Commissioner Roger
Goodell uttered the three most important words of his career Monday by
pronouncing that “Football is back”. With that simple phrase, everyone from
sports bettors to owners let out a collective sigh of relief as the lockout
came to an end.
Even though it will
take some time for both sides to regain the public, most NFL fans are just happy that
the labor dispute didn’t claim the preseason schedule (except for the Hall of
Fame game) and won’t harm the 16-game regular season which begins on September
8.
Questions Galore
Can the Green Bay Packers
repeat or will a new NFC power emerge? Will the Pittsburgh Steelers return to the big game
or can Tom Brady and the Patriots win one for the Kraft family? In San Diego, fans are still wondering how a
team that had the top ranked offense and the number one defense in the league
didn’t make the playoffs.
Year after year,
the Chargers have been one of the toughest ‘reads’ in the NFL. Every season it
seems the Bolts are considered a shoo-in to at very least win the AFC Western
Division. There have even been occasions where they’ve been favored to win the
conference title and even the Super Bowl. But every year they find a new and
frustrating way to under achieve. They’ve had costly slow starts and painfully bad
finishes, like last year when they lost three of their last four games to finish
out of the postseason picture. The playoffs have seen them lose at home as big
favorites and they’ve come tantalizing close only to fall on the road. There
have been missed postseason field goals (sorry Nate Kaeding) and key players
who couldn’t or wouldn’t play in big games because of injuries (sorry LaDainian
Tomlinson). In other words, no matter how good the talent, the Chargers seem to
find a way to screw it up. That might explain why they’ve only been to one
Super Bowl in franchise history.
Rivers flowing
The fortunes of the
Chargers in 2012 will be tied directly to the success of Phillip Rivers. He
threw for 4,710 yards with 30 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and has gone from
‘trash talker’ to team leader in a few short years. Having Vincent Jackson for
a full season will help, that is if the Chargers decide to sign him. Running
back Ryan Matthews will look to rebound from a disappointing injury plagued
rookie season. The defense is rock solid and will be even better (and younger)
this season.
The San Diego
Chargers opened facilities to its players on Tuesday when the “Bolt” cutters
were used to free the lock and open the gate. The Chargers top priority will be
to sign their draft picks and undrafted rookie free agents. Because of the
lockout there’s a lot of work to get done in a relatively short amount of time.
Getting defensive
San Diego addressed
needs on its defense line by taking Illinois tackle Corey Liuget with the 18th
overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. Liuget, who can play either nose tackle or
defensive end, was a steal for the Chargers who expected to him to be off the
draft board well in advance of their selection.
Clemson defensive
back Marcus Gilchrist and Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton were both second
round selections Receiver Vincent Jackson from San Diego State and DB Shareece
Wright from USC went in Round 3.
It’s becoming clearer
From an NFL betting
perspective, we’ll now be staring into a crystal ball that isn’t nearly as hazy
as it was yesterday at this time. The Chargers are once again seen in a very
positive light by betters and sportsbooks alike. San Diego is a huge -333 NFL odds favorite to
win the AFC West, is 4/1 favorite to take the Conference title and 9-1 to
capture the NFL crown. The Bolts season win total is currently 9.5.
Let the Brett Favre rumors continue. It’s the strongest
sign yet that another NFL season is upon us.