There's been no time for major changes on the Charger defense
January 1
San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan
"The blitz is coming, just not right away.
What Ron Rivera wants to change about the Chargers' defense is not something a coordinator can coordinate quickly. It takes time and repetition to manage a sophisticated switch in defensive philosophy. Like any high-wire act, it is not something you try on the fly, particularly before a pending playoff game.
"I've been involved in a blitz scheme package where things change based on motion and movement and that's something you've got to be able to practice and practice," Rivera said Wednesday afternoon. "You can't just come in and say: 'If they give you this formation, we check to this. If they give you that formation, you check to that. They motion, we do this or that.' We can't do that right now because we don't have the time it would take to do the reps."
Two months since his mid-season promotion to defensive coordinator and two days before the epic challenge of defending Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, Rivera is not yet prepared to unleash the full fury of his football playbook. He's not about to start attacking from all angles until his players have the time to absorb the lessons he learned from Philadelphia innovator Jim Johnson.
For that, Rivera needs training camp and mini-camps and what the NFL's collective bargaining agreement classifies as "Organized Team Activities." Before he attempts to install some of Johnson's audacious blitz packages, Rivera needs to know he can count on 11 players to move as a single organism, to react to the same stimuli with the meticulous choreography of the Marine Corps' silent drill team.
Though some Charger fans seem to regard the blitz as an all-purpose solution with no attendant risks, if you're going to play a dangerous defense, you had better play it with precision.
"There are some things that, philosophically, I will most certainly differ from the people who have been here prior to me," Rivera said. "I look forward to implementing (them) here because I think that we've got the guys who can handle it. But you just don't want to put it in in the middle of the season because you don't want to put yourself in a position to have something bad happen."
Though Rivera's long-range plans are relatively complex, his players have interpreted his short-term solution as simplifying the structure of fired coordinator Ted Cottrell.
"We can all understand it and get on the same page," nose tackle Jamal Williams said. "I'm not going to say it was too complex (under Cottrell). Let's just say that the way (Rivera's) approach is, it helps guys have a better understanding of what we're trying to do out there."
Statistically, the improvement has been only incremental. The Chargers ranked 28th in NFL defense when Rivera took charge on Oct. 28, and finished the season ranked 25th. The Bolts' pass defense rose, barely, from 32nd to 31st.
Yet a team that stood 3-5 upon Rivera's promotion went 5-3 afterwa
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