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Subject: SDUT (Acee): Norv Turner's team responds
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Acee: Norv Turner's team responds

By Kevin Acee

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Norvember has begun. Its namesake will coach again.

Whether or not he was going to be unemployed had his team lost a fourth 
straight game, this time to another cellar-dwelling team, we won�t ever 
know.

Moot point.

As a season threatened to topple under its own weight, the Chargers took 
out their aggravation on the stick-a-needle-in-your-eye-bad Kansas City 
Chiefs, 31-13, on Thursday night.

Before the game, all the talk was about the possibility Norv Turner 
could be fired before the weekend. (Who would initiate such vicious 
chitchat?)

�I don�t believe it is true,� Turner said afterward as he walked from 
the first postgame press conference in more than a month in which he 
cracked a smile.

And who could be too sure at this point that Turner will ever be 
relieved of his duties?

His team plays enough games as it did on Thursday, he�ll live at least 
another year.

�You can't help but hear the talk,� outside linebacker Jarret Johnson 
said. �But we put ourselves in this situation. We lost three in a row. 
The criticism directed our way was earned because we didn't play well 
enough to win. We played well enough to win tonight, and it showed up on 
the scoreboard.

�Norv is a great man and we have all the respect in the world for him. 
He deserves better than what we've given him these last three weeks. 
We're going to stand behind him. We're going to win games for us as a 
team. We're going to win games for Norv.�

Philip Rivers, who was 18-for-20, didn�t have to throw a pass after his 
touchdown throw to Malcom Floyd 3� minutes into the fourth quarter gave 
the Chargers a 17-6 lead.

As if it were possible that the Saints were going to come back from an 
18-point fourth-quarter deficit, Johnson�s sack of Matt Cassel and Shaun 
Phillips� recovery in the end zone gave the Chargers a 31-6 lead with 
10� minutes to play.

It was at that point that boos that not too long before bounced around 
emptier-than-usual Qualcomm Stadium turned to cheers and the sound of song.

Demorrio Williams� 59-yard interception return for a touchdown two 
minutes later almost made the Chargers seem like a team that could 
finish games.

�The game got close,� Turner said after flashing a wide grin. �And we 
really did respond. It was nice.�

His offense remains middling, hampered by strained muscles and not 
enough impact players.

But if Turner does get fired before the end of the season, I want to 
know who is going to call plays. I�m not saying Steve Fairchild 
couldn�t, but �

Someone last night got Seyi Ajirotutu ready to get open and make a huge 
catch on the game-opening scoring drive. Someone found a way to get 
Danario Alexander hooked up with Rivers three times for 61 yards. The 
Chargers scored just 10 points in the first half, but they were on the 
verge of scoring all three of their first-half possessions before 
Rivers� only bad decision of the night cost them points in the waning 
seconds. Turner�s play-calling to that point and after were a large part 
of what he gets paid for.

A part of Turner�s job description has also seemingly always been 
ignoring the chatter that constantly warms his buns.

�No one is immune to it,� Turner said late Thursday as he stood inside 
his office on the edge of the locker room. �You try not to be affected, 
and I sure don�t want anyone in this room to think I�m affected. I don�t 
want them to be affected, and I don�t think they were today.�

Players said there was no one meeting but just several discussions of 
finally responding. And, yes, there was mention of the strain they were 
putting on Turner, the coach constantly under fire who never uses them 
as a shield and, in fact, frequently tells them to use him as theirs.

�We play for coach,� Rivers said. �We haven�t folded. We�ve rallied ... 
I think a big part of that is the way he handles it. He never points to 
us. We all know it. We�ve made some terrible plays.�

Uh-oh. Now San Diegans � the vociferous #FireNorv faction chief among 
them -- are left to ponder that we could be witness to another Norv 
Turnaround.

The reality is that the Chargers are 4-4 and half their victories have 
come against Kansas City, which flew back home dragging an NFL-worst 1-7 
record. Seriously, Chargers fans, Romeo Crennel wishes he had Turner�s 
problems.

Also fact is that the AFC has just seven teams with winning records and 
by Sunday night that number will be less. Of the remaining nine games, 
five are against teams with losing records.

�It�s a one-week deal,� Weddle said. �We�re not going to get too high 
... Next week the sky (could) be falling again.�

Yes, we would be wise to let whatever will happen just happen.