SDUT (Paris): Norv Turner remains safe after Chargers win

[Robin Miller]

Paris: Norv Turner remains safe after Chargers win

By Jay Paris, U-T

Friday, November 2, 2012

SAN DIEGO � The NBA season started so why wouldn't Malcom Floyd gather
himself for a slam dunk.

Have the Chargers steadied themselves as well?

Floyd caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers Thursday night
and eyed the uprights. He sprinted toward them, got some air and spiked
the ball over the goal posts. The fireworks crackled, the crowd cheered,
and just maybe the spark is back with the Chargers beating the Chiefs,
31-13.

Or maybe this was a harmless brush fire, quickly to be extinguished by a
team consistently playing inconsistent.

�Honestly I don't pay attention to what everyone says and what their
thinking was,� Chargers safety Eric Weddle said. �We believe in each
other and that's all you can really do.�

Weddle's testimony that he's immune to naysayers' yapping wouldn't stand
in court. He quickly switched directions, but a good safety always does.

�It's the eighth game of the season,� he stressed. �I've never heard of
anyone being counted out at the seven-game mark.�

He's never played on the East Coast, where spectators become unglued
after the first play. Plenty of Chargers fans were grumpy in Thursday's
run-up, and before a sign-hanger got ran off, his message in the east
end zone said what many thought: �Mr. Spanos Please Fire Norv and A.J.�

Friday's unemployment numbers were released, but coach Norv Turner and
general manager A.J. Smith didn't increase them. With the Chargers at
4-4, they're still gainfully and safely employed.

At least until the next loss, when the exit light is illuminated and
people have hands on Turner and Smith's backs pointing them that direction.

Unfortunately, beating the dismal Chiefs, who are many Indians shy of a
pow-wow, doesn't guarantee a playoff invite.

�It was one win,� Weddle said. �Who knows what will happen next week and
the sky will be falling again.�

Weddle is right. But at least the chatter softened with the Chargers
prevailing.

The Chargers won, but what did we learn?

We know the Chargers gorge on cream puffs, and one-win Kansas City is of
the Hostess variety. That might matter to some, and it should, but not
so much to the Chargers, after dropping four of their previous five games.

A win is always a win, and when you've lost three in a row, they taste
especially sweet. That the Chargers could regain a share of the AFC West
lead Sunday if the Broncos fall to the Bengals, proves a squad can
change its stripes.

�We needed to win in the worst way,� Rivers said after misfiring on but
two of his 20 attempts.

The Chargers balanced their sheet, reaching .500 at the season's halfway
point. It's a step in the right direction, but whether it�s one giant
leap for Chargers-kind will be determined. But at least the outing
didn't feature another Chargers' second-half fade away.

Later in the fourth quarter, Chargers linebacker Demorrio Williams
intercepted a pass and headed for the same end zone where Floyd showed
his hops. Williams also eyed the goal posts, but after his 59-yard
sprint, he declined. Instead, he ran to the goal posts and simply
plopped the ball at its base, too tuckered to take off.

After four weeks of absorbing blows from all comers, the Chargers'
21-point fourth quarter was as shocking as it was scintillating.

Are the Chargers back? Hard to say considering Kansas City's aroma, and
boy don't we wish it was barbecue. But the flame on Turner was dialed
down a notch.

He still has a clock to punch; his team a pulse to check. And Chargers
fans have 10 days to exhale and get their hearts back in rhythm. After a
month of angst, all is forgotten � until Nov. 11 at Tampa Bay.