Norv's in for Some Rough Sailing

Norval Turner - coach of the Vegas' oddsmakers' preseason favorites to make the Super Bowl, the San Diego Chargers. Raise your hands if you think that amicable old Norv is overmatched for the job. OK, Redskins and Raiders fans, stop screaming, we see you. And we can feel your bitterness seeping through.

Seriously, I think Norv is in a no-win situation here. Because as remarkable as it seems for a man with his historically awful winning percentage as a head coach, some people seem to be giving him the benefit of the doubt. Pointing to the, shall we say, unorthodox owners he worked under in Dan Snyder and Al Davis, and his unquestioned success as an offensive coordinator, there seems to be a faction that thinks he can succeed. And his name isn't Marty Schottenheimer, so he's sure to get along swimmingly with GM A.J. Smith, who with every passing day, seems more and more like one of the most powerful GMs in the league. To me, that sounds like he's only set up to fail because the expectations are so enormous. He has everything he could want going for him. Now he just has to win.

He inherits a team that went 14-2, one of only 21 teams in league history to have done as well in a 16-game regular season. The way, I see it, he faces three scenarios and the public reaction that will accompany each:

A.) Chargers miss the playoffs - Norv's legend as an incompetent head coach grows.

B.) Chargers get into the playoffs and lose - Why did we hire this guy to do what Marty Schottenheimer could do with his eyes closed?

C.) Chargers win the Super Bowl - With that roster, he's supposed to win it all. He becomes the Barry Switzer of his generation, winning with a team that another staff so brilliantly built up.

Now, the above reactions are probably at least a little unfair, especially Option C, as Norv has at least accomplished quite a bit in the NFL on his own merit, which is not something that Barry Switzer can say. But I think you would hear those reactions to each of those scenarios.

As for me, I think that Norv will take San Diego to the playoffs and lose this coming year. The Chargers are too talented not to make the playoffs, but I can't see them winning it all. I don't even think I see them making the Super Bowl. It's become more apparent with every passing year, that in the hypercompetitive NFL, you need a great head coach who can put you over the top. Colts players will attest to the importance of Tony Dungy this year. So will the Steelers to Bill Cowher's motivational techniques that rallied them to a title in 2005.

I just don't think that Norv has that certain something that pushes his team over the edge. You know that phrase that's used that players "will run through a wall" for their coach? You never hear that applied to Norv Turner. He's got all the tools he could ask for, now's the time to put it all to good use.

norv turner
marty schottenheimer
a.j. smith
san diego chargers

Marty Schottenheimer Fired

If a head coaching firing in the NFL can be both stunning but not unexpected at the same time, this is it. The San Diego Chargers finally decided to cut their losses with the embattled Marty Schottenheimer after 5 years as coach. The tipping point has been building in the last month ever since the juggernaut Chargers lost in the divisional playoff to the Patriots then witnessed an exodus of assistant coaches to other teams (i.e. Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron) and higher positions. An already frosty (at best) relationship between Schottenheimer and GM A.J. Smith couldn't take any more stress than it had already come under, and as a result the last thread that Marty was holding on by finally snapped.

Of course this is the logical and correct decision by San Diego in the decision of GM Smith or Coach Schottenheimer. If one of them had to go - and clearly, one did - it was going to be Schottenheimer. He was already a lame duck head coach who hasn't won a playoff game in more than a decade. And let's not forget that Smith has done an incredible job assembling a roster than many regard as the most talented in the league.

What does this mean for the Chargers? Who will they hire at this point so late in the game? Again, Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera pops out as a obvious possibility. Colts assistant Jim Caldwell, who along with Rivera interviewed last week for the Cowboys job, could also get a look. Maybe they'd try to lure Redskins offensive coordinator Al Saunders? It's hard to envision the Bolts going after a college coach - it's much too late, with National Signing Day having just wrapped up last week.

And now, what happens to Marty Schottenheimer? At 63, I'd say that he has one more coaching stint left in him. He's going to get a call from teams that need a coach next year, no doubt about it - he's too good for that not to happen. But you would think that'll be his last chance to win a Super Bowl. And considering how badly he wants to win one, I don' t think he'd take just any job. I doubt that at this point in his career, he's willing to wait around and build a team from scratch. The team he takes over will need to have some pieces in place.

For an offseason that wasn't supposed to have too many spins on the coaching carousel, this will be the seventh head coaching change of the offseason. Just par for the course in the oftentimes crazy world of the NFL.

marty schottenheimer
a.j. smith
ron rivera

Game of the Year, Part II

What a weekend of seeming oxymorons in the AFC. On Saturday, the Colts, one of the statistically worst rush defenses in the history of the National Football League out-slugged a Baltimore Ravens team with stars all over the defensive side of the ball in an uncharacteristically ugly 15-6 win.

Then on Sunday, the New England Patriots, who if you listened to the media last week, would have you think that aside from Tom Brady, they have less talent than your local Pop Warner team, came from behind to defeat a supremely talented Chargers team that had made come-from-behind wins one of their staples this season. (And what a cruel turn for (at the moment) Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, who must feel like Charlie Brown getting the football taken out from under him by Lucy over and over again.)

And now, the two old nemeses meet again in the playoffs, for the third time in four years, for the AFC Championship, which for a lot of people, will be tantamount to the Super Bowl, given the weak state of the NFC. But this time, the Colts get the Pats on their own turf, the RCA Dome, where they were unbeatable this season. This time they won't have to deal with the extreme New England elements that helped to doom them in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs.

That's just one reason why I like Indianapolis to finally break through and reach the Super Bowl after so many years of frustration. As Tom Brady reaffirmed for everyone on Sunday, picking against him usually ensures that you will look like a fool, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Though the stakes were much lower, the Colts have shown that they are capable of beating the mighty Pats by taking the last two regular season meetings. While they still have quite a lot to prove, those two wins shouldn't be forgotten - the Colts surely won't be shaking in their boots when it's time to take the field.

Second, it seems like Indianapolis has finally learned how to play winning playoff football. They've showed the last two games that they don't need Peyton Manning to play spectacularly in order to win. Particularly in the Ravens game, they've shown that they just need him to make plays when it counts, (to be Tom Brady-like in a sense), and the suddenly stout defense and run game will bring it home. Unlike the 2003 team, an offensive juggernaut that stormed into New England for the AFC Championship with their hair on fire only to be meekly put away on a cold day, this team can win ugly, and it may take that against New England.

Lastly, and most importantly, the Colts look to have the resolve of a team that has learned from its past mistakes and the hunger to prove everyone wrong who doubted them. The late-season slump they suffered may in the end be their best friend, because it has forced them to dig down and find out what they are really made of. And right now, they've shown to be a resilient team that has the ability to go all the way.