Chargers had the better team tonight and to top it off the Saints had their best offensive player besides their QB, being Graham, injured early on.

The Saints have ZERO rushing attack!

Their defense is in tatters...

The Chargers had the ball early on at the one yard line, Battle just ran through the line, and what do the Chargers do...they throw two incomplete passes and settle for a FG....WTF????

Then to top it off, the Chargers are up 10 pts, in the 3rd quarter, they are having a ton of success with short dump passes, some runs, and slants, and what does Norv do...He abandons it for long pass plays???

Note To Norval: If something is working, stay with it, until it doesn't work anymore. Mathews was owning them down the sidelines...They couldn't stop him.

Yes the refs sucked, but in the end, the Chargers should have never been in that situation. Up ten points, the Chargers had the ball...one more score, the game was over, milk the clock....But not Norv!

If this game wasn't a typical Norv loss, I don't know what is....Horrible!

Just read that Norv is 48-68-1 in one possession games, 2nd worst record by head coach in NFL history, really?

Just another reason to dump this loser! Another wasted year!

I don't like to blame the officials but the 2 offensive penaties that weren't penaties killed us. Not to mention the legal Ingram hit on Brees that got called.

BoltinLoudGuy wrote: I don't like to blame the officials but the 2 offensive penaties that weren't penaties killed us. Not to mention the legal Ingram hit on Brees that got called.

Shouldn't have come down to the refs......And this is second time Ingram has been flagged at the end of the game for hitting the QB high. When does he learn his lesson?????? Don't leave it up to the refs....Too close to call, stay away from the QB's helmet......Shoulders to knees....These guys are f'ing dumb....sorry! Still, Norv is to blame. Good try though. HA!

You have to give up on Battle. He wasn't a good fantasy pick-up unless he's on your bench.

Battle: Four rushes for 10 yards and two receptions for seven yards.  

Matthews: Twelve for 80 and six for 59. And one (awesome) TD run.

The long passes actually worked -- until that officiating crew blew some calls in huge situations. PI is a huge thing to get wrong. It's game changing. And they got it wrong and changed the game. 

I believe we are the better team, but I didn't expect to come in and stomp New Orleans on the road on Sunday night with Brees going for the record and Payton in the stands. I think I called this 34-20 in our favor and we were honestly five plays away from that. 

Chargerhonk wrote: Chargers had the better team tonight and to top it off the Saints had their best offensive player besides their QB, being Graham, injured early on.

The Saints have ZERO rushing attack!

Their defense is in tatters...

The Chargers had the ball early on at the one yard line, Battle just ran through the line, and what do the Chargers do...they throw two incomplete passes and settle for a FG....WTF????

Then to top it off, the Chargers are up 10 pts, in the 3rd quarter, they are having a ton of success with short dump passes, some runs, and slants, and what does Norv do...He abandons it for long pass plays???

Note To Norval: If something is working, stay with it, until it doesn't work anymore. Mathews was owning them down the sidelines...They couldn't stop him.

Yes the refs sucked, but in the end, the Chargers should have never been in that situation. Up ten points, the Chargers had the ball...one more score, the game was over, milk the clock....But not Norv!

If this game wasn't a typical Norv loss, I don't know what is....Horrible!

Helmet-to-chin will get called about 99.9% of the time.

BoltinLoudGuy wrote: I don't like to blame the officials but the 2 offensive penaties that weren't penaties killed us. Not to mention the legal Ingram hit on Brees that got called.

HunterSTomlinson wrote: You have to give up on Battle. He wasn't a good fantasy pick-up unless he's on your bench.

Battle: Four rushes for 10 yards and two receptions for seven yards.  

Matthews: Twelve for 80 and six for 59. And one (awesome) TD run.

The long passes actually worked -- until that officiating crew blew some calls in huge situations. PI is a huge thing to get wrong. It's game changing. And they got it wrong and changed the game. 

I believe we are the better team, but I didn't expect to come in and stomp New Orleans on the road on Sunday night with Brees going for the record and Payton in the stands. I think I called this 34-20 in our favor and we were honestly five plays away from that. 

Chargerhonk wrote: Chargers had the better team tonight and to top it off the Saints had their best offensive player besides their QB, being Graham, injured early on.

The Saints have ZERO rushing attack!

Their defense is in tatters...

The Chargers had the ball early on at the one yard line, Battle just ran through the line, and what do the Chargers do...they throw two incomplete passes and settle for a FG....WTF????

Then to top it off, the Chargers are up 10 pts, in the 3rd quarter, they are having a ton of success with short dump passes, some runs, and slants, and what does Norv do...He abandons it for long pass plays???

Note To Norval: If something is working, stay with it, until it doesn't work anymore. Mathews was owning them down the sidelines...They couldn't stop him.

Yes the refs sucked, but in the end, the Chargers should have never been in that situation. Up ten points, the Chargers had the ball...one more score, the game was over, milk the clock....But not Norv!

If this game wasn't a typical Norv loss, I don't know what is....Horrible!

There is ZERO doubt that Mathews is the best running back on the team. NONE! So we agree.

What I am saying is, Battle is a tank. Allowing him to beat down the defense during the game, and then mixing it up with Mathews, allows for very productive formula. Kind of like baseball when you throw an off-speed pitch.

Not to mention Battle SHOULD have gotten that ball at the goal line on second down and third down if needed. Stupid play calling.

That's all I am saying....plus it limits Mathews ability to fumble, keeps him fresh, and let's him stay focused. I think Mathews is very vulnerable to lapses to be honest.

Ah, but Battle's pitch is an 82-MPH fastball. Easy to hit. He has his place on the team, but it sure as hell isn't being the RB on the field on the first play from scrimmage. Third-and-short, maybe some goal line stuff (though Mathews needs that, too),  breathers for Mathews ... that makes sense.

But to have an older, slower, less talented guy in the backfield on the first series? That's dumb. Norvall says it isn't about teaching Mathews a lesson, but that's complete BS. The lesson has been taught, memo received, message delivered. Now let's play the better player from the get-go. 

Chargerhonk wrote:

HunterSTomlinson wrote: You have to give up on Battle. He wasn't a good fantasy pick-up unless he's on your bench.

Battle: Four rushes for 10 yards and two receptions for seven yards.  

Matthews: Twelve for 80 and six for 59. And one (awesome) TD run.

The long passes actually worked -- until that officiating crew blew some calls in huge situations. PI is a huge thing to get wrong. It's game changing. And they got it wrong and changed the game. 

I believe we are the better team, but I didn't expect to come in and stomp New Orleans on the road on Sunday night with Brees going for the record and Payton in the stands. I think I called this 34-20 in our favor and we were honestly five plays away from that. 

Chargerhonk wrote: Chargers had the better team tonight and to top it off the Saints had their best offensive player besides their QB, being Graham, injured early on.

The Saints have ZERO rushing attack!

Their defense is in tatters...

The Chargers had the ball early on at the one yard line, Battle just ran through the line, and what do the Chargers do...they throw two incomplete passes and settle for a FG....WTF????

Then to top it off, the Chargers are up 10 pts, in the 3rd quarter, they are having a ton of success with short dump passes, some runs, and slants, and what does Norv do...He abandons it for long pass plays???

Note To Norval: If something is working, stay with it, until it doesn't work anymore. Mathews was owning them down the sidelines...They couldn't stop him.

Yes the refs sucked, but in the end, the Chargers should have never been in that situation. Up ten points, the Chargers had the ball...one more score, the game was over, milk the clock....But not Norv!

If this game wasn't a typical Norv loss, I don't know what is....Horrible!

There is ZERO doubt that Mathews is the best running back on the team. NONE! So we agree.

What I am saying is, Battle is a tank. Allowing him to beat down the defense during the game, and then mixing it up with Mathews, allows for very productive formula. Kind of like baseball when you throw an off-speed pitch.

Not to mention Battle SHOULD have gotten that ball at the goal line on second down and third down if needed. Stupid play calling.

That's all I am saying....plus it limits Mathews ability to fumble, keeps him fresh, and let's him stay focused. I think Mathews is very vulnerable to lapses to be honest.

That's not what I am saying and I agree Battle isn't the starter.

My comparison to the change up, meant a change in speed. Mathews is faster....Mixing Battle into the game, beats up the defensive lines, giving Mathews a breather, and changing the pace of the game. Battle needs touches though to be successful. If he only gets 5 touches, you might as well not play him.  Mix him during drives, give him more looks at the goal line and let him pound away in the middle of the game at times, to let Mathews take over in close games going into the 4th quarter. Just my take.

Sure, it's like Petersen/Gerhart.

But why give Battle more touches? He's not as good. Mathews did not run out of gas tonight and he's better at everything relative to Battle.

In certain bulldog situations, yes. But why the hell did they have Battle on the field to start the game instead of Mathews? It's nonsense. Mathews is looking good in pass blocking, too.

