Official Chargers Blog

• Continuity brings success for Colts offensive line
  It's Week 12 of the NFL season, and about time to trot out the old line: If the playoffs were to start today . . . the Indianapolis Colts would be in them. They would be a wild-card entry, the AFC's No. 5 seed.
• Cromartie tries to recapture the magic
  Remember that great coming out party cornerback Antonio Cromartie had when the Chargers hosted the Indianapolis Colts during a nationally televised Sunday night game last season?
• Turner not sitting on hot seat
  Is Norv Turner guaranteed to return as Chargers head coach next season? The media question-and-answer session after Wednesday's practice seems to indicate so.
• Oft-injured receiver Davis shut down for season
  The Chargers placed receiver Buster Davis on injured reserve yesterday, ending a second injury-marred season for the team's first-round pick in 2007.
• Cromartie is hoping to reignite in reunion
  Sunday night marks the reunion, and it is just a couple of weeks off the one-year anniversary of Antonio Cromartie's coming-out party.
• Norv the re-Turner
  Before he left town for a scouting trip to size up a player he could select in April's draft, perhaps in a spot much higher than anyone ever anticipated for the Chargers, A.J. Smith took time to dismiss the notion that Norv Turner could be dismissed.
• Like it or not, he'll rightfully be back; learn to live with it
  The decision by the club's cadre will not be popular among those members of the Get Rid of Norv Party, but it's the right one.
• Spanos: It's ridiculous to think Turner won't be back in 2009
  Norv Turner is going to be the Chargers' head coach at the start of the 2009 season.

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• LT can feel season slipping away
  The underachieving San Diego Chargers had a long, quiet plane ride home from Pittsburgh, the scene of their latest debacle.
• Steelers beat Chargers in NFL's first 11-10 game
  The score was an NFL first. The result wasn't: Yet another Chargers loss in Pittsburgh.
• Big gaffes again haunt QB Rivers in loss
  Philip Rivers was not down, not bowing his head. He accepted his plight and vowed to move on.
• After a historic loss, Chargers season might be history
  The question after the first-ever 11-10 final score in the NFL is whether the Chargers themselves are history.

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• Tomlinson: Chargers a passing team
  The message wasn't so much in what LaDainian Tomlinson said, although that was blunt enough.
• Hearing Vitale sound off is like a holler day, baby
  Dick Vitale is not an acquired taste. You've either acquired him, or you haven't.
• Grabbing early lead would be a rare feat
  If the Chargers are to win their first-ever regular-season game in 12 tries at Pittsburgh, it would be a good idea to do something they haven't done very much this season.
• Steelers' sore subject
  Roethlisberger silent about the shoulder that has been causing Pittsburgh a lot of pain

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• Steelers' sore subject
  Roethlisberger silent about the shoulder that has been causing Pittsburgh a lot of pain

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• Chargers-Steelers Game Preview
  The Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers both have plenty of concerns. At the top of those lists are their franchise players.

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• Playground game raises real money
  Some people will do anything they can to help kids. For Shaun Phillips of the San Diego Chargers, it's hosting a dodgeball tournament at a local nightclub.
• Steelers' running game in lengthy, costly slump
  If the Steelers have the power to set the city's mood by what they do on the field, the week got off to a grim start.
• Will Steelers stay conservative?
  The Steelers devised what appeared to be a sound offensive game plan against the Indianapolis Colts.
• Big Ben's numbers taking a hit
  The quarterback who finished second only to Tom Brady in passer rating last season trails rookies Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco in that category this year.
• Steelers starting to worry about Big Ben's slump
  Maybe it's the accumulated wear and tear from all the sacks.
• Tomlinson: Chargers need to run
  LaDainian Tomlinson is worried, which is never a good sign for the San Diego Chargers.
• A win, but Bolts hardly in the running
  Winning a football game for the first time in four weeks couldn't cure all that ails the Chargers.
• LT admits he's 'wary' entering tough stretch
  Coming off a victory that was widely viewed from the outside as if it were a loss, the Chargers are left to assess and eventually prove whether they are the same team as 2007.
• Chargers strive to recapture that rush of success
  The Chargers used to practically tell a defense what running play was coming, and they could still gain 5 yards on a play.

