Chargers @ Cardinals Pregame Thread (Week 12)

[Leslie Grossman]

I was the biggest Abe Lucas cheerleader.
When I slapped a late round 1 grade on him... I was ridiculed for months...

He was my 2nd round guy in my mocks, could have had but alas they made the Mack trade

[Boltgang74]

So is Pipkens healthy and ready to play again or what?

[jamrock]

Adderley is officially out.

[sonorajim]

So is Pipkens healthy and ready to play again or what?

Play- yes. 100% - no.

[FoutsFan]

Play- yes. 100% - no.

Sad to say but 80% of Pipkins is still better than. 110% Norton.

[Boltnut]

Most here had Lucas in their 2nd round draft cluster. I remember a discussion I had with a few others here on whether Lucas would drop to the chargers 2nd round pick (before the mack trade). Looking at past drafts and the number of tackles who ordinarily go before that pick, I stated that it is very likely he would be available.
Don't be overly dramatic about posters pilloring you for giving a late first round grade on the guy. I was the anti Penning poster, and quite frankly said that I preferred Lucas.

I'm gonna take all these "I loved Abe" posts with a grain of salt. And for the record, you brought him up... not me.

But I think people [you] are missing the bigger point.... People miss evaluations all of the time.
TT missed a lot of them early. Fluker, Te'o, Varrett, Attaochu. Those were his 1st and 2nd round picks his first two years. These are supposed to be starters... for years.
His pick of Keenan Allen was a homerun. But if you want to talk about no-brainers... this is it. In my own personal draft, I chose KA in the 2nd round. He had 12 picks those first 2 years... KA was the only quality pick. Tell me how TT hasn't improved.... Rashawn Slater, Asante Samuel Jr., Zion Johnson, traded for Khalil Mack [and, no, you don't get to deflect to Abe Lucas]....

[Caslon]

With MW having been sidelined for some games, Joshua Palmer is becoming a welcomed bright spot for this offense. Having Keenan Allen back is adding to his threat capability. He’s big too, almost TE sized. Only 23 years old. The guy has been clutch at times. So glad to see him getting the playing time to improve. Good chemistry between him and Herbert. Very pleased with his potential.

[Charge!]

Starting DB in 19th ranked pass defense. Not especially good or bad.
Actually, DBs are the best unit on this lousy D.
Defensive coaching is sub par. I do not believe the players are as bad as the results.

that is deceptive, though I will agree our DBs arer likely the most talented group on our team. Only reason our pass defense is ranked that high is because we let teams run at will on us for 150-200+ ypg.... no need to pass when run defense is this bad......

[sonorajim]

With MW having been sidelined for some games, Joshua Palmer is becoming a welcomed bright spot for this offense. Having Keenan Allen back is adding to his threat capability. He’s big too, almost TE sized. Only 23 years old. The guy has been clutch at times. So glad to see him getting the playing time to improve. Good chemistry between him and Herbert. Very pleased with his potential.

We should have some fun on offense.Herbert is looking closer to healthy. KA playing, Palmer & Carter looking good. Ekeler fine,Spiller good, Kelley off IR.
OL not too shabby. Let's rock! Give our D some points and bench time. They play better that way.

[Caslon]

that is deceptive, though I will agree our DBs arer likely the most talented group on our team. Only reason our pass defense is ranked that high is because we let teams run at will on us for 150-200+ ypg.... no need to pass when run defense is this bad......

Not bad, not bad, until the last 1:30 seconds of the game. That’s when we could use Bosa and others sidelined.

[sonorajim]

that is deceptive, though I will agree our DBs arer likely the most talented group on our team. Only reason our pass defense is ranked that high is because we let teams run at will on us for 150-200+ ypg.... no need to pass when run defense is this bad......

They keep the ball out of the hands of our offense. Our D has allowed 6 ppg on avg to RBs.
Part of our game plan is scoring early, often and forcing them to throw to keep up. After Herbert got injured,the R ypg took off.
It's not ideal, we depend a lot on Herbert & our passing game to make everything work.
That said, @ Ari we should take a step in that direction. Chargers offense will dictate the pace.vs the #31 scoring D.

ps: opponent RBs ran 150 yds or more:in 3 games: Two we won
wk 5 Cle 181 LAC W
wk 7 Sea 202 " L
wk 9 Atl 177 " W

[Boltnut]

There is almost no correlation between rushing ypc and team records.

In the top-10 run defenses, half have losing records.
In the bottom-10 run defenses, half have winning records.