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Here are five keys to the game heading into Friday’s preseason game between the San Diego Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks:
1. Another Opportunity to Improve – It may sound simple, but the number one emphasis heading to Seattle is to show marked improvement across the board. This applies to all phases of the game. The preseason opener provided a good chance to knock off understandable rust, and for the most part the team performed well. They’ve spent an entire week combing through all their mistakes, so Head Coach Mike McCoy says seeing that improvement is of the utmost importance Friday night:
“The number one emphasis is to improve from last week. That’s the most important thing right now, and we told all the players it’s another opportunity. Our roster’s where it’s at right now, but in a couple weeks we’ve got to go to 75 and then we’ve got to go to 53. So it’s an opportunity for us to improve as a football team, and for the rest of the players to show us what they can do to make our job tough as an organization.”
2. Optimal Test for Road Warriors - In order to be successful in the NFL, you need to be able to go on the road in hostile environments and bring home a ‘W’. The Bolts couldn’t ask for a better preseason test than to travel to the vaunted “12th Man” at CenturyLink Field in the Seattle Seahawks first home game since capturing the Super Bowl. The team knows it is in for a challenge, but as McCoy explained, the experience should prove valuable come the regular season, starting with the Monday night opener in Arizona. :
“They’re the defending champs. They’ve got what everybody wants. They’re in the position everyone wanted to be in. At the end of the year there’s only one team that’s happy. They’re very well coached, play extremely hard and have a great fan base up there going on the road. We’re going to have our fair share of road trips this year like everybody else. It’s going to be loud, and it’s going to be a good test for us to stick together as a team. It’s us against the world there. We’ve got to go out there and play our best game, and we’re just looking to make that next step as a football team.”
3. Tackling: Back to the Basics– The biggest disappointment on defense from the first preseason game was the missed tackles. McCoy counted at least 10 whiffs, and while there will always be missed tackles in games, that many is unacceptable. The basic fundamentals of tackling are once again a main focus for the Head Coach, so he’d like to see the defense respond by shoring up that area:
“It’s something we’ve got to work on. It’s going to be an emphasis, and it’s been since the first day in training camp of the little drills you do. But it’s got to transfer over in the game like anything else….They’ve been doing it all their lives, so it’s the basic fundamentals they’ve got to improve on.”
4. Who are the One-Hit Wonders? – Everyone was impressed by the performances of select individuals like Dontrelle Inman and Branden Oliver. What would be more impressive would be to do it again. In order to make a roster, players need to show the ability to be reliable game in and game out. Again, that is especially true against a team like the Super Bowl champs. Oliver stressed that after the first preseason game:
“I just have to keep taking it one day at a time and just keep God first. I know I am in the right place. I have to keep getting better each and every day. This is just only one game and you can’t get complacent. So it’s more to come and I’ve got a group of great veterans in the running back room that I’m going to keep learning from, and (Running Back) Coach Ollie Wilson. So it’s not the end of it.”
5. Increase Red Zone Efficiency – Head Coach Mike McCoy said the biggest disappoint on offense in the preseason opener was the team’s inability to end long drives in the end zone. While the offense was able to drive down field, it finished just 2-for-4 in the red area, including one turnover in the end zone by Ryan Mathews. The running back addressed the fumble recently on The Loose Cannons with Steve Hartman and Mike Costa on XTRA 1360 Fox Sports San Diego: