Chargers @ Vikings Preseason Game Thread

[Delaqure]

I just finished watching the first half of the Chargers game. From reading some of the responses on this board I fully expected a blow out domination by the chargers. (I did my best to keep from knowing the score.) What I saw was excellent defense by our first team D. In reading the posts I thought the chargers were marching up and down the field and scoring points willy nilly. Ummm..... Didn't see that. I saw sacks, close interceptions (hoping soon close turns to real picks) and great 3rd down defense. I think we held them to what, 100 yards and 2.8 yards per rush? Pretty good D if you ask me.

I thought Ponder looked ok! He made some really good throws and had some balls dropped that should have been caught. He didn't set the world on fire at 9 of 16 and a pick, but he is a rookie for crying out loud. You have to expect that. Had those other balls been caught he would have been 11-16. Not too shabby. What you look for is overall improvment. He still needs some work, but really he's done very well this preseason. His deep ball is looking better (shows improvement), he is reading defenses better (shows improvement). I will be really interested in watching as the season progresses. If his receivers and line stays healthy I see him having a good year and improving every week.

We as a team have improved a lot over last year. I'm still a bit concerned over parts of our O line, but still we've improved. Baby steps gentlemen. Baby steps. Give the young ones a chance.

[John_Viveiros]

I just finished watching the first half of the Chargers game. From reading some of the responses on this board I fully expected a blow out domination by the chargers. (I did my best to keep from knowing the score.) What I saw was excellent defense by our first team D. In reading the posts I thought the chargers were marching up and down the field and scoring points willy nilly. Ummm..... Didn't see that. I saw sacks, close interceptions (hoping soon close turns to real picks) and great 3rd down defense. I think we held them to what, 100 yards and 2.8 yards per rush? Pretty good D if you ask me.

I thought Ponder looked ok! He made some really good throws and had some balls dropped that should have been caught. He didn't set the world on fire at 9 of 16 and a pick, but he is a rookie for crying out loud. You have to expect that. Had those other balls been caught he would have been 11-16. Not too shabby. What you look for is overall improvment. He still needs some work, but really he's done very well this preseason. His deep ball is looking better (shows improvement), he is reading defenses better (shows improvement). I will be really interested in watching as the season progresses. If his receivers and line stays healthy I see him having a good year and improving every week.

We as a team have improved a lot over last year. I'm still a bit concerned over parts of our O line, but still we've improved. Baby steps gentlemen. Baby steps. Give the young ones a chance.

I'll have whatever you are drinking!

Seriously, I wish I was as optimistic. I want to believe. I really do. But you are correct that our impressions were colored by out expectations of a blowout against an undermanned squad.

[Delaqure]

I fully expect this year will be one of those years where we look really good one week and a lot worse the next. I think that's rather typical growing pains for a younger squad. What I will look for is are we playing better at the end of the year than we were at the beginning. Our schedule will be rough at the end and we most likely won't win a lot of those. However a loss at this time is not necessarily indicative of a poor team. What I will be looking for is not the big W but are we hanging in there and improving.j

[Demi]

What I saw was excellent defense by our first team D. In reading the posts I thought the chargers were marching up and down the field and scoring points willy nilly. Ummm..... Didn't see that. I saw sacks, close interceptions (hoping soon close turns to real picks) and great 3rd down defense. I think we held them to what, 100 yards and 2.8 yards per rush? Pretty good D if you ask me.

Which sounds great...until you realize our #1 defense was facing them without their starting quarterback, without their starting half back, among others.

If they were 100%, and actually trying, I'd feel a little better even if it was preseason.

And that after we have to read an article about how this will be the first time the Vikings game planned and worked on setting something up.