Chargers pump up volume and advantage

Monday, Dec 18, 2006
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

As the win total grows, the stadium roar increases in volume. As the roar is turned up, the home field advantage improves.

At this rate, Qualcomm Stadium is sounding to Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer like Arrowhead-west or Mile High-west, two AFC West stadiums with long-standing reputations for crowd noise creating a home field advantage.

Schottenheimer, of course, is qualified to compare stadium homefield advantages. Not only did he serve 10 seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach at Arrowhead Stadium, he has traveled annually to Denver during his Kansas City tenure and the past five seasons with the Chargers.

“I think if we’re not there,” Schottenheimer said of the San Diego crowd noise compared to Denver and Kansas City, “We’ re awfully close.”

The Chargers, AFC West champions for the second time in three years, improved to 7-0 at home with Sunday night’s 20-9 win over Kansas City at Qualcomm. They’re 5-2 on the road, with losses at the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City.

“I think we’ve definitely turned a corner from previous seasons,” Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “Our fans have been great all year long. They’ve been loud, and they’ve given us what we feel is a home field advantage. A 7-0 record at home is pretty good. Hopefully we continue to win and the fans keep coming and making this place loud.”

Both the Indianapolis Colts (10-3) and Baltimore Ravens (11-3) are one game behind the Chargers in the loss column in the race for the No. 1 seed, with the Colts playing at home Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. The No. 1 seed earns homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and a first-round bye.

But because the Chargers lost to Baltimore, the Ravens hold the first tiebreaker should the teams finished with identical records. There are more combinations to play out before the tiebreaker with the Colts is determined.

“I think we’ve put ourselves in a position that when we’re performing well, we can create a lot of sound in our stadium,” Schottenheimer said. “There is a lot of support. I think that’s important. Anytime you get your opponent in a situation where there is difficulty hearing and trying to audible, it’s huge. That’s why we’re working so diligently to get the homefield advantage and the bye.”

A year ago, the 9-7 Chargers were 4-4 at home -- including a loss in their season opener at home and their final two home games.

But this year, in addition to a division-title season creating noise from Chargers’ fans, there hasn’t been a game when opposing fans -- such as Dallas last year when the Cowboys upset the Chargers in the season opener -- purchased enough tickets to create their own roar at Qualcomm.

After the Chargers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 8 at Qualcomm, the Bolts said they noticed there was less noise from Pittsburgh fans than in the 2005 season when the Steelers won at Qualcomm.

“I always say we have the best fans in the NFL, and they show it everyday,” said outside linebacker Shawne Merriman. “It’s closer and closer to Super Bowl time, and people are excited. We’re trying to win out so we can come home and have that 12th man out here.”

Another difference from last year, though, is improvement at the true identity of Martyball -- ball security and field position.     The Chargers and Chiefs both had two turnovers Sunday night, but for the season the Bolts are a plus-11 in the takeaway-giveaway statistic.

“The No. 1 thing that I see is ball security,” Schottenheimer said. “We’re much better than we were a year ago. I think defensively the secondary play has improved. It was very good (Sunday night). Quentin Jammer in every phase played terrific for us. They’re more confident and comfortable.”

Jammer led the Chargers with 10 tackles and a season-high of five passes defended. With the Chiefs rushing for just 90 yards and quarterback Trent Green limited to a 57.5 quarterback rating, the Chargers never trailed in the game and the crowd noise was sustained.

“Right now our football team is more confident,” Schottenheimer said. “They have a sense of confidence when they’re playing at home. My approach is you expect to win, and that’s particularly true at home.”