WFT vs Bolts Pre Game Discussion

[AK47]

Fitz is streaky,tall better hope it's a off day for him cause if he is on it will get ugly for your Bolts..

The first 3 games of 2019 and 2020 for FitzTragic:

5 TDs - 7 INts

It takes awhile for QBs in their 17th season to get hot?

[CRed]

Are there other 38 year old QB who move like this? Maybe, but...as I said...SURPRISING

I had not seen that video.. Fitz has a HUGE opportunity to rewrite his story this year. His last 3 years have been far better then his first 13. No team was going to look at him as a long term solution because of his age so he has had to take on the journeyman roll.

But he could also write the Fitztragic side. I hope not but tomorrow will set the stage nicely.

[DragonIce]

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.

You typed all that up...a massive list of why your favorite team is going to lose? LOL...A Pessimist you are. :killme:

[RTPbolt]

We know a lot more of what Wash does well on defense to develop counters to it. That defense wasnt good enough to win 7 games last year…yes they have good players on the line but again those guys were outscored 7 times last year. Im confident our skill players matchup well and our OL will be better than last year.

i think its likely a close game but part of me also think there is that potential we beat wash to the punch on offense and the D confuses their offense and we push them into mistakes. We get a few turnovers and I think our offense is going to take shots wash cant answer.

cant wait…a few of us are meeting…epic times are awaiting

[Charge!]

The Ross squad was not that talented, not close to the current roster imo.

True from a skill position point of view, but it was much bigger, stronger, tougher.... that Team had natron means who is a better back than all of our current backs..... that team had Seau and a defense that only gave up an NFL best 1 point something yards per carry.......... and that Ross team had GREAT ST's ....retuyrning multiple kickoffs snf punts for game changing TDs......

That Ross team, the year we went to SB, was behind at half time EVERY game, but something happened during halftime and that team usually started the second half with a huge return for a TD or to set up a TD to get the team rolling..... the DB's were ball hawks and the returners were explosive...... and the OL was solid..... and Means was dominant And got stronger as game went on..... that TEAM had better fundamentals than this team has shown yet, yet in fairness it could be totally different this year..... This years Team is more athletic, but till they do something, we cannot call them better...... that Ross team played above their heads and beat better more talented teams because they played together and never gave up....

In the SB, had Mark Sea held onto the Humphries long bomb..... Chargers would have been only one score from tying the game (against a far superior SF team) after the 2nd half opening kick return TD..... there was no quit in that team...

[ChargersPowderBlue]

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.

Because it doesn't affect tie-breakers? Sure. But it's not always so great. You might need that one other game, especially against a team from the other conference, to get a leg up in order to win a division against a rival or beat another team for a wildcard spot. All games matter.

[ChargersPowderBlue]

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.

Staley’s D also won’t be a carbon copy of the LAR. He tailored that scheme based on the two best players he had in Donald and Ramsey. He will tweak this defense fo the talent he has now.

Does Reynaldo Hill not exist? I say this because people act like it's just Staley.

[Charge!]

What the hell happened here? Buck up, bolt ladies. WFT is not the 85 Bears. They suffer the enormous strategic preparation disadvantage in that they have no clue what to prepare for. This isn’t Lombardi’s NO offense and certainly not the offense they ran the last 5 or so years, Its a fusion of multiple inputs by the diverse staff Staley hand selected for this purpose, all designed to maximize the best players to be in position to be their best.

Staley’s D also won’t be a carbon copy of the LAR. He tailored that scheme based on the two best players he had in Donald and Ramsey. He will tweak this defense fo the talent he has now.

WFT, on the other hand, is known entity. Rivera is not an out of the box innovative genius. He’s not even a traditional genius. Stop worrying that you haven’t seen it yet - be glad that WFT hasn’t seen it either. Big Advantage Bolts.

good point..... that the Chargers fans nor the WTF have not seen any fit of this offense or defense either........

[DragonIce]

My prediction:
Chargers: 27
WFT: 20

[CRed]

What the hell happened here? Buck up, bolt ladies. WFT is not the 85 Bears. They suffer the enormous strategic preparation disadvantage in that they have no clue what to prepare for. This isn’t Lombardi’s NO offense and certainly not the offense they ran the last 5 or so years, Its a fusion of multiple inputs by the diverse staff Staley hand selected for this purpose, all designed to maximize the best players to be in position to be their best.

Staley’s D also won’t be a carbon copy of the LAR. He tailored that scheme based on the two best players he had in Donald and Ramsey. He will tweak this defense fo the talent he has now.

WFT, on the other hand, is known entity. Rivera is not an out of the box innovative genius. He’s not even a traditional genius. Stop worrying that you haven’t seen it yet - be glad that WFT hasn’t seen it either. Big Advantage Bolts.

I expect you will see a lot of man coverage with safety support on Williams. Del Rio is a defensive guru too, and he isn't going to be shocked by some fusion approach, ultimately our d is premised on each player playing his responsibility and you guys just don't have that many magicians. Your TEs particularly lack oomph, if Herbert is getting the ball out fast our team speed is an advantage to stopping the YAC. If he tries the deep shots that means our DL has more time to get actual hits on him..

[Boltjolt]

You typed all that up...a massive list of why your favorite team is going to lose? LOL...A Pessimist you are. :killme:

No kidding. His #5 doesn't concern me even a tiny bit.

[equivocation]

Chargers fans have Stockholm Syndrom with losing.