5 Questions For Week 11

1. Did we overestimate the Chargers or are they star-crossed?

Star-crossed. The Bolts are now 3-6 and their six losses are by a total of 27 points. Three of their losses have been by two points or fewer. They got screwed by the officials in their loss to the Broncos in Week 2. They got victimized by a buzzer-beater in Week 1 by Jake Delhomme and the Panthers. They got handed the most absurd schedule in recent memory - why would a West Coast team ever be sent to play a regular-season game half a world away as San Diego was when it played in London? It's a shame because the Chargers - overall - are a team that's good for the league. Well-managed by A.J. Smith, generally well-coached by Norv Turner, stars who are a credit to the league (a former Philip Rivers critic, I like his maturation now). But someone must answer for the failure of the Chargers running game which is 26th in the league and averaging 93.1 yards as a team per game. Two years ago, we were all wondering if LaDainian Tomlinson might be the best back ever. Now he's a JAG? And don't say it's his toe. I've seen too much acceleration from LT when he decides to turn it on for that to be the pat excuse.

2. The Leader in the Coach of the Year Race?

The AFC East has two legit candidates: Tony Sparano and Bill Belichick. The AFC North has John Harbaugh. The AFC South has Jeff Fisher. The West...ummmm...Cable Guy? Naaah. Over in the NFC, there's Coughlin and Zorn in the East, Mike Smith, John Fox and maybe Jon Gruden in the South and Ken Whisenhunt in the West. At this point, it's gotta be Sparano. That team was a tremendous threat to go 0-16 last year. They finished 1-15. Now they're 6-4 and it's because Sparano's gotten them to play hard and smart and has allowed assistants like quarterbacks coach David Lee to have the latitude to put in things like the Wildcat Offense and an offensive coordinator in Dan Henning who's comfortable enough to let guys do their jobs without peeing on his territory,  

3. Better Chance: Titans Unbeaten. Lions Winless?

The Lions have a treeeeemendous opportunity to complete the 2008 regular season without a triumph. Much better than the Titans chances of going unbeaten. Now, psychologically, it's harder to go winless than it is to be perfect. At some point, raw, primal pride is going to kick in for enough of the Lions and they are going to take somebody to the mat. Being a member of the only team to complete a 16-game regular season without a win is something that will eat at you in your rocking chair when you're 82. The game I'd love to see the Lions win if they do indeed get one? Thanksgiving Day against the Titans. Epic. Here's the rest of the Titans schedule: v. Jets, @ Detroit, v. Browns, @ Houston, v. Steelers, @ Indy. And the Lions, they have three consecutive home games (though at this point, it's hard to say that's a good thing). They play Tampa, Tennessee and Minnesota before heading to Indy and then closing the season at home against the Saints.

4. Anyone wanna hear my OT Plan?
Matching possessions. Same as "win by two" in a game of pickup hoop. That would alleviate the "team that wins the toss wins the game" issue (and that's been happening more and more in recent years) but it wouldn't bastardize the game by using the college overtime rules. So if I get the ball first in overtime and score a touchdown, I still have to kick off to you and allow you to have that possession to its conclusion. If I stop you on a three-and-out, you punt to me so that the continuity of the offense-defense-special teams aspect of the game isn't erased. If I score, game's over. If I don't and you score on your second possession, I still get a chance to match. Caveat: If I get the ball first, score a touchdown and opt for an onsides kick that I recover, the game's over. Gimme some feedback on this.

5. Why'd The Cowboys Win?

Character guys stepped to the fore at Washington. As I mentioned in my column Friday after visiting Valley Ranch, they were the key to  Dallas success. They needed to seize control of the team's personality from T.O. and go blue-collar on everyone and - thanks to Jay Ratliff and Marion Barber - they did.