Are The Fast-Start Chargers For Real?
By Dave Thomas
The San Diego Chargers have a past history of getting off to real slow starts, then turning up the heat at crunch time in December to either make the playoffs or fall a little short.
All one has to do is look back to last season, a season in which the Bolts fought their way to a 9-7 record, good enough for their first AFC playoff appearance in four years. After taking out the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals on the road, the Chargers gave AFC West rival Denver quite a tussle in the Mile High City before falling by a touchdown.
Keep in mind that San Diego was 2-2 coming out of last September, while sitting at 5-6 when the end of November rolled around.
The Chargers turned things around in the month of December, winning four of five games to reach the post-season.
So, what does 2014 have in store for this group of Chargers?
Two Wins Over Mediocre Squads
Before anyone starts buying tickets for the Super Bowl in Glendale (Arizona) in February, take note that San Diego's one quality win this season was at home in the second week against the defending champs (Seattle).
Victories over Buffalo (22-10) and Jacksonville (33-14) last weekend were nice and certainly important, but they certainly did not come against the cream of the crop in the AFC.
The next two games features opponents that are a combined 1-7 (Jets, Raiders), the latter of which just fired its head coach earlier in the week.
With that in mind, just truly how good is this Chargers' team?
To date, San Diego has been primarily getting the job done due to quarterback Philip Rivers' play and that of its defense. A virtually non-existent run game has really not hurt the Bolts to date (both Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead are out), but that rushing attack (Donald Brown, Branden Oliver for now) will have to run the ball against some of the better defenses later in October, namely the Chiefs (Oct. 19) and the Broncos (Oct. 23).
Rivers, who has thrown for 1,155 yards and nine touchdowns so far, looks to be on pace for another solid season. Tight end Antonio Gates, along with wide receivers Keenan Allen and Eddie Royal, are also showing that free of injuries, they will produce solid numbers this season when all is said and done.
With a pair of games versus Kansas City and Denver, plus a road test at Baltimore and a home date with a struggling but still dangerous New England squad in early December will certainly go a long way in determining how far the Chargers go.
For now, however, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Beating up on some of the more mediocre to outright bad teams around the league is what winning teams are supposed to do.
Minus the win over a good Seattle team, the Chargers are following that script after two weeks.
For more Chargers news and updates, visit Chargers Central.
Dave Thomas has been covering the sports world since his first job as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper in Pennsylvania back in 1989. He has covered a Super Bowl, college bowl games, MLB, NBA and more. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
