Raiders vs. Chargers

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It’s typical coach-speak, and it hardly-ever ever happens.  But it did in the waning moments in the O.com -Coliseum in Oakland.  The rookies saved the day, the Chargers beat the Raiders in a back and forth game, and the next man up, sealed the victory.
 
I’ve been worried about the injury attrition on the Chargers.  I have been concerned about their shortcomings in both offensive and defensive lines.  The (5-1) start has been triggered by the fact they have played against four bad teams and four kid quarterbacks over the last month.
 
It almost did them in as the sun set in the East Bay, but the first year players made the difference in the end, in that (31-28) win over the winless Raiders.
 
Aside from big play quarterback Philip Rivers, I don’t think the Chargers are elite.  His ability to make plays down the field is the reason they are in lst place.
 
But yesterday, running back Branden Oliver came up with critical runs in the 4th quarter, personally hand-carrying the ball to the one yard line, then punching it in for the go ahead score with under 2-minutes to go.  The rookie capped a 101-yard rushing day with the critical yards on the final series that got them the win.
 
Easy field position on that drive was set up by another of the youngsters, punt returner Keenan Allen, who had a huge return to help start a drive in at the 39-yard line.
 
And then with red-hot handed Raiders quarterback Derek Carr driving his team, lst round pick Jason Verrett made a leaping interception in at the 4-yard line with (:34) left to seal the win.
 
The glare of the spotlight was on the young players because of the injury siege at running back, and the Sunday injuries, to Brandon Flowers, Eddie Royal and more.  Oliver has been a stunning surprise, small, tough as nails, with a burst, and shiftiness.  He is a long way from the University of Buffalo, and this isn’t the Mid-American Conference. Verrett did yesterday what he did at TCU-display great athleticism, leaping ability, sure hands, in making multiple plays during the day and the critical play at the end.
 
It was a typical Rivers afternoon.  San Diego added 8-more plays of 20-yards or more during the day to an impressive array of stats they have compiled this season, going down the field.  But it also brings into the spotlight, glaring problems San Diego has, defending the run, holding up against quality passers, and still run blocking and pass protecting.  Luckily it was the Raiders; against someone else it might have been a loss not a victory.
 
The Raiders could have won, but didn’t by virtue of their own mistakes, 11-penalties, a missed field goal, poor use of the clock at the end of the first half, maybe even the deep throw at the end of the game, when all they needed was a field goal to play on into overtime..
 
But in an NFL where there is such a fine line between winning and losing, there is also a fine line between being a good team or being substandard.  
 
The Chargers because of Rivers are still viewed as elite.  And on this sun-splashed day in the East Bay, Oliver and Verrett saved them from a horrible loss to what really is a bad Oakland team.
 
Injuries have hurt this franchise extensively.  For 1-day at least, Mike McCoy’s favorite Monday press conference verbiage, ‘next man up’, brought the team a victory.  It was ugly, it was painful, but it was a win.  The kids made the plays count.

 

Chargers vs. Raiders

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Don’t say it can never happen, because it has in the past and it could again.
 
The Chargers head to Oakland this weekend to face the Raiders, feeling good, and rightfully so about their (4-1) record.  But they need to be aware there are some potential ambushes out there on the upcoming schedule, regardless of what the standings say.
 
The stat sheet shows a torrid big play offense, with Philip Rivers matching TD throws with his historical rival Peyton Manning, Sunday by Sunday.  It shows the Bolts ranked third in the NFL, averaging 281-yards per game, leading the league in plus 20-yard pass plays..
 
That same stat sheet shows San Diego allowing an NFL best 194-yards per game on defense, choking anyone and everyone.
 
And yes the schedule shows the beating they put on the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, and the excitement ESPN is showing over the Bolts, ranking them 3rd this week in their power poll. 
 
It’s all fine and good, because they are wins no one is going to take back.  But let’s be realistic.
 
Sunday, San Diego faces another kid quarterback, the Raiders Derek Carr, surrounded by a bunch of journeyman on offense and a virtually nameless, next to last place defense.  The Chargers should lay a beating on Oakland too.
 
In all the hoopla of the great start, let’s realize though they have just come thru three games against the worst teams in the league, all whom started kid quarterbacks, who are really struggling.  Buffalo-Jets-Jacksonville have a combined (4-11) record so far.  San Diego terrorized the kid QBs and their bad offenses, holding them to 204, 175, 184 yards in those three wins.
 
Once they are done with Derek Carr and the woeful Raiders, they start playing real people.  Alex Smith, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and so much more.
 
I know it’s convenient for the fellow media covering this team to write in glowing terms of this (4-1) start.  Am I the only one who understands who they beat, how bad those teams were, and how impossible the job is for EJ Manuel-Blake Bortels and Geno Smith, learning on the job?
 
Just a bit too early to starting saying Chargers-Super Bowl or AFC Championship game.  Not cheerleading, not piling on, just telling you the truth.
 
4-kid quarterbacks in 6-weeks, you better beat them.  Let’s see what happens in the next six weeks, as they start playing real people with real firepower.

 

Chargers/Raiders

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Posted by Jay Paris

The Chargers head for the Black Hole in a season which has been all blue skies.  OK, there was the hiccup in the opener, when a double-digit fourth-quarter lead in the Arizona desert evaporated like a watery mirage. But since it’s been smiles and giggles as the Chargers (4-1) take a four-game winning steak to the East Bay.  The Raiders (0-4) are the Raiders and what else is there to say?

The decade of dreadful football continues with interim coach Tony Sparano at the helm for the first time since Dennis Allen got the pink slip.  Sparano has some fire in his belly and he proved it after practice. He buried a football which represented the team’s first four games. Down the football went and just maybe 16 quarters of inept performances went with it.

