Back Home for Cincinnati

The Chargers returned home from a successful journey to Jerry’s playhouse formally known as Cowboys Stadium and were all very excited about their performance as a team. Head Coach Norv Turner received the game ball from quarterback Philip Rivers as well as the entire team following the victory on Sunday and the locker room went ballistic with cheers for the Bolts leader. Of the gesture, Rivers commented: “He doesn’t care one bit about getting recognition, but he certainly deserves a ton of credit for where we’re at. I know it was special for him to come to Dallas. He’s always the one giving out game balls so I thought I’d give him one this time for the great job he’s done.” Rivers comments are absolutely authentic concerning Turner as just two short months ago many in San Diego were skeptical of whether or not he would be employed by this point in the season. After this phenomenal stretch as the Bolts look to finish off the season on a positive note, Turner is definitely deserving of a contract extension rather than a pink slip. In combination with his accomplished body of work as the head man for the Chargers, Turner also boasts a sterling December record with the team of 11-0 since he took over the reigns in 2007. The ability to finish out a season strong when all of the chips are down is much more important than the struggles in the months of September and early October that the Bolts have dealt with during his tenure.

Now with eight straight wins in their pockets heading into this Sunday’s contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bolts will have the opportunity to test their skills against an elite opponent within their own conference for the last time before the records are set back to 0-0. When the schedules were released back in mid-April, no one can honestly say that they put a huge circle around the week 15 Bengals-Chargers tilt this upcoming weekend, but that’s why they play the games. The Chargers were expected to be in this position as the season begins to grind to a halt, but the Bengals on the other hand were expected to be middle of the pack at best in the AFC. Now that week 15 has arrived, the game against Cincy this week can potentially seal up the second playoff seed for the Bolts and a first round bye. That could prove to be quite beneficial as some ailing players will get the extra rest necessary to be one hundred percent for January. With several key players still hurting from lingering injuries such as Eric Weddle still struggling with a knee and Nick Hardwick who has been battling an ankle since week one, the Bolts can use all of the down time that they can get heading into the postseason.

As for the game itself, these two teams are near polar opposites on the offensive side of the ball with the Chargers being a primarily aerial attack while the Bengals like to grind it out on the ground. That’s not to say that neither team likes to exercise their statistically weaker portion on offense as the Chargers still have a future Hall of Fame running back in LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield to keep opposing defenses honest while the Bengals feature Chad Ochocinco who despite his craziness and potential for combustion can be considered a future candidate for Hall of Fame status himself. San Diego knows that for Cincinnati, their bread has been buttered by the running game this year and of that ground attack, Chargers linebacker Stephen Cooper said: “It is real big. We know Cincinnati is playing at a high level. But as a defense we know we need to go out there and stop the run. Cedric Benson is one of the better backs in the league. We’ll go out and play fast, physical and make plays.”

Once considered the weakest unit of this Chargers team, the defense may still give up a bit more statistically than they would like to at times, but the only stat that matters at the end of the day is the scoreboard. The Bolts have been working the bend but don’t break philosophy to perfection as evidenced by their goal line stand on Sunday in Dallas stuffing the Cowboys on three successive run plays from the one yard line. Long time Chargers veteran defensive lineman Jacques Cesaire summed things up best when he said: “Nobody cares about the accolades, no one cares about who gets the stats. We are just going out and playing football and we are all banding together.” On both sides of the ball that has certainly been applicable this year. On offense, the Bolts have just taken what the defense gives them and gone with it until it gets stopped before they rethink their approach.

On Cesaire’s unit in particular, the defensive line has been devastated by injuries with Ogemdi Nwagbuo being the latest added to the list of casualties as he was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday. The defensive line as a unit has gelled together quite nicely and steadily improved its play even with the shuffling of personnel. Ron Rivera deserves a large amount of credit for his schemes to showcase the defense’s strengths rather than allow its weaknesses to be exploited. His masterful work since the Chargers customary slow 2-3 start out of the gates has allowed a stingy 15.3 points per game over the course of the team’s eight game winning streak. With the weekly offensive output that the Bolts have enjoyed from Philip Rivers and company, 15.3 points per game allowed is phenomenal defense.

On a sorrowful note, Cincinnati has lost one of its players to a tragic accident as this morning Chris Henry was pronounced dead at the age of 26. Henry was on injured reserve with the team after fracturing his arm over a month ago and was involved in an apparent domestic dispute with his fiancé. She was driving away from Henry and he climbed into the back of the truck from which he would fall out of the back and suffer severe head injuries that ultimately cost him his life. Life is as always much more important than football and it is going to be a difficult week for the Bengals having to cope with this tragedy. The Bengals and of course the entire National Football League have suffered a great loss as Chirs Henry loses his life at the age of 26. This will certainly bring an element of unexpected emotion to the game on Sunday just as the Bengals dealt with earlier in the year when defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife Vikki died unexpectedly before the team had to play in Baltimore against the Ravens week 5 this season.

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco, Chris Henry, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Eric Weddle, Jacques Cesaire, LaDainian Tomlinson, Mike Zimmer, Nick Hardwick, Norv Turner, Ogemdi Nwagbuo, Philip Rivers, Ron Rivera, Stephen Cooper, Vikki Zimmer