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• Chiefs lose to Chargers when they fail on two-point conversion
  For exactly 59 minutes and 37 seconds of football Sunday, the Chiefs had good reason to dream that Tyler Thigpen could be the young quarterback to take them into the future.
• KC successful against revamped Chargers defense
  Coach Herm Edwards said he noticed a few scheme changes Sunday to San Diego’s defense. The Chargers’ new coordinator, Ron Rivera, made his debut against the Chiefs.
• Colts/Chargers remains on Sunday night
  The NFL announced its final schedule for Week 12 and decided to keep the matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers as the Sunday night contest.

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• Chiefs’ Charles says it’s heart, not size
  To some people, Chiefs rookie Jamaal Charles probably doesn’t look like an every down running back. And actually, he has heard those observations himself.
• Wide receiver Bradley makes a sudden impact with Chiefs
  The trick play was nice and all, but Mark Bradley has walked that road. He wants to talk about catches and what that means for the present in Kansas City, and — if he’s not being too forward — his future here, too.
• Football's popularity soars in Mexico
  The sport is no longer foreign to Mexico, where the NFL says it has 20 million fans, which is more fans than any country other than the U.S.
• Chargers defense to be simple, quick
  What will the average fan notice from new Chargers coordinator Ron Rivera's defense Sunday against Kansas City that they didn't see from Ted Cottrell's through the season's first eight weeks?
• Enjoy possibly the last meeting between Gates and Gonzalez
  Enjoy possibly the last meeting between Gates and Gonzalez,
• Davis' day coming, but not this year
  Buster Davis is practicing again, having done so without incident for three straight days.
• Bring pressure, force action
  The Chargers defense arrives at the second half of the season knowing it is largely to blame for a 3-5 record.
• Stadium situation still a mess
  The Chargers and their new stadium issues are stuck between a rock and hard times.

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• LT: 'Get a win' is only thing on Bolts' minds
  On paper, a home game against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs appears to be just what the slumping San Diego Chargers need.

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• Tomlinson suffering from comparisons to standard set in his heyday
  LaDainian Tomlinson knows it comes with the territory of being a superstar. Once a level of performance has been established, anything short of it breeds disappointment.
• L.T. likes the sound of 'President Obama'
  LaDainian Tomlinson, who has served as the face of the franchise for most of his Chargers' career, expressed joy Wednesday over the new face of the nation.
• L.T. likes the sound of 'President Obama'
  LaDainian Tomlinson, who has served as the face of the franchise for most of his Chargers' career, expressed joy Wednesday over the new face of the nation.
• Rivers hardly satisfied with his season so far
  Philip Rivers leads the NFL in passer rating, touchdown passes and average gain per attempt.
• Aguirre loss doesn't mean new stadium
  The Chargers have pointed to City Attorney Michael Aguirre for years as a force blocking their efforts to get a new stadium in San Diego. But now that he's been voted out of office, don't expect a deal to suddenly materialize.

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• Chiefs activate two players
  Two Chiefs draftees who've been stashed on reserved lists since training camp have been activated to the 53-man roster in a flurry of changes that isn't over yet.
• Chargers know better than to overlook Chiefs
  A gross mismatch in terms of talent and experience, not to mention locale and preparation time, this game cries out for more humiliation and even ridicule of the visitors. The Chargers want no part of it. They know better.
• Chiefs Kolby Smith out for the season
  Running back Kolby Smith is lost for the season after he injured a knee in the second quarter.
• Dielman delivers 'pep' talk to winless team
  Kris Dielman speaks like he blocks: unbridled, unflinching and unrepentant.

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• Will throwing Cottrell under the bus backfire on Chargers' Turner?
  The Chargers' decision to fire defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell on Tuesday was about one thing: Norv Turner covering his own backside.
• Shouldering the blame
  Ted Cottrell took the fall for the Chargers' poor defensive showing over the first half of the season. But several of the team's defensive players know part of the blame lies on them.
• Chargers defense gets the message
  Ron Rivera stepped in front of his defense for the first time yesterday, confident and forceful, and told the players what they already knew.
• Merriman's injury impact biggest of all
  As San Diego routed New England earlier this month, the Patriots were clearly more affected by Tom Brady's absence than a Chargers squad playing without Shawne Merriman.

