Mean Gene

Adjustments?

With all due respect to John Clayton of ESPN, his analysis of the Patriots-Chargers game is...loony-toony. Why did the Patriots win, according to Clayton? "It's all about adjustments". He gave credit to Belichick and Brady for adjusting during the game while the Chargers didn't.

Uh, no. It wasn't adjustments that allowed the Patriots to win. It was the Chargers playing maybe the stupidest game I've ever seen in my life. They made so many mistakes, so many colossal, inexcusable mistakes that I almost felt sick watching the game--and I could care less if the Chargers win.

The dropped interception deep in Patriot territory in the first quarter.
About 5 dropped passes in the first half.
Not trying the 47-yard FG on the first drive, instead going for it on 4th and 11. And getting sacked
Giving up a touchdown at the very end of the first half.
Dropping a punt and then inexplicably failing to just fall on it.
Sacking Brady to force a punt and then committing the stupidest personal foul I've ever seen.
Committing another stupid personal foul on the extra point to give the Pats good field position.
Philip Rivers having an open field in front of him for an easy 5-yard gain, and instead trying to lob a ludicrous pass to Tomlinson that was picked off.
Making an interception on 4th down when you should've just knocked the ball down--and then fumbling the ball away and giving the ball back to the Patriots.
Challenging the call on that fumbled interception, even though it was plain as the nose on your face that it was indeed a fumble. Cost the Chargers a timeout.
Playing press coverage against Reche Caldwell on 3rd and long, and letting him get off the line of scrimmage without a jam.
Calling a timeout after the clock was stopped for a Patriot injury.
Calling a timeout before the two-minute warning instead of saving it for after so you could save a full 40 seconds. Could've used those two extra timeouts and those extra 20 seconds.

I mean, the Steelers have lost some ghastly games the last few years, but this was like something out of a horror movie. If I'm a Chargers fan I call off work today and stay tucked in the fetal position until noon. And when I finally get up and moving I start a petition to get rid of Marty Schottenheimer. Not to jump on the bash-Marty bandwagon, but I can't see how he survives this loss. The mistakes that were made were mental errors and breakdowns in discipline. That falls on the coach.

So does the clock-management, which was perhaps the worst I've ever seen in my life. After the Patriots kicked the FG the Chargers should've had around 2 minutes to tie or win the game, if they hadn't squandered their timeouts on that idiot challenge and by not having the right personnel on the field after an official timeout for a Patriot injury. There's no excuse for that, none.

And to hear Schottenheimer say after the game that they were "disappointed" with the loss, but that his guys "laid it all on the line" and you can't ask more of them than that...well, if I'm a Charger fan, I go apeshit crazy when I hear that. I can ask that they WIN THE GAME. I can ask that they not make errors you don't see in Pee-Wee football. That wasn't a "disappointing" loss yesterday. That was a killer. That was the worst loss in Charger history.

Odd, isn't it, that everyone talked about how great the AFC is, and how awful the NFC is--and yet the two NFC games were entertaining affairs, while the AFC games were slop-buckets of mistakes and goofs and close-your-eyes awfulness.

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