Turner is playoff-tested
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Thursday, Jan 03, 2008
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com
The year was 1999 and Norv Turner had guided the Washington Redskins to a 10-6 regular-season record and their first NFL playoff appearance since the Joe Gibbs era ended with the 1992 season.
Turner’s Redskins were ready despite the seven-year drought.
Washington scored on its first four possessions against the Detroit Lions, including two touchdown runs by Stephen Davis, en route to a 27-0 halftime lead and 27-13 victory.
The Redskins’ season ended a week later with a 14-13 loss to Tony Dungy’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who would lose in the NFC championship game to the eventual Super Bowl champion, St. Louis Rams.
But there was no one-and-done experience for a coach leading a team that lacked playoff experience or success.
Turner’s task now is to lead the AFC West champion Chargers (11-5) to their first playoff win after their 2004 and 2006 playoff seasons ended with upset losses in the first game. The Chargers face the Tennessee Titans (10-6) in a Wild Card round Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
“I think the biggest mistake that teams make is that they try to do too much,” Turner said. “And when you’re young players, you can really get carried away with that. Once the game starts, you’ve got to go play. We’ve got to do the things we’ve been doing that have got us to this point, particularly the things we’ve been doing over the last six weeks.
"Then what does it come down to? It comes down to preparation. If we do a great job this week with our preparation and then with the players, that’s the way big games are won.”
"Then what does it come down to? It comes down to preparation. If we do a great job this week with our preparation and then with the players, that’s the way big games are won.”
It’s a coaching philosophy Turner said he learned from working on the NFL staffs of John Robinson, with his Los Angeles Rams playoff teams, and Jimmy Johnson, with his Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys teams.
Turner began imparting that attitude on his players shortly after the Chargers finished the regular season with Sunday’s 30-17 win at the Oakland Raiders.
Quarterback Philip Rivers said Monday at Chargers Park that Turner told the team in Oakland: “I don’t want guys walking around with that game-face, serious look on Tuesday and Wednesday as if – ‘Hey guys, it’s serious now.’ Keep the same approach that we’ve had. If that wasn’t the right approach, we were doing it wrong for 16 weeks. That already sends the message that we’re going to be loose.
"We’re going to be obviously excited. But we’re not going to let it be too big for us.”
"We’re going to be obviously excited. But we’re not going to let it be too big for us.”
If there’s one statistic that encourages Turner his team will be ready for the playoffs, it’s this: in eight home games this season, the Chargers have outscored their opponents in the first quarter, 81-0.
Said Turner, “You know I was excited last week when they came out with that stat: 81 to nothing in the first quarter in all eight home games, because I always hear that: ‘He doesn’t get his team ready to play,’ or ‘He doesn’t motivate his team.’ You don’t go out and outscore opponents in eight games at home 81 to nothing and not be ready to play.”
But Turner resisted the urge to say he felt vindicated from media criticism following the Chargers’ slow start when he was asked if he felt that way.
“As a coach, I don’t know if you’re ever going to feel vindicated because it’s always about next week,” he said. “That’s what I’m about. I’m excited about what we’ve accomplished and the place we’ve put ourselves in. We started this morning preparing for this game and, to me, that’s what it’s about.”
Turner also said the Chargers gained from coming back from a slow start this season to playing their best football heading into the playoffs.
“I think the biggest thing this season has done for all of us, me and everyone; it’s just brought us closer together,” he said. “We have a feel for each other because of the start and what we’ve been through. I talked about it after the first Tennessee game. On the road, down by 14 in the fourth quarter, finding a way to come back and win, that’s mental toughness to me. And I think our mental toughness has improved throughout the year, which allows us to handle a lot of things, football and non-football.
“It’s in stages. The first stage is over. We wanted to get the best position we could in the playoffs. We’ve done that after a rough start. Now the next stage starts. It’s a week-to-week stage. We all know what it is. So, we have a lot to prove.”
Matthew Stockman, Getty Images North America
Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner has preached a message of poise and preparation this week.
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