The thing is, we all heard this line back in '04... Marty had changed... he has Brees and Tomlinson now, it's a high flying offense, Martyball is dead, yadda yadda. And they still lost in the playoffs. I do think their defense is better now, but I'm interested in seeing what Marty does late in a close game with a 1st year starting QB. He could change, Cowher did it last year, he came out slinging it against the Colts and Broncos. I think it is very possible, but I'm not giving him credit for it until it happens.

I've seen Marty go for it on 4th down several times while just inside the opponent's territory since e's been in SD. He also airs it out much more than he ever did here. I seriously doubt he'll ever depend on a kicker again after the :Lin: experience. And probably more things that I haven't seen. This whole thing reminds me of the argument Milkman and I had over Phil Mickelson ever winning a major. He contended he never would win one "because he never had". Mickelson then promptly won two majors.

People said that two years ago... he had the 3rd ranked offense in football.... and he got in the playoffs and still put it on the foot of a rookie kicker on a wet field.

He was in his third year then and didn't have nearly the powerful team he has now. Sometimes you take chances you don't want to take for reasons such as that. Now, he has an offense he KNOWS can put up points and a defense he KNOWS can shut down other teams. So he isn't forced to take chances like that now. Marty himself said he's always wanted to throw the ball but never had the personnel to do it. He still lacks receivers but I'll bet he fixes that prior to next year. This is his 5th year in SD. It takes that long to build a team especially with free agency like it is. This post is too long but I want to say one more thing then I'll just hide and watch. Everybody knows the odds of a coin flip coming up either heads or tails is 50-50. So if you flip 9 straight heads, what are the odds now of flipping another heads? Yep, still 50-50. The past has nothing to do with the future in that instance. If Marty was making the same mistakes over and over I would tend to go with the "he never will because he never has" crowd. But he isn't. His teams just get better and better. At least they have to this point. You don't win 200 NFL games by being a dumbass.

The problem is that you don't have the correct data set to prove the above statement.

And you won't have it until the playoffs happen.

Marty has showed these regular season stripes before, as recently as 2004. And once again, in the playoffs, he shit his bed.

You simply cannot say Marty has changed until he proves it IN THE PLAYOFFS.

Htis is correct. Marty opened it up a bunch in 2004 only to revert to Martyball in the playoff game against the Jets. I recall watching the game and saying to myself "Marty won't make the same mistakes twice, he'll stay aggressive. Oh my God, he's sitting on the ball content to try a long field goal. He can't be that dumb, can he? Won't he ever learn?"

Marty is Charlie Brown.

postscript: What was even funnier was watching Herm pull a Marty a week later and not learning from it.

Well, I think Kaeding is better now. That is one good thing in their favor. I don't have a problem with putting a game on your kicker's foot. Belichick won a lot games with Vinatieri... but Marty has done it with kickers who were struggling/in bad conditions. The unnamed kicker was kicking horribly before that playoff game against the Colts... then last time, Kaeding was a rookie, and the field was wet and slippery.

I remember feeling like they did, back in the 90s.

1995: Nation is skeptical of Chiefs. Me: "But, but, we're 13-3! We have homefield!"

1997: Nation is skeptical of Chiefs. Me: "But, but, this time is different! Our defense is dominant! And no way we'll choke 13-3 again!"

I learned my lesson.

I understand, Bolt fans. You're excited. But so long as Marty is your coach, the world demands that he prove it when it counts.

Something you want to ignore is that Marty didn't miss those field goals. And he didn't commit THE FUMBLE. The coach can only prepare a team for an event. The players must execute the plan. Even though THE FUMBLE happened years ago, Marty is still a protect the ball nut. Remember Seattle Week when he was here? He would walk around the practice field and knock the ball out of the hands of anyone who was holding one. (I never did know why that was Seattle week). The point is, he learns from his mistakes and addresses the problem. Like my HS basketball coach used to say "Make all the mistakes you want just don't make the same one twice. I think Marty understands that. We could argue about this till he loses but I have never been one to argue intangibles. And I don't want to now. I just believe he has evolved as a coach and I'm just stating why I think so. I'm not Hootie just pulling shit out of my ass. I'd love to know what Marty's points per game(scored) average was during his tenure with us. Then compare that to what he has this year. Unless I'm way off, he's got room to make some mistakes now that he's never had before. The same was true of Mickelson. Yes he failed to win something like 49 straight majors but he kept finishing higher and higher until he broke through. Even the sports writers gave up on him while this went on. Could Marty lose his first playoff game? Sure. Could he win the SB? Sure, at least it is much more likely to happen now than at any time in his past.

So horribly he was kicking, that I was screaming at the TV for them to poll the entire team for any HS place kicking experience, and absent that, let the punter try one.

Only Montana and Marcus changed Marty's playoff expertise.

4rth and goal from the one wasn't an automatic field goal call when you had Marcus.

Yeah, I thought the 95 team was going to the Super Bowl. I was so sure of it. The 97 team, I thought we were good, but I thought it was gonna be a war with Denver... if we survived that, nothing was gonna stop us. Yeah.

All sour grapes Cheffies.....relax
 

I think the Bolts will bring home the bacon.

Your D played excellent rattling Rivers, although 3 of our wides were out: Parker, Floyd and McCardell. These 3 should be ready to play in the PO (thanks to that first round bye). As Madden said last night, "teams are now focusing more on Rivers unlike they used to." Rivers's true worth can be seen in the PO when he dominates in the pass rush. Cam Cameron will have a few surprises for whichever sorry team comes to San Diego...and yes, Marty DOESN'T call the plays anymore!

By the way, San Diego thanks Tamba for "Halitosising." Does SOFT equal 270 rushing yards?

Happy fishing!

LOL.

Nice to see you made it back for your annual stop in at the Planet.

What on earth makes you think Marty is going to let Rivers throw the ball in a playoff game?

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Marty DOESN'T call the plays anymore, Cam Cameron does.

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Chargers are a whole lot of good with what appears to be the right amount of lucky.

More than anything else, however, they are a whole lot different than any team Marty Schottenheimer has ever coached. Or maybe it's just that Schottenheimer is a whole lot different than he has ever been, as a 20-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night showed.

From a fake punt in the first quarter to a long pass in the final minutes of the game, Schottenheimer continued to play fast and loose. Assuming this continues, the Chargers' highlight video for 2006 might be called "Marty Gone Wild."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns