Chargers 17 Cards 18: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

[NJCardFan]

Since I work on Sundays I don't get to see many games from my living room and I don't get to do this very often but since this is probably one of 3 times all season I'll be able to, I'm going to do one.

The Good

A Win-I must admit, the way things were going at the beginning of the 2nd half it made changing poopie diapers a more palatable but I'm not used to this version of the Cards. In years past this team would have folded up quicker than an origami artist on speed but lo and behold they plugged their way through and stole an ugly win. I'd rather win ugly than lose beautifully.

Larry Foote-Tell you what, this guy played his guts out. He was everywhere. With no Dockett, Dansby, DWash, and Abraham, Foote stepped up big time and, as would be apropos, made the game saving play of the night. The guy should get defensive player of the week honors but he won't because of some guy named JJ Watt.

Chandler Catanzaro-Good job by the rookie. I don't think any one of his kickoffs were returned.

Run Defense-52 net yards rushing and several tackles for a loss. I think Matthews only had 2 decent runs all night(unfortunately 1 for a TD). Foote played a big part in blowing some of these runs up.

1st Half Offensive Line-Palmer had gads of time early on but his rhythm was off and missed a lot of passes early.

Chargers Receivers Getting Butter Fingers-And at big times. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Michael Floyd-This kid is turning into a star. What a game.

The Bad

No Sacks-Although a few pressures cost Rivers to malfunction, not laying a finger on him all night nearly cost us a win.

2nd Half Offensive Line-It's like they went to sleep after halftime. Massie channeled his inner Levi Brown by being a human turnstile and a costly false start. Thankfully, Palmer found himself and got himself out of trouble several times.

Head Scratching Play Calling-For a minute I thought Whiz was back calling plays. Little flare passes, bubble screens, and up the gut runs for 3 inches. Especially since a couple of deep passes worked. Then the decision to go for 2 was really confusing.

The Larry Fitzgerald Mystery-I'm all for using a guy as a decoy but for the love of Pete at some point the defense is going to get wise like the Chargers did from midway through the 2nd quarter until midway through the 3rd. At least toss a couple his way even if he doesn't catch them it at least might keep the defense honest.

The Ugly

Ted Ginn Jr's Return Game Or Lack Thereof-Forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn't he brought in to return kicks? Instead he was timid coming out of the endzone and on punts he's fair catching them with no one around him. I hope this passes. He did have a huge catch at the end of the 1st half.

The Officiating-I really hate being one of those guys who bleat on about the officiating but this crew was awful. The Chargers offensive line was holding all night long and not 1 holding call all night(none on the Cards either IIRC). Then there was the ticky-tack defensive holding call on Jefferson late in the game after he intercepted a pass but missed a defensive holding call on SD on the winning drive(thankfully it didn't hurt us).

Berman And Dilfer-It's not going to get us anywhere but I'm thinking of writing a strongly worded letter to BSPN about these 2 yay-hoos. They were openly rooting for the Chargers all night long and it pained them to say anything positive about the Cards. They were an embarrassment to broadcasting tonight. Dilfer, for some odd reason, has some problem with the Cards as he bashes them on the set as well and Berman, who I used to like, is nothing but a blowhard. Thank God we're not on BSPN for the rest of the season.

That's about it. Now beat them Giants!

 

[Jetstream Green]

Please beat them Giants. One has to at least split their division game, win all their home games and pull a few out on the road to have a shot in this division... the Giants are beatable and one of the teams where we should steal a win

 

[D-Dogg]

Both two point tries were the correct calls.

 

[desertdawg]

Both two point tries were the correct calls.

But not the correct plays obviously. Very suspect. Why do we have our fastest shortest receiver getting enzone fades when he can't utilize any of his talents... Brown?

 

[NJCardFan]

Please beat them Giants. One has to at least split their division game, win all their home games and pull a few out on the road to have a shot in this division... the Giants are beatable and one of the teams where we should steal a win

After the Giants game we got the 9ers and @Denver. No easy task at all. Then we catch Washington, Oakland, Philly, Dallas, and the Rams. We need to win at least 4 of those games if not all 5 because we then get Detroit, Seattle, Atlanta, & KC, all tough games.

 

[D-Dogg]

But not the correct plays obviously. Very suspect. Why do we have our fastest shortest receiver getting enzone fades when he can't utilize any of his talents... Brown?

Agreed. The decision to go on each was right though. I'd have been pissed if they had kicked.

 

[NJCardFan]

Both two point tries were the correct calls.

Not really. The 2nd one was obviously but the 1st was totally unnecessary. There was more than enough time left so being down 17-13 wasn't all that bad a position to be in. If that wasn't bad enough, the direct snap play was idiotic.

 

[desertdawg]

Agreed. The decision to go on each was right though. I'd have been pissed if they had kicked.

And it all worked out. We put Fitz in motion almost every play, but nobody was watching him. We ran like 3 fake reverses, reverses that should have been reverses because San Diego didn't see them at all. We cushioned on first downs, puke. We looked like crap but won like winners do. By keeping it close and not falling apart.

 

[ajcardfan]

Not really. The 2nd one was obviously but the 1st was totally unnecessary. There was more than enough time left so being down 17-13 wasn't all that bad a position to be in. If that wasn't bad enough, the direct snap play was idiotic.

I agree. Too much time was on the clock to go for two at that point. Arians dodged one there. Had they kicked a FG on the last drive to beat us, instead of send it to OT, I would've fricking puked. No one I sat around thought it was a good decision, and we hated the play call even more.

