Om Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Originally wrote this for the blog but opted against including it. Damn thing was long enough already. Figure this is a subject Skins fans who lived through the Norvous Years might get a kick out of tracking this year, though, given that our franchise and this decent but star-struck man will be tied together in the pages of NFL history forever. At any rate, I'm planning to track our former boy all year, so please feel free to participate. If this turns into anything I'll probably move the series to Around the NFL in future weeks. And if it simply dies quietly on the vine right here, so be it. It would seem appropriate somehow. * The Turner Zone - Week 1 I know it’s preseason and all, but I couldn’t keep from tuning in as Norv Turner--the NFL’s answer to salt spilled on a black cat--took to the sidelines for this debut as head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Coming off a 14-2 season, playing at home before an adoring, expectant sellout crowd under a sparkling southern California sky, Norv wasted little time introducing his unique aura to Charger football. On the game’s opening drive, San Diego grabbed a nice interception off Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck, returning it deep into Seahawk territory and igniting the crowd…..only to have it nullified by an iffy holding call. The Seahawks then proceeded methodically down the field and scored. On their first drive, the Chargers moved smartly from their own 24 to an apparent first down at the Seattle 31…..but got flagged for holding on the play that got them there, pushing them back to the 41. On the next play they were called for a false start. Then, they gave up a sack that put them in 3rd and 17. They got 16 of them back (on a sweet catch-and-run by my new favorite non-Redskin, 5’ 6” running back D. Sproles, in the SD mini-back tradition of Lionel “Little Train” James)…..but, predictably, got stuffed on 4th and 1. Fast forward to the end of the game. Leading by two with seven minutes to go, the Charger defense stopped Seattle at the Charger 23, and got huge a break when J. Brown’s 41-yard FT attempt went wide left. Except that San Diego was flagged for 12 men on the field…..and Brown calmly drove the mulligan down the center. Seattle takes the lead. Getting the ball back with less than 2 minutes to go and now down by 8, San Diego puts together a decent two-minute drill, and moves smartly from their own 28 to the Seahawks 26. With 13 seconds left and time for at a couple shot into the end zone, on 3rd and two the QB lobs a duck down the deep middle, which is easily picked off at the Seattle 6. Game over. San Diego runs 15 more offensive plays than Seattle, tops them in total yards and rushing yards, breaks even on passing yards, dominates time of possession, but gets penalized eight times to Seattle’s two, gets sacked five times to Seattle’s one…..and, in the end, loses. Welcome to the Turner Zone, children of the sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raub Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I warned Raiders Nation a few years ago, and feel sorry for Chargers fans now. Prepare to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.....over and over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 It wasn't more then two minutes ago, I posted a message to a Raiders fan about ol Norvitis. :puke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 :laugh:... so true, so true I heard someone (announcer on NFL network? can't remember) say that Turner has been given keys to a Ferrari. It just struck me as the perfect analogy to describe the situation... I see it ending very similarly to how Ferris Bueller's Day Off did. And on another note... I think time will prove that San Diego, despite popular opinion 2-3 years ago, has the worst GM in professional football. Cutting Drew Brees, firing Schotty, and hiring Turner... all within a short time. I'm beginning to think he's a Raiders fan or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Wow, that brought back a horrible nightmare known as 1994-2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEANDWARF Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Almost feel sorry for Chargers fans now that they have to put with this. Will L.T. numbers go down now that Nurv in charge? Remains to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkowi Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 God, that is all so sinisterly familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM916 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I'm a little worried that with a 14-2 team behind him, Norv just might win ten games and make the playoffs. I recently did a little analysis of recent Redskin coaches and one thing I noticed about Norv is that with enough talent on the roster, he can almost get it done. If Rivers gets hurt, cut, and replaced by Jeff George shortly before winning the super bowl elsewhere, then we will know the truth about their GM. http://www.extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206709&page=3 Edit: Heh, I just noticed that I got a new avatar... Ride them Dirtbags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isifhan Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I see it ending very similarly to how Ferris Bueller's Day Off did. Perhaps he can drive the team backwards to take the losses off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Touchdown Redskins Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 It wasn't more then two minutes ago, I posted a message to a Raiders fan about ol Norvitis.:puke: Oh no, your Norv is inflamed! Sorry, couldn't help it. Seriously, though, the statistics are classic Norv. You would think that teams would get it by now, and that it's probably better to take a chance on a young assistant than get stuck with Norv-induced mediocrity for the next couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirtyfive2seven Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I wonder when the Chargers will start having kicker problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OriginalWhizzinator Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Prepare to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.....over and over and over. The Bolts have already done that countless times in the past few years thanks to another ex-skin coach and his comically unfortunate strategy of "martyball". Iv'e caught most of the games being out here in SD, and really dont know if Norv will be able to live up (or down, as it were) to the choking clinic that marty put on out here. It was really something to behold, and spawned a new phrase: Martyocracy. Anyway, it should be entertaining, and im interested in following this series OM. I'll try to get a few of my charger buddies on here to get their take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM916 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I wish Dallas had taken him back, we were so close. It's more fun to see them go 9-7 and miss the boat than 5-11 under coach