scheme into one. I have MAJOR reservations about him (again, I hope to eat my words, PLEASE). He's been nothing more than a QB coach for years. And, when given the reigns before, it was a disaster - with a good QB. Not sure why, but it didn't work then. Add to that, it's a brand new scheme with a brand new line and, well, this is a tough way to start a season.

4) Starters Sitting So Long: Yes, I get it. I prefer health over preseason wins. But, with a new scheme and a new line who needs to learn each other's calls and nuances, this is a tough way to start the year. BTW, this applies to both sides of the ball. The offensive and defensive schemes are significantly more advanced than under the previous regime (thankfully). But it's gonna be almost impossible, I think to go from 0 to 60 when the game begins.

4) Ekeler: His on-again, off-again practice week has given me zero hope in a productive game. I know others have said he wouldn't have rushed for a ton of yards against this team anyway. But it's less about that and more about his strength, experience, blocking skills, pass-catching skills, and more. The drop off between him and guy #2 is a cliff.

5) Hostile Crowd: Yes, I know. Herbert has played in front of large crowds in college. Fine. Whatever. But this is after a year of not doing so and needing to lead a new offense while the game clock winds down. Challenging layer to add.

6) Our Kicker: He didn't "win" the job. And none of us have any faith in him to make a game winning field goal.

7) Special Teams: Nothing I saw in the preseason gave me ANY hope that we've improved our special teams. Sure, only a slight improvement is a HUGE difference maker for us (as we sucked BAD last season, and quite a few seasons). But, c'mon. Did we have ANYthing over the three games that gave us a thrill? A long FG made? A punt return that gained a large chunk of yards? A kickoff either way without a Charger penalty?

8) Staley's First NFL Game: Look, I love the guy. Fires me up. But, at this point, it's unknown how he's going to do. Add to this the fact that he has to call the defense. I LOVE having a coach who can gameplan and scheme and adjust and who knows what the hell he's talking about. LOVE it. But, we've seen it before - when a coach has to think about play calling every down, he can't always think about helping the offense or special teams. He can't always juggle game clocks and plan-aheads. I'm HOPEFUL he can do it. But, just saying, he's unproven in this.

9) Rookie CB: There WILL be a learning curve. And let it happen. But I'd feel better if we had 2019 Casey Hayward on the other side while the learning was happening. And depth.

I'm sure I could go on. But my parking meter is almost out and I gotta run. I'll be watching tomorrow (and cheering, and venting) along with you all.

But I think we walk out of this game 0 - 1.

[Charge!]

Exactly. They want the pain to be as even as possible. That said, they are pretty good at what they do. They expect a lower scoring game too, o/u 41

true..... i dont bet on individual games using spread very often, but when i do its amazing how close they end up being..... many times exactly.... almost like they can predict a missed extra point?!...... lol

[Charge!]

I'll admit. I'm a pessimist. A cynic. Especially when it comes to the Chargers (for good reason). But I'm as hopeful as the next person that we will be a great team once again. And will rejoice louder than anyone should that happen.

But, I just don't see us winning this first game out of the gate.

1) East Coast Game: 10 AM. These are historically bad for us (for most West Coast teams, but it seems like it hits us hard most years).

2) WFT's Dominating Defensive Front: Whatever we've done to improve our line (and, on paper, it is significantly better) we still are starting off against a proven and strong front 7. This will be a challenge I'd rather face in week 7 then Week 1. Especially on the road in the crowd noise making line calls more challenging.

3) Joe Lombardi: This is just my way to lump the whole new offensive scheme into one. I have MAJOR reservations about him (again, I hope to eat my words, PLEASE). He's been nothing more than a QB coach for years. And, when given the reigns before, it was a disaster - with a good QB. Not sure why, but it didn't work then. Add to that, it's a brand new scheme with a brand new line and, well, this is a tough way to start a season.

4) Starters Sitting So Long: Yes, I get it. I prefer health over preseason wins. But, with a new scheme and a new line who needs to learn each other's calls and nuances, this is a tough way to start the year. BTW, this applies to both sides of the ball. The offensive and defensive schemes are significantly more advanced than under the previous regime (thankfully). But it's gonna be almost impossible, I think to go from 0 to 60 when the game begins.

4) Ekeler: His on-again, off-again practice week has given me zero hope in a productive game. I know others have said he wouldn't have rushed for a ton of yards against this team anyway. But it's less about that and more about his strength, experience, blocking skills, pass-catching skills, and more. The drop off between him and guy #2 is a cliff.

5) Hostile Crowd: Yes, I know. Herbert has played in front of large crowds in college. Fine. Whatever. But this is after a year of not doing so and needing to lead a new offense while the game clock winds down. Challenging layer to add.

6) Our Kicker: He didn't "win" the job. And none of us have any faith in him to make a game winning field goal.

7) Special Teams: Nothing I saw in the preseason gave me ANY hope that we've improved our special teams. Sure, only a slight improvement is a HUGE difference maker for us (as we sucked BAD last season, and quite a few seasons). But, c'mon. Did we have ANYthing over the three games that gave us a thrill? A long FG made? A punt return that gained a large chunk of yards? A kickoff either way without a Charger penalty?

8) Staley's First NFL Game: Look, I love the guy. Fires me up. But, at this point, it's unknown how he's going to do. Add to this the fact that he has to call the defense. I LOVE having a coach who can gameplan and scheme and adjust and who knows what the hell he's talking about. LOVE it. But, we've seen it before - when a coach has to think about play calling every down, he can't always think about helping the offense or special teams. He can't always juggle game clocks and plan-aheads. I'm HOPEFUL he can do it. But, just saying, he's unproven in this.

9) Rookie CB: There WILL be a learning curve. And let it happen. But I'd feel better if we had 2019 Casey Hayward on the other side while the learning was happening. And depth.

I'm sure I could go on. But my parking meter is almost out and I gotta run. I'll be watching tomorrow (and cheering, and venting) along with you all.

But I think we walk out of this game 0 - 1.

I agree with all of that..... everything you mentioned may end up being an issue or a reason we lose.....
not only did our starters not play but they did not even suit up and go through the pre game routine and warmups....

My biggest hope is that Staley is an actual genius and he has the team ready to play out of their minds....

Both Bobby Ross and Coryell took a few or several games to turn the team around....so it may take some time,,,.. if Staley gets a great professional game(especially a winning one) out of all of our players tomorrow, he may truly be the great coach the Chargers have been looking for most of the teams existence.......

Staley seems like an overly nice guy.... I wonder how he will react when inevitably something goes wrong? will he lose it, or will he just have a peaceful politically correct conversation? =)

[Boltjolt]

The only positive for this game IF we do lose, is if we're going to lose a game, better to lose to an NFC team out of our division.
And it's the first game of the season. I suspect things will get better as the season goes alon. Even if we win we will still get better.

Of course just hope you don't have a lot of injuries.