I'm not even talking about the passing of Matthew Perry, thought that is awful.
The celebrity death that hit me the hardest was Luke Perry, actually. But I'm talking about football, as unimportant as it is. It's a gross day here in Long Island. The Jets are playing the Giants and I am literally the only person who isn't watching it seems. That's an exaggeration, obviously. There are plenty of people who root for out-of-market teams these days. But the Bolts are more stuck than ever. Jets, Giants, Jags, even the Pats have more hope right now. Last week was really the worst of all. On one hand, the offense showed signs in the first half. Of course, for the second consecutive week a national audience got to see Brandon Staley's "scheme" in all its glory. Travis Kelce has better games against the Chargers than any team. We've seen him end two games in Los Angeles with Derwin James trying to cover him. So after giving the Cowboys' receivers 12-yard cushions on Monday Night, we spend an entire half letting Kelce do whatever he wants in the open field.
We saw it opening day and I thought that was the worst pass defense I had ever seen. Yes the Dolphins are great on offense, but it seemed like we just left the entire center of the field open.
What's frightening is the Chargers are actually getting turnovers and even though Herbert's deflected pick was a killer it's not as if the Bolts are giving the ball away that much. They basically spent an entire half playing prevent defense. It's scary that people are now suggesting they'd rather have the Gus Bradley defense back. There was a 3rd and long play last week that reminded me of the "picket fence" play he used to run. As I recall, we did get up less 3rd and longs but always came pretty close. Remember when Herbert had that great but meaningless game at Vegas in 2020. Bradley's defense was basically what we seem to be watching now.
I didn't know it was "complementary" football when you get more than one part of your team to play well at a time. I mean, I am sure I have heard the term used in that way since the Chargers don't often get it together in more than one "phase at a time." However, the second half was when a hungry team looking for an upset would take advantage. The Chiefs have not been at their best all year. You could argue that they weren't really last year, either and yet they won the Super Bowl. The second half of the game was a true opportunity for the Bolts to pull off the upset. They actually let their guys play man to man and even got Travis Kelce pounding the grass after what I assume was a drop, since I can't imagine Michael Davis actually broke up that play.
But, alas, it was not to be. The three straight run calls were shaky at best. Kellen Moore is right that a rushing attack is needed. KC's defense against the run has not been great but beyond the Kelley run nothing was happening.
Ekeler got a lot of attention for his locker room clip after being asked about Staley. It doesn't matter whether Staley has "lost the locker room." One week after grilling him about his "top 3rd down defense" claim, Popper went around at KC to confirm what we all already knew--they weren't playing man to man until it was too late. Ekeler saying he doesn't get to have an opinion on Staley since he hasn't played well is basically his way of saying they know Staley is a bad coach and will probably be fired at the end of the year. By that time, we will have wasted another year of Justin Herbert.
Yes, Herbert has had his problems this year. He'd be the first to admit that. However, another team and another coach would easily get more out of him. He's missed a few throws and fires a bullet when a softer pass is needed.
Richard Sherman's take that this defense should be better since there is talent applies to the entire team. At this point, Staley insisting on calling the plays is just a metaphor. It's not working and we'll all have to wait until January for the cycle to begin again.
I'll be watching tonight, FAITHFUL READER, just as I will next Sunday. I'll even be at Green Bay next month, but nothing I've seen makes me think this team is going anywhere. What happens tonight won't likely change that, though it would be nicer to watch a win.
I hate reading my own words as I type this. It's not even Halloween and it feels like the season is already shot. I said that last year after the loss to the Traitors and then the team quickly pulled it together just so Staley could fuck it all up in Denver. People focusing on the playoff loss being the moment he lost the team seem to forget that game was the symptom of a much larger problem.
Anyway, I'm off to enjoy what's left of my Sunday.
JIC,
RLW
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