Turner: “We need to get better”
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Monday, Sep 08, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com
The final two seconds of the Chargers’ season opener against Carolina certainly affected the mood around Chargers Park Monday, but even if Jake Delhomme’s final toss to the end zone had fallen incomplete, Head Coach Norv Turner said the message for his team would have been the same.
“Like every other team in this league, we have to get better,” Turner said.
Had the Chargers pulled out a win Sunday, some of the issues would not have been as big of a deal to Bolts fans, but Turner promised corrections, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
“It was not like us defensively. We gave up more big plays in the first half than we probably did in any game a year ago; plays over 10 yards or more,” Turner said. “Obviously you give credit to Carolina for making the plays, but some of the plays were the result of us in terms of not executing what we’re trying to do.”
Turner believes the strength of the Chargers lies in the overall strength of the roster and the ability of the offense, defense and special teams to feed off of each other. In the first half of Sunday’s game, Carolina controlled the clock for nearly 20 of 30 minutes in the first half. While the Bolts’ offense struggled to find a rhythm, the defense was forced onto the field for a lengthy period.
“When we play well and drive the football and get first downs, it helps our defense,” Turner said. “We never put ourselves in a position to feed off of each other. There’s no question I know what we have to do to win. We have to play at a high level in all three levels that’s the strength of who we are and what we do.”
Had the Chargers played as well in the first half as they had the second half, Sunday’s game might not have come down to the final play. Of Carolina’s 388 total yards, 281 came in the first half with only 30 of their 142 rushing yards coming in the final two quarters.
In the first half of Sunday’s game, the Chargers gave up 10 plays of 10 yards or more. They allowed five more of at least that distance in the second half, although four of those were on the final drive. Turner said that most of the big plays Carolina hit on were due to the Chargers being caught out of position.
“You give them credit for making plays when they made them but a couple of the plays, two or three of the plays were a result of us not getting done what we needed to get done from a communications standpoint,” Turner said.
Offensively, 33 of the Chargers’ 56 plays came in the second half with 73 of their 105 rushing yards coming after the break. The Bolts scored 17 points in the second half compared to seven in the first.
“We held them to 30 yards rushing in the second half and offensively we got some rhythm,” Turner said. “We got some run going and we were able to score when we got down in there. We need to get better in a lot of areas.”
Further review
After watching the tape of the final play of Sunday’s game, Turner believes his team could have defended better on Dante Rosario’s game-winning catch.
“We just needed to get deeper,” Turner said. “You have five receivers running up the field and there was no one underneath, there was no one they could throw to underneath, and Jake (Delhomme) wasn’t going to run in that circumstance and Matt (Wilhelm) thought he was deep enough. He was deep enough to get his fingertips on the ball he needed to be another step deeper and he could have batted the ball.”
Wilhelm and Weddle both thought they got a small piece of the ball but not enough to deflect it away from Rosario.
Merriman strong
Turner was pleased with the play of linebacker Shawne Merriman and said that Carolina treated him with the respect of a three-time Pro Bowler in their game plan.
“He looked very physical,” Turner said. “I thought he was explosive and very physical. They thought he was too, they doubled him a great deal of the time, when they had a back on him, they cut him which teams do to a good pass rusher. They were very aware of where he was and I thought he was very explosive.”
Merriman received the typical treatment from the team’s athletic training staff Monday but was in good shape following the game.
“He’s got normal soreness but I think he made it through alright,” Turner said.
Other injuries
Running back LaDainian Tomlinson’s right big toe was a little sore Monday but is not expected to keep the two-time rushing champion out of practice at all this week. Turner said that his team experienced the typical bumps and bruised of an NFL game but doesn’t expect any new injuries to cause any players to miss time this week.
Being aggressive
The Chargers led the NFL in interceptions last season, and although they came away empty handed Sunday, there was some post-game discussion in the media about the aggressive play from the Bolts cornerbacks.
Turner said that he was mostly okay with the approach of his secondary Sunday.
“As I said there were two or three of those plays that got away from us,” Turner said. “One was a miscommunication, the one where it looked like (Antonio) Cromartie was undercutting a guy trying to get an interception and he thought he had help over the top. I don’t think other than that there was a play where I thought a guy was being reckless in terms of going for the ball.”
On to Denver
Quarterback Philip Rivers is 4-0 career against the Broncos and has thrown seven touchdown passes and only two interceptions verses Denver. He’ll get a fifth crack at the Bolts’ divisional foes this week.
Last December, several Broncos players discussed their displeasure with Rivers’ enthusiasm on the field following the Chargers’ 23-3 win over Denver on Christmas Eve. On Monday, Rivers complemented Jay Cutler’s abilities as a quarterback and promised that he wouldn’t get involved in any side stories this week.
“I’m not going to get into it through you guys, through the media, all week long,” Rivers said. “I’m just not going to do it. I’m going to talk football about Denver and see what kind of team they are as I get to prepare for them and go play the game. Whatever happened to me is gone. It’s eight months ago and I’m going to move forward.”
Nice debut
Fullback Mike Tolbert didn’t start Sunday as the Chargers opened with two tight ends, but he saw plenty of action and drew solid reviews for his play.
“I thought he played at a high level,” Turner said. “He played physical, he pass protected when he had the ball in his hands he made plays, so we are fortunate with Mike. We’ve got a very good young football player.”
Tolbert caught three passes for 35 yards Sunday, including two 16-yard receptions in the first half. He also carried for a first down.
“I thought Mike did a tremendous job of really getting to his guys he had to block,” Tomlinson said. “He did a great job of catching the ball out of the backfield and making some plays for us.”
Stephen Dunn, Getty Images North America
Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner challenged his team to get better in all three phases.
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Monday: Norv TurnerMondays press conference with Head Coach Norv Turner |
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Monday: Philip RiversMondays press conference with QB Philip Rivers |
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Monday: LaDainian TomlinsonMondays press conference with RB LaDainian Tomlinson |
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