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Originally posted by KSig RC
Also, not to nitpick, but the Chargers were a chic pick to 'surprise' given their returning cast . . . and this assumed Rivers would start!

Okay, well I don't remember ever hearing that during the preseason, so thank you for pointing that out to me.

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-The Raiders . . . suck

All right, true - but they have beaten both the Broncos and Tampa Bay (who the Chargers play this week), so they can't be ALL bad

-Denver . . . is decidedly mediocre

Surprisingly, I don't think that they're that mediocre - they beat some very strong teams (again, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego) but also suffered some big losses (Atlanta, Oakland, San Diego, Jacksonville)

-KC . . . sucks

Now, their record may not be the greatest, but they have defeated Indy this year (one of three teams to do so thus far), so I wouldn't say they suck - maybe they're misdirected?

-The teams they 'had to beat' . . . mostly suck

All right, but that's also the case completely in the NFC (c'mon, teams that are below .500 in the hunt for the playoffs?)

I'm just pointing out how light the SD schedule has been. It's still a massive step forward, but it hasn't required a herculean effort on the part of Brees and his considerable supporting cast.

Maybe that's the perception outside of San Diego, but the media reports here keep highlighting the huge effort and teamwork that the Chargers (and Brees in particiular) have been putting out week in and week out. Even in the first few weeks when the team had lost to the Jets and the Broncos, the media was calling for Rivers to be put in to the starting role, and forget about the playoffs for this year. But Marty and his coaches kept with Brees, and it's paid off well for them. I also don't think that the schedule (last place parity or not) has been that easy for them. They went and played at Houston, at Atlanta, at Jacksonville, and will be playing at Cleveland and at Indy in the final weeks of the season. For me, a "light" schedule, if Indy was included on it, would put Indy playing here in San Diego during the regular season (rather than preseason, where the Chargers could've beaten them then - preseason or not, it's a win! )

If AJ Smith decides not to wait on Rivers, and goes for the "win now" mentality, the Chargers will be the 49ers within 3 seasons. You should better hope, as a diehard bolts fan, that he's smarter than what you just described . . . giving Brees a long-term deal at market value will cripple the team, you just can't carry $70-80 million in QB contracts. It's not feasible, is it?

Well, that's potentially possible, but then again, maybe not

So I think it's 'insane and dumb', as you put it, to retain a guy with only one good season under his belt. Especially when you put so much time, effort, and money into getting the right guy for your system in Rivers . . . unless Mr. Smith made a less-than-stellar pick there?

And that's another judgment call....I wonder if part of the reason we wanted to get Rivers was as a response to the Eli Manning debacle? I *personally* think that Brees has had more than one good season.

But, feel free to disagree with me. This is just my personal, uneducated thoughts of the situation.