Chargers coach Mike McCoy isn’t reaching for shovels. Instead his team has been top-shelf, residing atop the AFC West and numerous NFL ranking polls.  The Bolts are No. 1 has a ring to it, even if McCoy isn’t listening.  He’s more in tune to getting his team to peak again on Sunday, despite a list of questions that won’t be answered at game time.

The Chargers’ offensive line could go from upheaval to heavens no. The running back situation could go from banged-up to tapped-out.  The linebacking crew still includes Donald Butler but few predicted Dwight Freeney would still be standing with the injury bug bit.  But the Chargers keep rolling even with the ailments.

The Raiders have no business beating the Chargers on Sunday.  Strange things, though, happen in Oakland and the Chargers’ most recent trip there proved it.   The Chargers won at Denver, Philadelphia and Kansas City last year — and Cincinnati in the playoffs — but came home from the Bay Area with a loss.  The Raiders will be rested from their bye and energized from their new coach. Still, they shouldn’t hang with a Chargers team which, dare we say, could be the best in the AFC, if not the NFL.

Time to pump the breaks with such talk? Possibly, but the Chargers are coming off their first shutout since 2010 and have outscored their last two opponents 47-0 in the six quarters.  The Chargers have allowed but 26 points in the second half of games this year.

But does this run came with a grain of perspective? Should we note the combined record of the previous three opponents is 4-11?  The Chargers have feasted on quarterbacks such as EJ Manuel, Blake Bortles, Geno Smith, Michael Vick and now here comes rookie Derek Carr.  Yes, the Bolts have been fortunate the schedule-makers did them a solid. But they did their part as well.

“You got to bank those wins,” cornerback Brandon Flowers said.

The bloom is off the Raiders and they’re busy burying painful memories.  The Chargers aren’t so anxious to forget the past as to embrace the present.

“We got,” Flowers said, “something special going on around here.”

We agree.

Dodgers and the Playoffs

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By JAY PARIS

Paul McCartney didn’t sing “Can’t Buy You Love” at Petco Park.

Doing so at his previous gig at Dodger Stadium would have been more appropriate.

The best team money could buy went down in flames on Tuesday night. The playoffs continue, but the high-end Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t part of it.  Despite a record payroll which was north of $238 million, the guys with swag went south.

Clayton Kershaw again took the loss in Game 4 to eliminate the Dodgers and we can’t explain it either.

L.A.’s offense was dreadful in clutch situations, unable to drive in runs to put a scare into St. Louis

It ended the season with Yaseil Puig on first, only after being inserted as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning.

The bullpen bridge to the closer was wobbly and deadly.  Despite the millions Magic and his buddies showered on the stars, they forgot about the stairs.  The one taking the ball from the starter to the middle relief to the back end ace.

The Dodgers got plenty from their starters and when your rotation includes Kershaw and Zack Greinke, that’s no surprise.  Kenley Jansen was good enough to notch 44 saves.

But the seventh and eighth innings, the one-time domain of Brian Wilson, Brandon League and Chris Perez, was a disaster.  The Cards proved it on a nearly nightly basis.  With those three aging relievers faltering, the elite Dodgers went the budget oute. To pitchers cashing in second chances and others not-yet-ready for their first. They trotted in with predictable results.

It figures to be a compelling offseason for the Dodgers, a team where “World Series or Bust” was the mantra from spring training’s first stretch.

Someone will take the fall in L.A. and the odds of manager Don Mattingly surviving again are anyone’s guess.

The Dodgers didn’t get much for their return this year. They won the NL West, but the bar was set so much higher that it seems inconsequential.

Plus the Dodgers alienated their faithful through a nasty TV squabble that left most of the L.A. area minus watching their favorite team and listening to their iconic announcer.

Now there’s no chatter of it being time for Dodger baseball, and that goes for Vin Scully, too.

Instead it’s time to find someone to blame.

 

Kobe and the Lakers

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Posted by Jay Paris

 

The screams started when his head poked out of the locker room.

In an venue which has seen better days, Lakers fans hope Kobe Bryant has a few of his own left.  A mending Bryant returned to the court in Monday’s exhibition opener at the Valley View Casino Center.

Appropriate, because it’s a gamble to gauge what Bryant, who missed 76 games last year, has left.

Lakers coach Byron Scott scoffs.

“He is driven,” Scott said. “He is Kobe Bryant.’’

But what does the 2014-15 model offer?  Bryant, in his 19th year, has spun his chassis’ odometer. Whether he rebounds from a torn Achilles tendon and a fracture knee will be determined.

Not on Monday, of course, when Bryant was restricted to 21 minutes but scored 13 points.  What’s going to be interesting is the type of game Bryant delivers.  It will be Bryant, but one not playing above the rim.  It will be Bryant, a more wiser Bryant, scoring more from the post and mid-post.

Just maybe, he really turns into a that Great Facillator — five assists Monday. Getting the ball to others, while Bryant severs as a complementary piece.

Yeah, I can’t see that happening either.

Not much is expected from the patchwork Lakers, and those in San Diego still holding the Clippers dear, grin about that.

But Bryant looked far from finished on Monday. He moved well, had his fade along the baseline working and didn’t look restricted.

Bet against him at your own risk.

“Yeah,” Scott said with a smirk, “he is pretty good.’’

 

He’s just going to be pretty different.  It’s Kobe Bryant 2.0 and as the Lakers reboot, it’ll be a kick to see what the Black Mamba reveals.  Don’t be shocked if he strikes one more time.