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• Payton not happy with London field conditions, travel arrangements
  Sean Payton struggled to be diplomatic about the NFL's handling of the Saints' game in London last weekend, railing against everything from the "sloppy" field conditions to a cramped flight home on a plane "that's over 30 years old."
• Cottrell's stint with Chargers short-lived
  The San Diego Chargers' decision to fire defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and replace him with Ron Rivera is interesting on a couple of levels.
• This is an opportunity for Rivera
  The decision to fire Ted Cottrell as defensive coordinator and promote Ron Rivera from linebacker coach is not only a chance for the Chargers to turn around a disappointing season, but it is a chance for Rivera.
• Blitz sacks Cottrell
  A Chargers team that hasn't brought down a quarterback in its last nine quarters finally recorded a sack Tuesday, firing defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell.
• Rivera vows to assert his own style
  Aggravating and demanding as it became to have to play catch-up so often, it has been a trademark of the Chargers over the past couple of years to keep games close and make the kind of halftime adjustments that pay off down the stretch.
• Bolts move to ignite 'D'
  As time runs out to make turnaround, coordinator Cottrell fired, replaced by Rivera
• Somebody had to go in this debacle
  Ted Cottrell was the fall guy. The chump. The easy way out of a messy room. He was like the kid who always gets caught after everyone else runs away and hides
• Chargers fire defensive coordinator
  The shakeup has started in San Diego.
• Chargers fire Cottrell, name Rivera new defensive coordinator
  The San Diego Chargers fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell on Tuesday and elevated inside linebackers coach Ron Rivera to the position.

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• Game Recap - San Diego Chargers at New Orleans Saints
  A trans-Atlantic trip was just what Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints needed to get their season back on track.
• On the Bizarre End to Chargers-Saints
  Because the London gun fight between the Chargers and Saints lasted beyond 4:15 PM EST, CBS was not allowed the show the few minutes of the game live.
• New Orleans win NFL thriller at Wembley
  The New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers showed the NFL in its best light with a thrilling offensive display to mark the second in a series of regular season games in London.
• Saints top Chargers in London NFL battle
  The New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers 37-32 on Sunday as Drew Brees tossed three touchdowns to lead his team to victory in an entertaining affair at London's Wembley stadium.
• Chargers come up short in comeback attempt - San Jose Mercury News
  San Diego's late charge certainly made it interesting until the end, even if it came up short.

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• NFL still considering expanded schedule
  NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday that the league will continue to look at proposals to add two regular-season games to the schedule and shorten the preseason.

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• Jet-lagged Bolts in need of some Z's
  The Chargers began their comeback after a poor start to the season with a win over the New York Jets. Now they'll have to beat jet lag to get back to .500.
• Even though it's a new structure, history permeates Wembley
  Wednesday dawned bright and clear, as rosy – to paraphrase from the Roger Miller songbook – as the cheeks of the little children.
• Spanos and Smith comfortable with staying the course
  Dean Spanos is pleased with his coaching staff, if not with the players.
• Just another game? Not for Drew Brees
  Drew Brees plays the Chargers this week, the team with which he thought he'd finish his career, the team that let him go.
• As NFL hits London again, jury's out on Britons' interest
  It's the "home team" New Orleans Saints vs. the visiting San Diego Chargers at London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday, where two struggling teams with identical 3-4 records say they're goal is to get to .500 and keep their playoff aspirations alive.

