Second Verse, same as the first

Geez. San Diego (and the refs) do their best to hand the game to us, and we can't pull it off. 6 trips to the red or maroon zone, and we fail to score a TD, settling for field goals instead. Despite LaDainian Tomlinson's opinion, I don't see signs that we're "almost there". The gap between "hanging in games" and "winning games" is alot bigger than it appears.

The rushing game looked pretty bad. I don't want to get too down on them, because they were playing a good defense. But that just serves to underscore an important point: With the speed and size of defensive players who are playing in the game today, a good defense is going to be able to shut down (or at least slow down) even the BEST running game. So, while working out a strong running game is admirable, no matter how much better it gets its never going to get you all the way.

And that brings us to the passing game. Charlie did not look good. Passes in the wrong position. Holding on too long. And, of course, staring down his receivers. And some of his decisions. If you're gonna stare down a guy and make the pass, at least do it to a guy who isn't double covered. On the play in the third or fourth where Frye was running around, only to be sacked and fumble the ball away (reversed by a hold against Jurivicis), I was pulling my hair out as Frye had three or four opportunities to get rid of the ball and just didn't take them. I think that Crennel and Davidson need to make this their number one priority: Get Charlie to understand when to throw it away. Because if he can't improve on that by the end of the season, I'll be ready to call for a new QB.

What can I say about the O-line? Its not there yet. But when I glance at the lists of top prospects for the 07 draft, I see alot of Offensive tackles in the top thirty. So help me, Phil Savage, if you ignore the line in this year's draft, too, I'll be calling for your head.

The rush defense is still looking pretty inconsistent. They looked alot like our '03 defense against Jamal Lewis: They stopped the run cold most of the time, but when they didn't stop them, the back was able to get huge chunks of yards.

But, to not dwell on the negative: Romeo Crennel and Todd Grantham are officially geniuses in their ability to stop a passing game. They make Ralph Brown and Jereme Perry look like, well, Leigh Bodden and Gary Baxter. Kind of makes you wonder if Baxter and Bodden (and Holly) are really that good, or if its just the system.

Sean Jones is the real deal.

Kellen Winslow is the real deal.

Wimbley is looking decent. How did you like him almost catching Tomlinson from behind on that 40 yard TD run? His tackle attempt looked awkard, but the fact that he got close enough to make an attempt at all is pretty impressive.
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Looking ahead, Atlanta is a team that we can beat. I think we can do enough to confuse Vick to stop the passing game. The big question will be whether or not we can slow down their running game. Also, on offense we should be able to run it at them. But we've gotta be smart about it. These runs up the middle are getting pretty old pretty fast. I understand that is Droughn's strength, but when it doesn't work, it doesn't work.