The Purple were 4 of 11 on third downs yesterday.  The third down story reflects the story of the entire game. For the most part the Vikes had manageable third downs in the first half: 3 & 6, 3 & 5. By and large our beloved Purple did not put themselves into 3^rd and long in the first half. The second half was the complete opposite. They rarely were in third and manageable. We would all agree they have to convert the manageable third downs.

Because the Purple were not able to convert they were obviously putting the Bolts offense on the field. And when on the field the Chargers chewed up clock. Ironically, I think that is the approach the Vikes would like to employ. I think the Purple would like to chew the clock with the running game and keep opposing offenses off the field. But the Bolts pulled the switch a roo. They were the ones controlling the clock yesterday.

The Vikes had the ball for a total of less than 8 minutes in the ENTIRE second half yesterday. 8 minutes total.

Musgrave came under much criticism for his playcalling yesterday with what seemingly looked like: run, run, pass, punt. It certainly seemed like the Purple could run on the Bolts D. The Vikes did rush for 6.1 per. Yet the offense seemed disjointed and could not get into any rhythm. The offense seemed out of sorts the entire afternoon. Then when we needed som Mo’; Webb came in and the out of rhythm nation that is the Minnesota offense sputtered into a 3 and out. It begged the question whether Webb coming in at that point was scripted or a gut call?

Regardless, your beloved head football coach nailed it. The second half Vikes were not the same as the first half Vikes. We call that inconsistency. We were abysmal on third down and need to convert and execute when called upon. I’m looking at you BB. That said, we need to put our beloved Purple into successful positions. I’m looking at you Bill Musgrave.

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The defense looked better than most anticipated it would. D Coordinator Pagac put a lot of pressure on his linebackers and corners today and for the most part they held up. The Vikings got good pressure on Rivers for most of the afternoon but they could never quite get to Mr. Rivers. I have to think that will change when Kevin Williams returns to the starting 11.

The Chargers touted the #1 offense and #1 defense from a year ago. The Vikings work in progress offense struggled to find any rhythm against the Bolts’ D. AD ran like the 100 million dollar man and against a top defensive unit.  Musgrave did not commit to running much play action and then again he didn’t seemingly commit to much of anything on offense. The starting 11 on O held the ball for only 22 minutes and some change.

The good news is the defense looks like an NFL D that will only get better when 93 returns. The offense spent most of the time, anemic as it was, looking for an identity. Which is surprising given that you have 28 in the backfield. Beyond that, I told you that you could put some jack down on the Vikes to cover and they did.

We will continue to break this down through the week so check back as your favorite TVA writers react.

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1. It seems like everyone is down on Ryan Mathews and huge on Tolbert. Can we expect Tolbert to carry most of the Bolts running game this season?
Ryan Mathews will be the main back for the Bolt offense. He had a down year, but he can hit the home run while Tolbert is more of a grinder and someone that will pound the ball up the middle of the defense. If anything, Tolbert will be the vulture near the goal line and will be used in 3rd down situations until Mathews can learn how to block for his quarterback.

2. Is this Vincent jackson’s last year in San Diego?
I doubt it. I think we can franchise tag him one more time after this season. It is basically a year-by-year approach we are taking with his contract. We want to make sure that he is on good behavior before we commit that type of money to him. He is one of the best and deserves a long-term deal and all the fans hope that it is here in San Diego.

3. It seemed like for the longest time the chargers were known for their defense. Now it seems the hype is about their offense.           How good is the 2011 bolts d? Is it underrated in the media?
There are some good pieces on the defense, but the run defense was sketchy during the preseason and it was sketchy last season against some big play backs. Players like Jamaal Charles, Steven Jackson and Michael Bush rushed the ball down our throats. Can you tell I am excited to face AP?

4. On almost every list Qualcomm stadium ranks dead last. Is there any talk at all of new digs being built?
There have been talks about this for years and years and years. Still waiting and hopefully something happens for the city of San Diego. It looks doubtful at best and Los Angeles is trying to woo our team up that way. If Los Angeles thinks that they will get all the fan base up that way, they must be smoking something!

5. Lemme throw some numbers out. 30 carries. 296 yds 3 TDs. November 4,2007. Tell me how you feel.
Can I mention Antonio Cromartie’s return of 109 1/2 yards? That was one of the most impressive performances I have ever witnessed and I could not believe what was happening. AP is a BEAST and we couldn’t tackle anything that day. Hopefully things are different this meeting.

Bonus: are you ready for the buzz saw that is the Minnesota Vikings?
I am happy that this is the REAL thing now!! Tired of those preseason games and ready to see the REAL action going. We should be good to go! Philip Rivers and the offense will be putting up a ton of points. It will be up to AP and your running offense to keep the ball out of his hands!

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