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• Travel weary Bolts arrive in rural England
  The change of setting to the rural outskirts of London hasn't exactly eased the sting of a disappointing loss for Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
• Underachievers arrive in London
  The Chargers arrived in London on Monday, beleaguered and beaten, a below-.500 squad desperately in need of a victory and hopeful that an overseas trip is the perfect tonic for a turnaround.
• Fans fork over thousands to see team across the pond
  Susie Malone showed up at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday dressed appropriately – in a Chargers T-shirt.
• Looking for lots of luck in London
  The Chargers arrived here yesterday and settled into a posh resort 45 minutes southwest of London. Today is set aside for Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and the like.
• It's homecoming week for Chargers linebacker
  His introduction to American football came through a video game, and he was designated a defensive player when he missed the only pass ever thrown his way.
• New Orleans Saints scouting report
  The Chargers lead 7-2. The Chargers won the last meeting, 43-17, on Nov. 7, 2004 at Qualcomm Stadium.

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• Chargers' receiver Chris Chambers misses practice with ankle sprain
  Chargers receiver Chris Chambers remained sidelined Thursday with a sprained ankle.

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• Chargers start a long trip in Buffalo
  The San Diego Chargers, who have epitomized the NFL's inconsistency this season, looked like the championship team they're supposed to be last week.

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• Chargers going long – 11,000 miles
  The currency changes once you get there. So does the language, similar as it's supposed to be. Why, blimey, even the clichés are different.

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• Chargers make Patriots look like a high school team
  Everything you need to know about last night’s mismatch between the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots of San Jose took place on each team’s first possession of the third quarter.
• Rivers' 3 TD passes lead Chargers past Pats 30-10
  Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers solved their Patriots problem and perhaps saved their season.
• Rivers holds the reins as Chargers turn fortunes around
  Five things we learned from watching the San Diego Chargers beat the New England Patriots 30-10 on Sunday night:
• Without, Chambers, receivers come up with big catches
  Vincent Jackson made a quick move at the line and took off running. He quickly reached full gallop, blew past his defender and looked toward the sky. A football came floating down and the 6-foot-5, 230-pounder jumped up to get it.
• ESPN - Edwards returns to practice, expects to play vs. Chargers - NFL
  The Buffalo Bills returned to practice Monday following their bye week. More importantly, so did their starting quarterback.

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• Chargers not in position they thought they'd be
  The calendar says it's Patriots-Chargers week, but of course this isn't the same game we had circled since the moment the NFL schedule came out in April.

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• Defense can't be a patsy against Pats
  "Please don't use that story line,'' said Cottrell, the Chargers' defensive coordinator.
• New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers
  This may not turn out to be the best game in Week 6, but it will be the most desperately played.
• Madden gives his diagnosis on Chargers
  Like everyone else who spends any time around the NFL, John Madden thought the Chargers would be a good team.
• Pats' D regains confidence before facing Chargers
  Rodney Harrison didn't get terribly worried when the New England defense was humiliated by the lowly Miami Dolphins last month.
• Bolts are bewildering after 5 games
  LaDainian Tomlinson is weary, sore and doesn't seem to have any answers.
• Pats-Chargers showdown lacking usual sizzle
  It seems like only yesterday the Patriots and Chargers were meeting for the AFC Championship.

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• Chargers must find a way to do better at playing keepaway
  Defenses constantly evolve, in seasons and within individual games. Every play, especially on offense, depends on most of the players on the field doing their job, and some plays require the precision of all 11 players.
• Patriots and Chargers go at it again
  A year ago, the San Diego Chargers were 2-3, just as they are now. They went on to the AFC championship game against New England, which just happens to be the team they play Sunday night at home.

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• Philip Rivers earns praise from Bill Belichick
  Football players are tough. That’s a given. But when a coach like Bill Belichick singles out a player for his grit, that’s an even greater compliment.
• More TDs not a mirage; scoring up in '08
  So much for the notion those coach-to-defense radio helmets would level the playing field.
• What's wrong with the Colts and is L.T. on the decline?
  I looked at the NFL stats this morning and found myself scrolling down the list of quarterback ratings in search of Peyton Manning.
• Nature of Patriots' latest win may spell trouble
  Feel the heat. That's not a reference to the pressure the Chargers are under at 2-3, but a statement on the approach of the Patriots for a matchup of two AFC powers that simply do not like each other – and aren't afraid to show it.
• Chargers turn down trash-talk chatter
  For obvious reasons, there was not a lot of mirth among the Chargers after Sunday's loss at Miami.
• Patriots get set to face a familiar foe in San Diego Chargers
  While the Pats players were off yesterday, the coaches spent the day getting their game plan together for San Diego.
• Patriots-Chargers rivalry has lost some of its juice
  When last they met, the Patriots were riding an historic winning streak. They were a perfect 17-0, and nearly in the grasp of an unprecedented 19-0 season.

