If Marty Schottenheimer could return as San Diego Chargers coach for one game, this is it. Schottenheimer made a career of blasting the Raiders. He won 27 of 34 games against them.
"No, no," Schottenheimer said, chuckling. "Those days are past."
But the present state of the Chargers is hard-luck, underachieving and full of confusion with a 4-8 record.
"Not for the life of me can I figure out what is going on," Schottenheimer said of the Chargers, the team he coached to a 14-2 record before being fired after the 2006 season, a team that achieved an 11-5 record and AFC Championship Game appearance in coach Norv Turner’s first year of replacing Schottenheimer only to spiral into futility this season.
Meeting Oakland Thursday night in San Diego (NFL Network, 8 p.m. ET) gives the Chargers a chance to begin a final, four-game winning streak, finish 8-8 and hope the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos (7-5) collapse.
"I’ve seen most of their games," Schottenheimer said of the Chargers. "Honestly, I feel bad for some of those guys. LaDainian Tomlinson is taking so much of the blame. I don’t like that. This is a team that has a heavy spotlight on them, including tonight. And when it is on you like that, you have to perform. And when you don’t, you are subject to all of the second-guessing in the world. I expect them to beat the Raiders at home. Of course, I expected them to beat Atlanta at home last week."
The Chargers are 1-5 in their last six games. They own a minus-2 turnover differential. They rank 26th in rushing (93.4 yards per game). Their 23 sacks on defense rank 18th in the league and trail Pittsburgh’s league-most by 19. They rank 31st in pass defense (260.6 yards per game). Only once this season in 12 games has a Chargers wide receiver led all pass catchers in receiving yards.
The loss of Shawne Merriman
"When I coached Derrick Thomas in Kansas City," said Schottenheimer, "I learned that it wasn't so much his sacks made, but the fact that he had two people blocking him on nearly every play. That softens things up for everyone else. Heck, everyone has injuries. Look at the Giants. It can’t be that huge of an excuse for the Chargers. It’s a factor, but there’s something else."
The season's start
The Chargers opened with a 26-24 loss at home against Carolina and then went to Denver and lost 39-38 in a game where an official’s late call on a Jay Cutler fumble/passing play proved incorrect and costly.
"They lost those early tough games and sometimes that gives you the mindset of 'Oops, here we go again,'" Schottenheimer said. "Every time something goes wrong, they look like they think backward."
LT and the running game
"I know that Norv likes to run the ball," Schottenheimer said. "He is getting criticized for not running it enough, but Norv’s personality is to run it and control the line of scrimmage."
The running game, however, has not clicked for the Chargers and league personnel executives say the loss of two players in the offseason immensely hurt San Diego's ground game.
"Michael Turner was a breath of fresh air for that running game and for LT and since he’s gone off to Atlanta, they miss that," a current NFL general manager said. "But the bigger loss to me is fullback Lorenzo Neal to Baltimore. The way he blocked for LT was crucial. He’s a big-league blocker and they had worked together for awhile. There was confidence in each other there. They knew each other. They knew if one did this, the other did that and played off it. Things like that, people underestimate."
Maturity/Discipline
One NFL personnel executive said: "They looked silly, like the old University of Miami teams. You could tell with that kind of attitude that given adversity, that team would likely go south. I didn’t see a lot of character there or class. I do not think that would have happened with Marty Schottenheimer as coach."
Player talent/attitudes
It has been a given that the Chargers are one of the most talented teams in the league. But several coaches and general managers who have battled them this year said that assessment is overblown.
"A lot of those players over there believe they are really, really good – they aren’t," one general manager said. "Not true at all."
And a Chargers assistant coach added: "There is so much money involved with today’s NFL players. A lot of self-motivated players make it work. But money and contract status motivates some players differently. When you get paid this kind of money to do your job, the motivation has to come from you first. Some of them know they can’t be immediately replaced due to cap hits. The whole thing ties together. It’s disappointing sometimes the lack of motivation I see."
Thus, a portion of the ingredients that make the Chargers 4-8.
"When it comes right down to it," said Schottenheimer, "they need to get this victory."