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The Best of the Worst”

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Winning seasons are so hard to maintain in the NFL.

The successes of the Steelers and Ravens, the Patriots and the Seahawks, seem to be the exception of the rule in the NFL.

You look at what John Harbaugh does year in and year out in Baltimore, a factory of productivity.

Pittsburgh has maintained excellence over some 46-years, stretching from Chuck Noll to Bill Cowher to Mike Tomlin.

Pete Carroll brought electricity to Seattle very early on and there has been no dropoff in the quality they play.

New England, with all those rings, has reached portions of epic success under Bill Belicheck, when you consider they rebuilt the team three different times around Tom Brady.

It’s been awhile since the Chargers, under Martry Schottenheimer, put together those brilliant  seasons, led by the (14-2) campaign and an appearance in the AFC-Championship game led by Philip Rivers, Ladanian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates.

It’s been a quarter of a century since that wondrous 1-season run to the Super Bowl with Coach Bobby Ross and QB-Stan Humphries.

And the brilliance of the Air Coryell years with triggerman Dan Fouts was some 40-years ago of record setting Sundays.

The Chargers, who reside in LA, have gone thru ups and downs in the waning years of Rivers, have been losing more than they have been winning under Anthony Lynn.

There is hope for the future, though a (2-4) record may not be the calling card you’d think.worth paying attention too.

But the arrival of rookie quarterback Justin Herbert means there is a brighter future.

Yes his record is (1-4) but he has nothing to do with that record.  He is surrounded by a substandard talent, and an often injured offensive line.  His top running back is out for 8-weeks.  His top defensive players have been hurt.

Herbert is unique.  He stayed at Oregon for four years, to graduate.  He had a 4.1-GPA in biology.

On the field, starting for virtually all four years, he wound up throwing for more than 10,000-yards and 95-touchdowns, while playing for 3-different head coaches and 4-offensive coordinators.

At 6’6, big and rangy.  A more athletic version of Philip Rivers, who can move the pocket, show burst of speed, and do some run-pass option plays.

He throws a huge deep ball, better than Stan Humphries.

And he exhibits no fear….a-la all things Fouts was, as he developed into a Hall of Famer.

In his five starts, he is going places few rookies have gone before.

He enters Sunday’s game in Denver with a neon light shining (108) quarterback rating.  Think of that, playing on a losing team, where he has to do it all.

He’s thrown for (1542Y) already, three times going for over 300-yards on a Sunday.

He is guiding an unheralded offense averaging (405YPG).

There are 12-TD passes, only 3-picks, only 10-sacks in 184-attempts.

He is the cornerstone of the future for the Bolts.  He needs more quality players around him; needs a healthy team too.

They won’t make the playoffs this year, but that doesn’t matter because this is a learning curve season for the kid QB.

His first five game numbers are better than Fouts, Humphries, Drew Brees and Rivers.

And remember, great quarterbacks in the NFL, all struggled early.

People forget Peyton Manning went (3-13) in Indianapolis.  Troy Aikman was (1-15).

The kid is tough, smart, composed.

He hasn’t had a bad Sunday yet where you say he is overwhelmed.
He’s making alot of plays down the field.  This keeps up, the team will start winning.

The stage is not too big for Justin Herbert.  The big challenge for the front office, put a better team around what could be the next great Chargers quarterback.

Herbert, the best in a bad situation.

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