Honestly, I think you're clinging to a fantasy pick-up on this. Brown is our 3rd-down/change-of-pace back because he can block and catch (except when Rivers is barking incoherently at him). Mathews should be our featured back. That doesn't leave a ton of work for Battle. It's ludicrous to have Battle on the field for our first series. If Mathews' fumble problems continue, then we kick him to the curb and give Battle the work.

But we have a great young back right now. Play him until he's winded and then let Battle and Brown take a rep or two, depending on the situation. But don't keep Mathews off the field to teach him a lesson anymore.

 

Chargerhonk wrote: That's not what I am saying and I agree Battle isn't the starter.

My comparison to the change up, meant a change in speed. Mathews is faster....Mixing Battle into the game, beats up the defensive lines, giving Mathews a breather, and changing the pace of the game. Battle needs touches though to be successful. If he only gets 5 touches, you might as well not play him.  Mix him during drives, give him more looks at the goal line and let him pound away in the middle of the game at times, to let Mathews take over in close games going into the 4th quarter. Just my take.

I think Norv's blame needs to be split with Gaither FWIW.  Gaither should have had the good sense at the end to pull himself from the game.  Even Collinsworth saw it.

Yes! Norv is a terrible HC.  Moreover,  he is NOT an offensive genius as many in the sports media have argued. 

• He is inflexible and unable to adapt to the dynamics of a close game (No resolve) 
• He starts slow with nauseatingly predictable play-calling (No aggressiveness)
• He makes BAD calls in critical game situations (No confidence)
• He does not challenge his players to rise above mediocrity (No leadership)

I actually didnt mind Norv in this game. Sure, there were a couple questionable calls. He loves to run the draw on 3rd n long. But this game was taken away from him by the CFL. Not his coaching.

Weddle played terrible.

Looking at the game again, you're absolutely right.

Gaither staying in the final two plays was like having an orange traffic cone at LT. I definitely saw the last one (the fumble/sack) on Sunday. But it was also the play before that.

There's nothing River's could've done on our two final plays from scrimmage. Thing is, the clock was stopped before both plays (and we had a timeout) Gaither could've limped off then as the sideline was on his side.

Still hate how Norv didn't call a timeout with 1:22 left (when we had three left) and allowed the clock to run to 1:00. Funny stuff from refs during that span though.  

SoCalThrilla wrote: I think Norv's blame needs to be split with Gaither FWIW.  Gaither should have had the good sense at the end to pull himself from the game.  Even Collinsworth saw it.

I'm as harsh on Norv as anyone. This game wasnt on him. He is who he is and to that I'd rather have someone else but the refs managed this game the way they were told.

Vegas had a 0-4 team favored over a 3-1 team. The suspended coach was granted special permission to attend the game. HELLLLOOOOOO????

Reality TV, NFL edition.

if Ingram pulls up we are 31-14 and its game over, team played exceptionally well

instead it is what it is and its Norvs fault

Rivers hits an open Gates in the flat, no failed 55 yd FG attempt (i thought Norv shouldve went for it on 4th instead of FG attempt)

boneheaded plays have killed us in our two losses (Atari wiping out Barnes sack on Ryan and Ingram yesterday) look at the bright side better now than in the playoffs 

Coaching, players and the refs played their part in the loss.

But for some, Norv blows it even when we win, so....

"The Chargers had the ball early on at the one yard line, Battle just ran through the line, and what do the Chargers do...they throw two incomplete passes and settle for a FG....WTF???

Please get all of the info before sentencing the suspect!! Norv called a run and Rivers checked out to pass as reported in the UT.

Here you go SoCal:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news...?page=1#article

HunterSTomlinson wrote: Looking at the game again, you're absolutely right.

Gaither staying in the final two plays was like having an orange traffic cone at LT. I definitely saw the last one (the fumble/sack) on Sunday. But it was also the play before that.

There's nothing River's could've done on our two final plays from scrimmage. Thing is, the clock was stopped before both plays (and we had a timeout) Gaither could've limped off then as the sideline was on his side.

Still hate how Norv didn't call a timeout with 1:22 left (when we had three left) and allowed the clock to run to 1:00. Funny stuff from refs during that span though.  

SoCalThrilla wrote: I think Norv's blame needs to be split with Gaither FWIW.  Gaither should have had the good sense at the end to pull himself from the game.  Even Collinsworth saw it.

kelomar wrote: "The Chargers had the ball early on at the one yard line, Battle just ran through the line, and what do the Chargers do...they throw two incomplete passes and settle for a FG....WTF???

Please get all of the info before sentencing the suspect!! Norv called a run and Rivers checked out to pass as reported in the UT.

Oh! Norv is not the head coach! I forgot! Rivers is....thanks!