Obviously, the second time we HAD to go for 2.

 

[D-Dogg]

Not really. The 2nd one was obviously but the 1st was totally unnecessary. There was more than enough time left so being down 17-13 wasn't all that bad a position to be in. If that wasn't bad enough, the direct snap play was idiotic.

Not really. 6 min or so left. You need a td if you kick and a .td if you fail but just a fg if you succeed. That decision makes itself

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Don't mind going for two, but a direct snap for the Dwyld-Cat??!! Seriously ridiculous.

 

[D-Dogg]

I agree. Too much time was on the clock to go for two at that point. Arians dodged one there. Had they kicked a FG on the last drive to beat us, instead of send it to OT, I would've fricking puked. No one I sat around thought it was a good decision, and we hated the play call even more.

Obviously, the second time we HAD to go for 2.

It is the statistically correct play. No brainer.

 

[D-Dogg]

Don't mind going for two, but a direct snap for the Dwyld-Cat??!! Seriously ridiculous.

Agree! The play was asstastic.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Taylor made some good plays in the clutch at the end of the game. He's not a threat to break open plays but he gets an extra yard on every play.

 

[StLCards]

Berman and Dilfer were terrible. Definitely could have done without their intrusive and contrived commentary on Sugar Ray Rice.

 

[StLCards]

And it all worked out. We put Fitz in motion almost every play, but nobody was watching him. We ran like 3 fake reverses, reverses that should have been reverses because San Diego didn't see them at all. We cushioned on first downs, puke. We looked like crap but won like winners do. By keeping it close and not falling apart.

Yeah I kept expecting that reverse. It looked open (optimistically ignoring every reverse the Cards have ever run)

 

[BigRedFan]

Both two point tries were the correct calls.

There was still 12:30 in the game, and after the 3rd quarter momentum by the Chargers, a good chance they would score again. If you give them a field goal, it becomes an 8 pt game and then TD and conversion required to tie. If they had kicked a PAT the 1st time, they wouldn't have needed to try the 2 pointer the 2nd time, and it would have been 20-17. San Diego did come dangerously close to getting that field goal but made some dumb plays (botched snap for one) and luckily the D held on the last drive.

 

[Garthshort]

I have a suspicion, that the reverses were called with the Giants in mind. Wouldn't be surprised if in our next game, we'll run the same play, with a different wrinkle. Instead of the RB getting the ball and running to the right, it will wind up in the hands of the WR, going left. Just a feeling.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Foote was setting the tone for the defense

Oline had me scratching my head all night, as did Palmer

Ginn looks scared

Floyd is a game changer

No pressure on Rivers even when we blitzed, not good. After watching other teams this weekend and the pressure they applied make the difference in their games it was hard to figure this team out

Catanzaro looked comfortable and his kickoffs were deep enough

Cardinals had us on the edge of our seats and did just enough to get the win.

Without a few key drops from the SD WR's we don't win the game

 

[Russ Smith]

It is the statistically correct play. No brainer.

It is by score but not necessarily by time. If you don't have to go that early you don't. If we hadn't we would have won by 3 last night or if they drove for a FG, gone to OT, instead we could have lost the game because of the 2 point conversion.

 

[Chaz]

Cards lucky SD had the bad shotgun snap that took them out of FG range.

 

[Russ Smith]

Cards lucky SD had the bad shotgun snap that took them out of FG range.

Oh yeah and it wasn't really a bad snap, Rivers just missed it. But that play saved us. I was hoping maybe CC would block the FG if it got to that but that play was huge.

 

[Totally_Red]

Cardinals defensive line was very stout, pushed the pocket when SD wanted to pass and pretty much stuffed the run all night with the exception of the Matthews TD scamper.

The new kicker, Cat Man, was excellent on kickoffs.

I didn't see the Cardinal receivers drop a single pass, unlike the Chargers who thankfully had at least three that I counted.

I thought the same thing about Bobby Massey. There was a stretch early in the second half where I was experiencing the second coming of Levi Brown. And when you recover a fumble, HOLD ON TO THE BALL.

Cardinals front five really freed up Larry Foote and the savvy veteran played his tail off. He was all over the place stuffing the Charger running backs. Karlos who?

B.A. has to get Larry involved earlier IMO. I realize the Chargers were scheming to take him away, but still get him a reception before the fourth quarter.

Ted Ginn seemed a little sub-par in the return game last night for whatever reason. Hopefully that is a one-game hiccup.I did like his key reception at the end of the first half to set up the half-ending field goal.

 

[Jay Cardinal]

But not the correct plays obviously. Very suspect. Why do we have our fastest shortest receiver getting enzone fades when he can't utilize any of his talents... Brown?

Exactly. Not upset about the calls but the plays didn't appear to be good calls and both were poorly executed.

 

[D-Dogg]

It is by score but not necessarily by time. If you don't have to go that early you don't. If we hadn't we would have won by 3 last night or if they drove for a FG, gone to OT, instead we could have lost the game because of the 2 point conversion.

We were having significant issues getting into scoring range and had barely gotten our first TD. I felt we had to go that early and fully expected 2 if we scored not really expecting a score.

Play was terrible though. I know we live the what if game but if we hit the two pointer our subsequent TD puts us up 4 and SD has to drive the field. What if can be played all day. With the way we were moving the ball, trying to set up a FG Opp to tie was calculated and the downside risk was minimal.