Chargers having trouble living up to reputation

SAN DIEGO -- Norv Turner has a chance to show everyone he's a coaching genius, starting Monday night against the unbeaten Denver Broncos.

If he steers the overrated Chargers to a fourth consecutive AFC West title and deep into the postseason, Turner gets an honorary Bill Belichick hoodie.

The Chargers (2-2) are talented, maybe talented enough to overcome Denver's stunning 5-0 start, but they're not as talented as their reputation.

The buzz in San Diego and other AFC West cities had the Chargers as the most talented team in the NFL. In reality, the Chargers' reputation exceeded them, even before Week 1 injuries knocked out the lines' two hubs, nose tackle Jamal Williams and center Nick Hardwick.

San Diego's lines, linebackers and safeties have showed themselves as so-so, the absence of a power running back has been glaring and Chris Chambers, who is 31 and a step slower than when the Chargers got him, has seldom resembled a No. 2 wideout.

Yet the pundits were persistent, labeling the Bolts the most talented team in the NFL entering this season and last, although the talent level began to dip at least a year ago.

Anyone who still thinks the Chargers are that talented must think the Steelers and Giants moved to Canada, or that the Eagles, Vikings and Saints disbanded.

Any NFL insider who says it must want Turner to get fired.

Here's an NFL general manager on the subject: "To me, the team with the best roster and the deepest roster with the most talent is the Pittsburgh Steelers."

The GM? A.J. Smith of the Chargers, speaking two weeks ago to CBSSports.com. A few days earlier, his Bolts got manhandled in Pittsburgh by a Steelers team that lacked its All-Pro safety and best running back.

Blame San Diego's inflated talent grades on the stickiness of labels.

The Chargers were fairly dubbed the most talented team in the NFL in 2006 when they went 14-2 and sent 11 players to the Pro Bowl. A year later, when freakish athlete Antonio Cromartie emerged to pick off 10 passes as a sophomore, the roster again seemed loaded.

But there has been erosion over the past two years. Smith cooled off, both in his moves and non-moves.

Stars such as Shawne Merriman and LaDainian Tomlinson declined after injuries. Cromartie, long on fast twitch and short on fundamentals, got exposed when the pass rush went from fierce to feeble. A few other former Pro Bowl players have slipped.

San Diego isn't the only place where the Chargers are called the most talented team in the NFL. New Yorkers such as Greg Cosell heard it, too.

"I hear it all the time," Cosell said this week. "I heard it this year. I don't believe it's true. I disagree with it."

Cosell has worked the past 30 years for NFL Films, watching tape with former NFL players such as Ron Jaworski and Merrill Hoge, the analysts for ESPN's NFL Matchup, for 15 seasons.

"I sit in a dark room all day and watch film," he said.

Difference is, he gets to watch the same illuminating film as NFL coaches watch -- shot from the end zone, exposing each player for what he does, not for what his reputation is.

I asked Cosell how much talent the Chargers have, with the understanding that talent refers to football skill and performance, not merely athleticism. He started with the offense.

"They have a big-time NFL quarterback," he said of Philip Rivers. "The tight end, [Antonio] Gates, when healthy, is outstanding. [Lead receiver] Vincent Jackson is a matchup nightmare at times, and they've got physical receivers.

"Their offensive line is average as we speak. Unfortunately, LaDainian Tomlinson is clearly on the downside, and they don't have a real running game right now."

He described the defense as below average.

"I think the problem they're having in the 3-4, which requires your outside linebackers to be pass rushers, is Shaun Phillips has been erratic over the last couple of years. He's a very good body athlete, but it has not translated into consistent production. No one knows where Merriman is at this point (in his comeback from knee surgery). Larry English is a rookie. I liked what I saw of him on film in college, but he's a rookie.

"[End] Luis Castillo is a very good player as a system player. He's not a dominating, game-changing playmaker. I don't think they've gotten the play from [inside linebacker] Kevin Burnett that they thought they would get. With Dallas, he was a nickel player. He's not a physical presence in the base 3-4."

"Normal" is how Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes described the Chargers cornerbacks nearly three weeks ago. A few days later, Holmes torched Cromartie so badly that Cromartie, displeased with his technique, spent the bye week learning a new way to line up. On Wednesday, the Chargers released strong safety Clinton Hart, a starter for three years.

Chargers apologists point to injuries, but when the team was at full health to start the season -- a span that lasted two-and-half-quarters -- the Raiders were the faster, more physical team before losing by three points. A few days later, Rivers bristled at criticism that the Bolts should've dominated Oakland, which reputedly had far less talent.

"I don't think there's a talent gap," Rivers said. "That's media-driven. That's a media-driven phrase. I think we've got a great group, but it wasn't like it was the varsity vs. the JV out there."

Said Smith: "Maybe eventually someone will say that it no longer is the most talented team in the league. And then it will stop. And it'll be a new team. That would be a nice thing to read. Because [the label] really means nothing. The most talented team and the deepest team with the best personnel is the Steelers."

Smith said the Chargers are a "playoff-caliber" team. If the AFC North was their neighborhood, they wouldn't be.

It's Turner, not the talent, that gets most of the criticism in San Diego. And if the Bolts don't catch Denver, it'll be open season on Turner, who has a bland persona, scares none of his players and sometimes sounds like Huckleberry Hound. He'll again be framed as a good offensive coordinator who isn't head-coach material because he lacks presence and the "it" factor.

And maybe that's what he is.

What he isn't is the coach of the most talented team in the NFL.

"Unrealistic expectations are always set every year for players and teams," Smith said. "It's part of our business in all sports. All that matters is the end of the year, and then the stories are written in reverse."