LT tabbed Turner for big series
Star says his backup better at 'pounding it'
By Jay Posner
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 2, 2006
BALTIMORE – Every defeat hurts, but yesterday's 16-13 Chargers loss to the Ravens seemed to affect LaDainian Tomlinson a little bit more than usual.
“Been in too many of these games; it gets old real fast,” the Chargers' star running back said. “No question it's a tough loss. These are the type of losses that wear on you. I don't care what anybody else says, but they wear on you, take something out of you every time.”
Tomlinson's reaction hardly was surprising, considering the Chargers outplayed their hosts at M&T Bank Stadium for nearly three hours. What was unexpected, however, was the revelation that he allowed his backup, Michael Turner, to be in the game with 5½ minutes remaining and the Chargers trying to protect a 13-7 lead.
The drive began at the Chargers' 9-yard line, but two false-start penalties pushed San Diego back to its 2. Lorenzo Neal carried for 1 yard before Turner gained 7 and 2 yards on consecutive plays. The Chargers wound up taking an intentional safety with 3:12 to play, which preceded Baltimore's winning drive.
Tomlinson said he was “fine” physically. But he added the Chargers had discussed that if they were trying to run out the clock in the final four minutes, Turner would be the running back.
“I don't always have to be in there,” said Tomlinson, who finished with 27 carries for 98 yards. “Michael's running style is more 'pound it' and that's what we were planning on doing in that situation was pounding the ball. That's why I said if we're going to pound the ball, let's pound the ball with Michael.”
Many experts regard Tomlinson as the league's best running back, so it was somewhat startling to hear him say someone else might be better suited to run the ball in any situation. When that was mentioned to Tomlinson, he said:
“I'm not a selfish guy. If his style is more conducive to what we're doing out there on the football field, then, hey, let's get a first down and let's run the clock out and win it. Coaches have talked about it before. I kind of escalated the situation.
“ . . . Michael can come in sometime. We can switch it up. Sometimes I'll stay in there. But at that time, I felt like if we need a first down, we're going to pound the football and Michael breaks a lot of tackles. Me, I'm all over the place. So at that time I felt like it was best to let Michael do that.
“It was my call. I don't know, would we have got a first down if I would have been in the game? Probably not. You saw how many people they had up in the box; they knew exactly what we were going to do. They knew we were running the ball. It's hard to run against stuff like that. I don't know, it was just a tough situation.”
By the time Tomlinson spoke with reporters, coach Marty Schottenheimer was not available to comment. Schottenheimer has said this year that he wanted to get Turner more opportunities; Tomlinson's backup had seven carries for 46 yards yesterday, including a 19-yard run.
The Chargers finished with 150 yards rushing on a season-high 41 attempts. For comparison's sake, they had as many as 41 carries only once last season. But Tomlinson said he was not surprised by how often San Diego ran, even in passing situations.
“I'm at the point now where nothing surprises me at all,” he said. “We just have to be able to deal with the situation. It doesn't matter what happens; we've got to deal with it.”
What figures to happen is more teams loading up against the run, beginning with Pittsburgh on Sunday night at Qualcomm Stadium.
“If we do (see that), we've got to be prepared for it,” Tomlinson said, “because we've got a group of guys coming in next week that's hungry for a victory. They beat us last year (24-22), so they already have it in their mind that they can beat us.”
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Important point is Tomlinson took
himself out.... to let the Burner "pound it". Gotta love that if you are an MT owner. And obviously the LT owners on this board have not been doing their required reading. NONE of this should come as a shock to any of you.
The only injuries he's had are a groin injury and a Raiders player purposely damaging his ribs in a pileup. I don't see any evidence of him breaking down and Turner will only help him stay healthier.
As KC homer, I had to endure this kind of playcalling for years. On one hand, I love him. He brought credibility back to the franchise and did wonders for the organization as a whole. On the other hand, I hate him. Sure, he can work miracles with substandard talent but I'm not sure anyone is as effective at stifling superior talent. And his "stalemates" are excruciating. All it takes is one effective counter from the competition and his ultimate objective turns on a dime.
pfft. Opinions, not predictions.
what are you laughing at? He's definitely Barlow from 2 years ago. All hype. Hope the koolaid tasted good!
