Fire Nick Canepa: Nov. 3

Many of you may not be aware of this, but there used to be a website called Fire Joe Morgan. FJM was awesome. Basically a freedom fighter in the struggle against awful sports writing. The format is this: Take an article from the web, paste portions of it that are stupid, and comment on said stupidity. Today, we begin a new feature where we do this to the stupidest of stupid sportswriters, Nicholas Canepa of the Union-Tribune.

I've always felt that perhaps the greatest key to success in life is listening, be it in marriage, parenting, business, interviewing or even politics (where the listening process rarely is heeded).

Nick, you've changed my life once again. Now get to the football, monkey.

So, despite the barrage my ears receive during football season, I listen as much as I can, sometimes in agreement, often not so much. At this stage of my life, I find myself in the Battle of the Too Much Information Bulge, surrounded by experts. But I do hear you.

THE INTERNET SCARES ME!!! SO MANY PEOPLE!!!!

OK. Running is nice. It helps. It's a good thing. But you need not run wild to win consistently in the NFL.

That's right buddy. You need balance. Everyone acknowledges this. Congratulations on another conclusion everyone has already arrived at.

There have been times when Bill Belichick has ordered Tom Brady to throw on his first 20-some-odd snaps. The Colts don't need to run. Arizona and Pittsburgh, January's Super Bowl finalists, weren't proficient at it.

So, if you have Tom Brady in his prime, Kurt Warner throwing to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, or a historically good defense, you may not need the running back to be the focal point of your offense. Go. Figure.

On their first possession against the Raiders Sunday, the Chargers, thanks to a 53-yard strike from quarterback Philip Rivers to receiver Malcom Floyd, had a first-and-goal from the six. They went to the rarely used wildcat formation, and LaDainian Tomlinson ran it in.

The Chargers used a balanced attack to score a touchdown against the Raiders on Sunday. You were saying?

This prompted cries to see the wildcat much more often, which isn't happening here. The wildcat works (sometimes) in Miami, only because the Dolphins can't throw and use the formation so much they've become proficient at it. The Chargers used it to confuse the Raiders, and it worked. A steady diet of that thing would be death.

What the F, Nick? The Wildcat worked on the one play it was used and you're calling for it to never be seen again? Oh, and the Wildcat works ALWAYS in Miami. It's turned pothead Ricky Williams into a top flight rusher later in his career. The have a bad defense and start Chad Henne at QB AND THEY'RE GOOD. They run the Wildcat well and that's it. They should suck, but the formation freaking works!

As Turner points out, the rise of Jackson and Floyd – not only as big targets, but their ability to play small, as route runners – has opened up things for Gates.

“It's more difficult for them to double-team Antonio now,” Turner says. As for Turner sending LT or Darren Sproles into the line on every first down, or to open games, pay attention.


“We throw the ball more on first down than we run it,” Turner says with a sigh.

In conclusion, the Chargers have a strong passing attack which they try to use to open up the run game. Point. Proved. Except not really.

Thanks for listening.

I wish I hadn't, Nick. I really do.

Running overrated in modern NFL [SignOnSanDiego]