So where do the Chargers go from here? The Chargers have had no problems getting to the playoffs, winning the AFC West. Performing in the playoffs is another matter.And the Chargers are no better off to where they were when they fired Marty Schotteheimer in the wake of another embarrassing playoff loss to an inferior oppenent.
Chargers G.M. A.J. Smith will start looking for replacement coaches if he is true to his word. Well, if Smith does not get the boot, either.
Sure, you can reason that Turner did not miss three field goals. But Marty did not fumble an interception against the Patriots in 2006, either.
Schottenheimer was fired because he could not win the big game. Turner is proving to be just another chip off the old block.
And fitting that the loss came against Rex Ryan and Brian Schottenheimer. The coach they could have hired, and the son of the coach they should not have fired.
The problem with the Chargers is similar to the problem that USC had under Pete Carroll. These loose, player-friendly coaches are good when things are going well. But they are doomed the moment that they face a disciplined, well-coached football team. Look no further than all of the penalties that the Chargers racked up. False-start penalties at home? Blowing two time outs in the first half, which could have set up another score before the intermission. And how many unsportsmanlike conduct penalties where there?
Turner does not have a style that will win in the NFL. (Thankfully, we will not have to win in a world where Turner is considered a good coach.) The Chargers look like the Barry Switzer coached Cowboys.
Turner should be fired, but he will not be. The Chargers have about one more season of glory before those coordinators in Kansas City turn that program around. And what is really sad is that this was likely LaDainian Tomlinson's last game with the Chargers.
Well that, and the Colts are going to waltz to another Super Bowl because they were able to avoid the Chargers. Just like 2006.
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