
In case you’ve been surfing all summer, we have news for you. San Diego Chargers football is back! The Beach &?Bay Press got a recent taste of the preseason opener Aug. 11, giving us a chance to offer up this preview of the up-and-coming season. At Qualcomm Stadium last Thursday, the Chargers butted heads with the Seattle Seahawks. And even though the final scoreboard showed Seahawks 24 and Chargers 17, Bolts fans can feel confident that this could be (dare I say it?) a Super Bowl year. Quarterback Philip Rivers seemed pleased with the quick start at halftime, with San Diego going into the locker room with a 10-0 lead. “The goal was to drive and get points on the board [on the team’s first possession], preferably score a touchdown, and we were able to do that,” Rivers said. “Obviously, there’ll be some things we’re going to try and clean up, but we need to stay involved the rest of the game. Overall, it was a good start.” It also was a good start for new special teams coach Rich Bisaccia who, after having spent the last nine years in Tampa Bay, was hired after the Chargers experienced last season what some would arguably say was the worst special teams unit in NFL history. Not to flog a dead horse, but last year, the Chargers’ special teams allowed four kick returns for touchdowns, four blocked punts and averaged less than 19 yards per punt return. Looking ahead now, will this new coaching change really make a difference? “All I had to do was miss one tackler, my teammates did everything,” said Charger’s newcomer Brian Walters, who ran back a kick return for 103 yards, in the process scoring his first professional touchdown Thursday night. “It was a well-designed play. You have to give all the credit to the coach who designed the play and to the guys up front.” Well-designed play, Mr. Walters? I don’t think so. It was an amazingly well-designed play! That being said, coach Bisaccia said he is not content with just one touchdown return during a preseason game. “We’ve got a long ways to go,” Bisaccia said. “We’re just at the beginning stages.” Well, if that is just the beginning, we are excited to see where it all ends. You can view my coverage of the game at www.sdnews.com and listen to my game calling of Brian Walters’ first professional touchdown. — Walter Ruskin is a member of the San Diego Community Newspaper Group’s “Ugly News Team.”