jerrah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bschurm Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I wrote about this in a thread when the decision was made that Turner would be the head coach. He has no discipline and it will tell in their play. Now I don't want to sound like a number of our members with their cries of doom after just one pre-season game and say that San Diego's sky is falling, but it just seems like the same old thing we in the Nation's Capitol remember so vividly. I thought they had a great GM in San Diego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mi6 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Wow, that brought back a horrible nightmare known as 1994-2000 Norv Turner was a good offensive coordinator ... But, I don't think he is head coach material. :logo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief skin Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Norv does not have what it takes to be a head coach. The GM in san diego has been out in the sun to long, I will enjoy watching the Chargers stumble and bumble through a Norv season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loxley Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Norv-watch, gotta love that idea. It will provide some light-hearted and comical distraction to the NFC battlegrounds come September. Perhaps this "experiment" will finally prove to be the nail in his "head coach" coffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 what would be the most classic norv game w/ the 'skins? i vote for the 2000 game in arizona. more than twice as many first downs. over 400 yds of offense, allowed only 178. no punts. that's right, the 'skins didn't punt once. 77 plays to 44 plays for the cards. 37:26 to 22:34 edge in T.O.P. and we lost. http://www.jt-sw.com/football/boxes/index.nsf/Games/2000-10-was-arz i flew across the country to see that game. 4th row, 35 yard line behind the 'skins bench, 35 dollars. :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 what would be the most classic norv game w/ the 'skins?i vote for the 2000 game in arizona. more than twice as many first downs. over 400 yds of offense, allowed only 178. no punts. that's right, the 'skins didn't punt once. 77 plays to 44 plays for the cards. 37:26 to 22:34 edge in T.O.P. and we lost. http://www.jt-sw.com/football/boxes/index.nsf/Games/2000-10-was-arz i flew across the country to see that game. 4th row, 35 yard line behind the 'skins bench, 35 dollars. :doh: I remember watching that game from an apartment I was renting at the time. I also remember going to Home Depot to buy a wall-repair kit so I could get my security deposit back later that week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselPwr44 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 "What we do works....." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief skin Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 "What we do works....." Oh Yeah I wonder how many times he will tell the san diego media "what we do works" what he fails to do (and he is use to failure) is finish the statement. What we do works for our opponent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 what would be the most classic norv game w/ the 'skins?i vote for the 2000 game in arizona. That whole season was pathetic. We won 5 in a row against playoff teams, 2 of which were the eventual SB teams, also beat Jax, Philly, and TB, then lost 6 of 8 to go 8-8 for the year. Every bad team beat us and we beat every good team on our schedule except Tennessee, and that SHOULD have been a win. I started wondering back in 1996-1997 why Norv was still there. It just made no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 "What we do works....." Until we play a bad team like the Raiders. I bet the Raiders sweep the Chargers this year. They will at least win 1 of them, guaranteed. The Raiders will be like Dallas and Arizona was for Norv here, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 The Bolts have already done that countless times in the past few years thanks to another ex-skin coach and his comically unfortunate strategy of "martyball". Iv'e caught most of the games being out here in SD, and really dont know if Norv will be able to live up (or down, as it were) to the choking clinic that marty put on out here. It was really something to behold, and spawned a new phrase: Martyocracy. Anyway, it should be entertaining, and im interested in following this series OM. I'll try to get a few of my charger buddies on here to get their take. There you go. Funny thing is, for me it's not about making fun of Norv any more. I actually do kind of like the guy. And it's not about wishing ill on the Chargers--they've been one of just a couple "other" NFL teams I've liked and pulled for all my life. For me it's about the almost surreal circumstances under which Turner's teams find ways to lose games. Not ALL games, of course--part of the equation is that his teams are usually good enough to get TO the big game ... but then find the most heartrending, gutwrenching, mindbending ways to blow them anyone has ever seen, with an almost eerie predictability. Maybe he had an Old World ancestor who failed to carry a wise woman up a mountain like he'd promised and is living a family curse--I don't know. What I do know is that there is something ... different ... about Norv Turner as an NFL head coach, and it fascinates me on some level. Figuring I may not be alone in that feeling among Redskins fans, I think it could be interesting to track this season in real time. The script is written. Norv Turner has been handed a made-to-order Super Bowl contender. No questions about talent this time. No questions about a "real GM." No questions about a "meddling owner." Just Norv and his Destiny, all laid out like a huge dinner banquet. Its like the universe is intent on spreading jalapeno relish on milquetoast, setting up a booth in the middle of Mall America and conducting a huge blindfold taste-test experiment with cameras rolling. I'm cool with that. I've survived (mostly) the Turner Zone already. I'm pre-disastered. And I don't do blindfolds except in the bedr----well, never mind. Anyway, point is we've got front row seats. Pass the popcorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfan Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Norv Turner was a good offensive coordinator ... But, I don't think he is head coach material. :logo: A.J. Smith, the GM at San Diego, knows what he's doing. It's easier to coach the defense thus very good defensive coaches are easier to find than very good offensive coaches. Smith has used the head coaching job as a prize to draw the best O coordinator fit available for his team away from a competitor. That's smart in my opinion. Norv's offense is similar to Cam Cameron's, so there is continuity in scheme. A.J. Smith isn't Charlie Casserly. He has more talent and more power than Charlie. And, you can bet your ass that he will make the final decision on all roster moves, which will nullify Norv's principal weakness as a head coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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