Once an exciting, 14-2 Championship caliber team, the Chargers have quickly become a whirlwind of mistakes, fakes, and finger-pointers.  Let us begin with the mistakes...

When a GM repeatedly tells the media that he has "failed on his end", shouldn't that GM do everything within his power to assure that he will not continue to make the same mistakes?  Well, yes...unless of course your name is A.J. Smith.  You see, A.J. has a quality that is best used by politicians.  He tells everybody he sucks before they get the chance to tell him that he does.  So...that way, if anyone says, "Hey A.J., why aren't we winning?", he can reply with some nonsense about the team being soft, or injured, or blah, blah, blah, and cap it all off by reminding everyone that he has failed.  AND WE BUY IT EVERY TIME!!!  Now, for those who don't already know, I think of A.J. Smith the same as one would a Sexually Transmitted Disease.  Sure, it was probably fun getting there, but look what you get as an end result!!!

To put it simply, A.J. Smith is no better for this team than would be Al Davis, Jerry Jones, or even Mark Cuban.  He was the beneficiary of the hard work and vast knowledge of the late John Butler.  Maybe A.J. was really good at making coffee, because I sure don't see how he was able to stay employed for so long.  But what the Lord of No Rings has done for this team is taken it from a promising 12-4 (2004) group of youngsters to what we now have today...a bunch of banged up, old guys that are trying to figure out what went wrong.  Well guys, I will tell you what went wrong. and why A.J. Smith is 100% to blame for it. 

It all began when we saw the first glimpse of A.J.'s attitude.  After a breakout year in 2004 in which he set an NFL record for touchdown catches (by a TE), Antonio Gates felt he deserved a little more than the $253,000 salary he was due for the 2005 season.  A.J. told him to go pound sand.  He signed a $15 million dollar deal following the 2005 season.  A.J. probably could have saved $10 million if he would have just given Gates the $5 million he was asking for, for 3 years, no less.

His next brain fart came when he allowed Drew Brees to go to New Orleans as a free agent.  Though I love Philip Rivers, I still think we could have gotten something in return for Brees.  After all, we got draft picks for Toniu Fonoti and Cleo Lemon, but nothing for Brees???  And don't even get me started about Brees' injury.  I would love to see the bank deposits made to (Denver Broncos) Gerrard Warren's account around Christmas time, 2005.  Yes, I'm accusing A.J. of paying the Broncos to hurt Brees.  Either way, A.J. got his wish, and Rivers was handed the job.

Following a heartbreaking, but very productive 2006 season, in which we went 14-2, he fired then Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer.  Not because he lost in the first round of the playoffs...but because he didn't like him.  Then he replaced Marty with Howdy Duty (a.k.a. Norv Turner)a career loser.  Now he had his puppet.  And if you look closely enough, you can actually see A.J.'s hand up the back of Norv's shirt; every time he speaks.  I would rather have Kevin Gillbride than Norv Turner.  Honestly, Napoleon Bonaparte could coach better than Norv, because at least he knew when to run!

I don't want to turn this blog into a Chargers History lesson, but I think you get my point.  A.J. has a philosophy in which he does not go after big name or big time free agents.  He instead chooses to address the team's needs via the annual draft.  And if you've read my past blogs, you should remember how good that has turned out for him.  This year, he chose a position that wasn't necessary in the first round, when he could have drafted an offensive lineman who will likely make the Pro Bowl as a rookie, Michael Oher.  We had no second round pick, thanks to one of the worst draft day trades in history, and he chose an Offensive Tackle from a "pass-only" program.  That team is so used to passing, that their Star Player (Michael Crabtree) decided to "pass" on the opportunity to make millions of dollars and slowed down what is sure to be a very productive NFL career.  Then he turns to Canada for his next "Ex-NFLer", followed by Gartrell Johnson, an oversized RB from Colorado (lost a foot race to molasses) who did not make the 53-man roster. 

So he sucks at drafting, and he sucks at signing free agents, and he sucks at communicating...WHY IS HE STILL HERE!!!???  Because he is able to manipulate the fans, the media, and most importantly, the Spanos family.  I am fed up with this clown.  And his little puppet too.  Hey Norv, can I tell you what the problem is?  It's your offensive line!!!  I'll explain...  Watch the games.  See how the line runs textbook X's and O's while run blocking.  The problem with this is that the defense can easily read the play.  Why can't we zone block?  And for heaven's sake, Where is our "pulling" Guard?  You pull that guard and LT runs for 12+ yards.  Send him "Off-Tackle" or "Up The Gut" and he gets stopped in his tracks.

If you can't effectively run, then it forces you to pass.  If you pass; you take less time off the clock, and it results in more "3 and outs", which, in turn, makes the Defense tired faster, and the pass rush non-existent.  Look at the defensive line over the first 5 weeks...They look like they are trying to Sumo-wrestle their opposition.  It means that on rushing plays, the defensive line depends on the Linebackers to make the tackles.  Which is why we are giving up 4.6 yards per rushing attempt.  The team averages a league-low 2.7 yards per rushing attempt on offense.  I'm not even a coach, and I can figure that out!