San Diego Sports

Turner: Chargers capable of doing better than

By Sports Ticker
Posted on Mon, Oct 5th, 2009
Last updated Mon, Oct 5th, 2009

By BERNIE WILSON

AP Sports Writer

SAN DIEGO(AP) -- After his San Diego Chargers were dominated by the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, coach Norv Turner can't simply point his finger at one thing that went wrong.

Instead, he'll spend the bye week trying to solve multiple problems with a team that lost 38-28 and is already two games behind the surprising Denver Broncos in the AFC West.

"We're coming out of a game we did not play at the level we want to play," Turner said Monday. "To me, it's a team problem, and we have to address it as a team."

Falling behind 28-0 and allowing 497 total yards might suggest that the Chargers were manhandled.

"I would not use that word," Turner said. "I don't think that's fair in terms of, I can take plays where one of the Steelers players was blocked and put on his back, and take plays where one of our guys was. We did not handle some situations very well, and manhandle makes it into something physical. And as many of our problems were mental as they were physical."

At the very least, the Chargers probably hope they don't see the Steelers - especially at Heinz Field - for a long time. This was the third time since last season that the Bolts lost at Pittsburgh, including a playoff loss in which they were also exposed by the more physical Steelers.

"We did not play at the level we need to play to go into Pittsburgh and give ourselves a chance to win that game," Turner said.

Linebacker Kevin Burnett was a little more blunt.

"They were a desperate football team so they were going to do what it took to win the game, period," Burnett said, referring to Pittsburgh's 1-2 record coming in. "I think the stats speak for themselves. They ran for about 400 yards on offense. We couldn't stop them. They couldn't be stopped."

Especially backup running back Rashard Mendenhall, who ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns while subbing for the injured Willie Parker.

The week before, Mendenhall so angered coach Mike Tomlin with his inability to run plays correctly during practice that he didn't get a single carry in a loss at Cincinnati.

"We've just got to collectively, from man to man, player to player, offense, defense, special teams, we have to play better," Burnett said. "That's the only thing you can say. Starting with me, starting with the guys next to me, we all have to play better."

With the defense getting run over, the Chargers never got a chance to get their running game going. The Chargers ran only eight times for 16 yards. LaDainian Tomlinson returned from a two-game absence because of a sprained ankle, carrying seven times for 15 yards.

San Diego (2-2), trying to win its fourth straight AFC West title, is two games behind the Broncos, who lead the division at 4-0.

After getting a week off, the Chargers will host Denver on Oct. 19.

The Chargers got off to a slow start last year, too, dropping to 4-8. A four-game winning streak at the end of the season, coupled with Denver's three-game losing streak, handed the division title to the Bolts.

The Chargers talked about a fast start this season and haven't been able to deliver.

"I expected us to play better than we did," Turner said. "The bye comes at a good time, and it's going to give us an opportunity to regroup, look at the things we didn't do as well as we need to do and fix them."

More by this author.

Subscribe to Sports

 · 

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article.

(1)sandiego.com, Inc. invites comments in which readers can respond freely and anonymously if they wish. Comments submitted by readers will be rejected that are deemed by the editors to be damaging to the future of this web site.
(2)Comparison is made from the IP Address identity of the computer placing the posts. Some networks share these addresses between users.