San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Next thing Anthony Lynn could lose is his job leading Chargers
Sez Me …
As we stagger about this mortal coil all electioned-out, we find there are leaf blowers, whistleblowers (who have become quite popular in this century), and lead blowers.
Anthony Lynn falls heavily into the latter category, which should be intolerable (unless you work for yourself, and Anthony does not).
The head coach of The NFL Team That Used To Be Here — you know, the Judases, L.A. Lodgers, Backup Singers — is the world champion lead blower among all those who preceded him. He is the greatest who ever lived.
Not a good title to have.
I hold no allegiance to Lynn. I’ve heard he’s a nice guy. I’ve met him once, at a friend’s funeral. Most people are nice at funerals. He was nice.
Maybe it’s not nice to say his job is in jeopardy. It has to be.
I’ve been doing this a while, and I’ve never called for a firing (and I’ve had good cause). It’s not my job. But I will say Lynn’s pink slip has to be showing, and if Fredo Spanos & Sons do let him go I won’t be surprised — or say it’s unwarranted.
True, COVID has taken football’s jersey and turned it inside out. And this team has had an inordinate amount of injuries to important players. But everyone’s dealing with the virus and injuries.
What’s happened to Lynn and his J’s through seven games would be unthinkable if it were not for Chargering at the highest level.
The team is 2-5, heading into today’s “home game” vs. the Raiders. One win was the opener in Cincinnati, where the Bengals’ kicker cramped-up on a probable chip shot that would have sent the game into OT. The other came against Jacksonville, where they blew a big lead and got it back against a bad team.
The others, they didn’t get back. Last Sunday, after 45 minutes of total domination, they squandered a 21-point advantage in Denver.
Lynn is the first coach in the 100-year history of the NFL to blow 16-point leads in four straight games.
This is unthinkable. It doesn’t happen in the NFL. And Lynn had a direct hand in losses to the Chiefs, Bucs and Saints, in which he went fetal position and failed to recognize he was up against two Hall of Fame quarterbacks and another who is but a few miles from Canton.
Although Lynn balked on making rookie QB Justin Herbert the permanent starter, he changed his mind (thinking he had his mind changed for him) when he realized how good the kid is.
But, despite Herbert’s excellence, they’ve won one game with him. And, even depleted, good players remain on this team.
The fall guy may be coordinator Gus Bradley, whose defense has wasted those leads. But Gus is not the buck stop.
And, please, don’t make this a white/ black thing. It’s a win/lose thing, which is why they play. The AFC West is not a potent potable, yet Lynn hasn’t won a division game since Dec. 30, 2018.
But they keep games close! They’ve scored six fewer points than they’ve allowed!
Losers lose close games.
Fredo and Lynn couldn’t gather fan support after they made the playoffs and even won a game. Firing Lynn and trying to make a splash with a name coach will not turn the Jack Nicholsons into rabid Lodgers fans.
But, as with his leads, Lynn sure seems to have blown this job . ...
The Chargering Way to Make Things Worse: The Judases trade corner
Desmond King, All-pro just two seasons ago, for Tennessee’s 2021 sixth-round pick. Sixes are lucky to make rosters.
Can’t imagine a six being a better player than King. …
One of Twitter’s finest, Eric Stangel: “If you were allowed to stop the count before it was over, my Chargers would be 6-1.” …
Raidering: Son of Al calls heavy fine on careless Raiders for violation of COVID protocols “Draconian.” No, but they may have gotten off completely if one of their players was pulled from a game after testing positive and then came back and mingled with his teammates. …
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San Jose State put SDSU on the national map in 1966. Friday night, at least for now, the Spartans pulled the Aztecs off of it. …
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ESPN had its Gold Glove show on election night. It would have run the ESPYS on Dec. 7, 1941 . ...
I’ve yet to see one college back worthy of a first-round pick. …
As a survivor, Robinson Crusoe had nothing on Clay Helton .…
But Kedon Slovis is a No. 1 overall. …
Jim Harbaugh. Still hasn’t won anything . ...
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Know what kind of shame it is when the great majority of Americans can’t watch “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”? Damn. …
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Our voting system is Chargering when it should be Steelering . ...
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Can’t want to see how many students ride the new trolley line to UCSD. …
Update on U.S. firing leaders: 1. ESPN. 2. White House . ...
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Thinking people wouldn’t mind standing in long lines to vote if they knew there was a Black Friday sale on TVS inside. …
The Cowboys still have six scheduled national TV games. Only worth watching in Oregon, which has decriminalized small amounts of heroin and cocaine . ...
Gov. Newsom: Purple is the wrong color on us. This thing is wrong, too rigid. It’s unfair. …
I’m kind of sure I’ve heard blueberries can improve one’s memory. …
Maybe we’d see celebrations such as this at the end of a war — if our wars ever ended.
Time is the greatest thief.