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• Week off won't help L.T.
  LaDainian Tomlinson admits that his big right toe hurts. The Chargers running back concedes that a game doesn't go by when his toe doesn't restrict him.
• By staying in San Jose, Patriots will get in a full week of work for Chargers
  By staying in San Jose, Patriots will get in a full week of work for Chargers
• Patriots get rest in Bay Area after beating Niners
  The first stop on the New England Patriots' tour of California was a smashing success, and now they're hoping a week in the Bay Area will put them in position to be a big hit in San Diego and beyond.
• Banged-up players determined to soldier on
  Philip Rivers didn't get hit as much Sunday in Miami as he did the previous week in Oakland.
• No shame in admitting injuries crucial
  The football conceit is that injuries are irrelevant, and that to cite them is to signify weakness, to indulge in alibis, to compromise the code, to ask for directions.
• Turner The Burner setting Atlanta afire
  Signing Turner during free agency was a coup for the Falcons, and he has been even better than the Falcons hoped.
• Bolts have been down this road before
  Georgette Rogers, the bubbly Chargers Park receptionist, was squinting Monday morning. That's good.
• LT: 'Crucial time' has arrived for the Chargers
  The Chargers need to take this season in their hands and not think history will simply repeat itself.

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• Dissappointed Chargers fans are preaching to the choir
  To the thousands of fans who chose AC, to leave their chairs empty and not take their Sunday afternoon sauna in Dolphins Stadium, we salute your cool judgment.
• Chargers searching for consistent performance
  What we're seeing is a true professionally run football team. Two weeks in a row, at New England, beating the Chargers here, you have to be impressed.
• Jim Mandich's take: 'A remarkable transformation'
  What we're seeing is a true professionally run football team. Two weeks in a row, at New England, beating the Chargers here, you have to be impressed.
• Surprising Dolphins beat Chargers 17-10
  The Miami Dolphins found a way to contain the explosive San Diego Chargers: Don't let them have the ball.
• 'This is not fun': Bolts back to searching for answers after loss to Dolphins
  The label of laughingstock will no longer be associated with the Dolphins after they slapped a 17-10 loss on the Chargers before an announced crowd of 65,063.
• Ex-Bolt Camarillo no fish out of water
  Former Chargers receiver Greg Camarillo and current Chargers wideout Chris Chambers were both looking forward to Sunday's game between the Chargers and Dolphins.

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• Walking the line: Dolphins' Williams tries to put checkered history of drug use behind him
  Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams was led into temptation, but was delivered from the evil weed recently.

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• Williams staying on track in lastest stint
  It's only fair, when you think about it, that Ricky Williams should have some preconceived notions of his own. Even about himself.
• Rested Dolphins set to do battle with surging Chargers
  As far as running backs go, San Diego Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson has been one of the best passers since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
• Dolphins’ Anthony Fasano out to burn Chargers’ pass defense - BostonHerald.com
  The Dolphins and Anthony Fasano should be downright giddy Sunday when they host San Diego.
• Chargers taking flight – for October, anyway, they'll be road warriors
  It wasn't necessarily a cry for sympathy, just a short note among dozens of pages in the New York Jets' press release, this one providing relevant information on the upcoming “Monday Night Football” game against the Chargers in San Diego.
• GM Smith is happy with the view a quarter-way up the mountain
  A.J. Smith makes a lot of money doing what he does, but he likes to speak in quarters, and it has nothing to do with coin of the realm.

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• Raiders owner says he "hired the wrong guy" in Kiffin
  Raiders owner Al Davis says he "hired the wrong guy" at a press conference at team headquarters Tuesday afternoon.
• GM Smith likes the view quarter-way up mountain
  A.J. Smith makes a lot of money doing what he does, but he likes to speak in quarters, and it has nothing to do with coin of the realm.

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