San Diego Chargers #FTW

I believe the San Diego Chargers will win it all this year.

I'm sure you are saying what every one whom I told this to has said "What!? Really!? You're picking the Chargers? Why?"

Yes I really and honestly believe the Chargers will win it all this year. As a Bears and Patriots fan I will be rooting for those teams to win it all, but as a football fan I believe San Diego, or Whale's Vagina, will win it all. And no, I am not writing this post just to write Anchorman jokes. Although I'm sure they will be dispersed throughout this post. But that will be just a bonus.

Before I explain my reasoning, let me first say that we here at GOI do not, and have never believed in full out predictions. Although we enjoy to say what our predictions are and you the fans seem to enjoy them, don't believe in them any more than you can throw them. (NOTE: We here at GOI do not endorse throwing your computer). But now, my reasoning that you can pick apart for various of reasons- the main one being is that you're a hater- for why I think the Chargers will win the Superbowl.

Were you aware that the Chargers were first in defense and offense last year? If you were not it's a fact you'll here often whenever you here the mainstream media (i.e. ESPN) talk about the Chargers. Even being #1 the main reason the Chargers missed the playoffs was because of their sub-par special teams. Any book you've ever read from smart people who know football (Some really good ones are The Hidden Game of Football and The Blueprint) will tell you how important special teams are and hopefully the Chargers organization should also know how important it is considering that was the main reason they did not even win their division.

Now granted, the way people rank the Chargers #1 in offense and defense was by yards and not points scored / allowed. But my counter to that is 1) if you can move the ball / prevent your opponent from moving the ball then you're in great shape 2) the Chargers were #2 last year in points scored per game 3) the Chargers were 11th in points allowed per game. While not #1 in both offense and defense that is still really damn good.

I think the Chargers will still have a good offense and defense in 2011, but let me address their special team- their bane of existence from last season. First, NFL's new kickoff rules will help prevent any sort of kick returns which really helps the Chargers because teams will score less on Chargers than they have from last season. Next, special teams is the easiest thing to fix. It is not like the offense or defense where you need to draft lineman and implement schemes. A team's special team consists of back up players anyways- guys who never start no matter what. Third, the Chargers have realized they needed to make some change and that is why they have hired a new special teams coach who realizes the Chargers special team sucks and is working to improve it.

Another problem the Chargers had last year, besides their special teams, was that they had a bad takeaway/giveaway ratio last season. This is also easy fixable and not predictive from season to season.

Next let's move on to their offense. I think the Chargers will have the best offense in football next year. It is no secret that I have a man crush on Philip Rivers. I was down on him in fantasy football last year because he didn't have any receivers to throw to. And then those no-nothing receivers got hurt and then he absolutely had no receivers to throw to him. Sam Bradford was looking at the Chargers receiving corps and laughed at how bad they were. But what did Rivers do? He stepped up his game and became one of the best quarterbacks in the game. In fact, in November, I thought Rivers was the runner up to be NFL MVP. Now this year, Rivers will have top 10 receiver Vincent Jackson for the entire year and hopefully a full year of Malcolm Floyd (I'm not going to predict anyone besides Frank Gore and Reggie Bush to be injured in 2011).

I don't live at the alter of the theory that you need to an elite quarterback to win a Superbowl. While it certainly helps (see: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees) there have been some great quarterbacks who have never won one (Dan Marino) and some mediocre and bad quarterbacks who have won one (Eli Manning, Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer). With that being said, Philip Rivers is an elite quarterback. He will win at least one Superbowl and I believe his time will come this year.

While I think this offense will be better than the defense, the team still took steps to help improve its defense like drafting DT Corey Luiget, signing LB Takeo Spikes and another year with some young guys like LB Larry English, CB Antoine Cason, and LB James Holt.

One point I have heard against the Chargers winning the Superbowl is that Norv Turner tends to lose in the playoffs and that is why, no matter how good the Chargers are, they will never win it. My retort to that is 1) That is a terrible reason and has no predictive value for the future 2) The real coach you are thinking about is Turner's predecessor Marty Schottenheimer 3) In 2007 the Chargers won 2 playoffs games and lost in the AFC Championship Game, in 2008 the Charges beat the Colts in a playoff game, in 2009 the Chargers had a first round bye but did lose their playoff game that they played. 4) That comment was retarded.

I like the Chargers this year to come out of the AFC. I understand the Patriots won 14 games last season and still have a better team than they did last season and that the Colts and Jets are still very good teams, but I am predicting San Diego to win it all. I'm sure I'll be wrong, but this is my point and I'm sticking to it.