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Subject: SDUT (Canepa): Chargers save the day for beleaguered coach
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Canepa: Chargers save the day for beleaguered coach

By Nick Canepa

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The latest poll shows Norv may be getting some help from the undecideds 
� if there are enough of them to make a difference. But the Angry 
Villagers refuse to be swayed by Turner�s primary rout over a bunch of 
stiffs from Kansas City who couldn�t even put down an X to vote for 
themselves.

And I�m not saying they�re wrong. I�m saying they�re going to have to 
wait awhile now. You don�t fire a coach with a 4-4 record and tear 
things apart when the AFC West remains within reach. That may be a 
reach, but it�s not unfathomable.

So those of you somehow rooting for the Chargers to lose so Norv�s pink 
slip will be showing, go on ahead. You�re wasting your bile. Turner is 
10 cats. Ninety lives.

Thanks to an offense that played better with new untested people and a 
defense always criminally inspired by the Chiefs� mere presence before 
them, it figures Norv Turner will live to see another game as Chargers 
head coach. And given this faithful, well-timed 31-13 win here Thursday 
night over the K.C. Chumps, probably the season.

There seems to be a sense that Norv�s players haven�t wanted to play for 
him. I haven�t had that sense at all. I think they haven�t been able to 
play for him because they don�t know how to play for him. Turner�s the 
smart guy in class who ruins the curve. I don�t know if the Chargers are 
cerebral to the point of fully understanding their beleaguered head coach.

Does that make him a good head coach? No. Maybe there isn�t a smart 
enough team in the NFL for Norv.

In this one, the defense, which forced four turnovers � three fumbles 
and a pick six by Demorrio Williams � was good (remember now, it was the 
Chiefs, and they turned it over six times when they met the Chargers a 
month ago), and the offense was pretty neat and balanced. Quarterback 
Philip Rivers completed his first 13 passes, but on a third-and-one on 
the Chiefs� 1, he rolled out and threw a horrible pass that was picked 
in the end zone by K.C. safety Eric Berry.

It came near the end of the half, and despite Rivers� brilliance up to 
that point and in the game � overall, he was 18 of 20, a Chargers record 
of 90 percent (tied for fifth-best in NFL history for a QB with 20 or 
more throws) � he was sent off by a 55,000-person Gregorian chant of boos.

Going in, Rivers told himself: �Whatever happens I�m stepping up in the 
pocket and if I decided to throw it I was ripping it. That�s about as 
good as I can play in a half and that�s the loudest I�ve ever been booed.

�But that ball should have been a souvenir. It was just a terrible play. 
There�s no other way to describe it. We�re 4-4, and maybe on the outside 
it felt like it was chaos, but it wasn�t.�

Unlike last Sunday against the Browns, when the Chargers flopped around 
on offense, Turner called a brilliant game. Starting wide receivers 
Eddie Royal and Robert Meachem were out with leg injuries, so newly 
acquired Denario Alexander and Seyi Ajirotuto stepped in and played 
better than the starters have at any point this season. Seyi made a 
brilliant, 28-yard diving reception that jump-started the offense and 
kept a drive alive that led to the Chargers� first score.

The Chiefs have not led in a game at any point this season, and San 
Diego�s defense kept it that way. Linebacker Donald Butler, who is 
playing like a Pro Bowler, had nine solo tackles. Safety Eric Weddle, 
who is a Pro Bowler, had seven. Linebacker Jarret Johnson sacked and 
stripped K.C. quarterback Matt Cassel of the ball in the end zone and 
bookend outside linebacker Shaun Phillips recovered for a touchdown.

So the defense scored two touchdowns on its own. I know it was the 
Chiefs, who probably will set some sort of turnover record this season. 
They�ve turned it over 10 times against the Chargers alone. But you 
never knock a win. Never.

And it certainly came at the right time for Norv. Speculation was high 
that a loss Thursday night would have been his final opportunity for a 
defeat in San Diego. Me, I believe it might have happened. Contrary to 
the NFL Network report, the Spanoses have fired coaches during the 
season (Don Coryell and Kevin Gilbride).

Can�t see it happening now. Just remember, the Chargers schedule the 
rest of the way is not daunting. If Rivers has snapped out of his slump, 
if he can avoid the occasional bout of brain flatulence, if Norv can 
keep things simple enough for his students to understand, they can win 
some games.

Last week I called them the worst team in the NFL. I won�t apologize, 
but I was wrong. I forgot about the Chiefs. But then, the Chiefs are 
easy to forget.