The Chargers had little problem in dominating the Bears on Saturday night.  Philip Rivers looked sharp completing 4 of 6 passes for 62 yards with 1 TD pass (a 28-yarder to Legedu Naanee).  Billy Volek looked so-so completing 7 of 14 passes for 77 yards.  Rookie 5th round pick Jonathan Crompton finished up the game at QB by completing 6 of 11 passes for 81 yards with 1 INT.  Rookie 1st round pick Ryan Mathews led the way on the ground for the Chargers in this game with 50 yards rushing on 9 carries (5.6 ypc).  Curtis Brinkley (5 car, 36 yards) and Mike Tolbert (6 car, 17 yards, TD) also pitched in on the ground for the Chargers in this game.  The Chargers spread the ball around pretty well in the passing game using 14 different receivers.  None of them caught more than two passes or had more than 36 yards.  The Chargers rushed for 120 yards (3.6 ypc) and they passed for 215 yards against the Bears.

LB Darry Beckwith (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and safety Steve Gregory (6 tackles) led the way for the D on Saturday night.  Safety Paul Oliver made a huge impact in this game with 1 tackle, 1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery and a interception.  The Bears finished up with 48 yards rushing (2.3 ypc) and 168 yards passing in this game.

27-year old RB Darren Sproles might be on the small side at 5′6″, 181 pounds.  But he has great speed and moves as he can go the distance any time he touches the ball.  Sproles played in 16 games for the Chargers last season and he returned 54 kickoffs for 1,300 yards (24.1 avg).  He has now played in 62 games in his four years with the Chargers and he has returned 207 kickoffs for 5,212 yards (25.2 avg) with 2 TD returns. 

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CHARGERS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010:  A

The Chargers will likely be without starting LT Marcus McNeill for a huge chunk of the 2010 season due to a contract holdout and he’s the best lineman on the team.  Philip Rivers won’t likely be near as comfortable in the pocket in 2010 as he was in 2009.  Brandyn Dombrowski, Tra Thomas, Tyrone Greene and Corey Clark will all battle in training camp for the LT job.  I think when the dust settles it will be Dombrowski covering Rivers’ blind side.  He played well last season at RT but LT is a harder position.  LG Kris Dielman has been to 3 straight Pro Bowls.  Dielman has good balance and he’s very aggressive in the running game.  Center Nick Hardwick gets by with his brains as he is a finesse position type of blocker.  RG Louis Vasquez is a good run blocker but he has issues with fast rushers in the passing game.  RT Jeromey Clary is a below average tackle but his competition would have likely been Dombrowski who is needed on the left side.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CHARGERS O-LINE in 2010:  C-

The Chargers have signed 27-year old OG Cameron Stephenson.  He is 6′3″, 326 pounds so he has nice size for the Pros but he has yet to get into a NFL game in his career.  He has bounced around from Pittsburgh to Jacksonville but no team has liked him enough to stick him on the field.  This was a depth signing and little more for the Chargers.

As hard as I might try I can’t blame Norv Turner for last year’s playoff loss to the Jets as Nate Kaeding is the lone goat.  Turner led the Chargers to a 13-3 (81.3%) record during the regular season but they lost their only playoff game 17-14 at home against the Jets.  Turner now has a 32-16 (66.7%) record during the regular season for the Chargers and he’s 3-3 (50%) in the post season.  Turner now has a career record of 90-98-1 (47.9%) in 12 years as a head coach and he’s 4-4 (50%) in the post-season.  I have never thought that Turner was much of a coach and I still don’t.  The Chargers should have at least made it to a Super Bowl one of the years that Turner was here just based on the talent on the field.