Bolts look to get ground game rolling

Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson had what Head Coach Norv Turner called his best performance of the season in the Bolts’ 30-10 win over New England Sunday night. But LT still felt frustrated.

“We need to run the ball better,” Tomlinson said. “We’re not very good at running the ball. I’m just going to be honest with you. That’s the only way I know how to be.”

Through six games, the Chargers lead the NFL in scoring (29.7 points per game) and have the league’s eighth-best passing offense (238.8 yards per game). But their running game, which has been the team’s bread and butter throughout LT’s career, ranks just 22nd as the Bolts are averaging 98.5 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry as a team.

When asked to put a finger on why the Chargers aren’t having the success he’d like to see, LT was unable to deliver specific answers.

“I don’t know,” Tomlinson said. “That’s something that we have to find out. It starts with me, being one of the leaders on this team.”

Tomlinson wouldn’t use his sore toe as an excuse, although it has caused him to miss practice time and has hampered his cutting ability. Turner has acknowledged that the injury has affected LT but believes Tomlinson’s 74-yard performance on Sunday was a step in the right direction.

“He found some rhythm,” Turner said. “I think he’s dealing with less pain than he had to deal with over the first month. I think we need to continue to get better in the run game, run blocking, the things we’re doing in the run game. I think as he feels better, the combination of those two things will help us run the ball better.”

In addition to Tomlinson’s health, the Chargers have only had their starting offensive line in place for three of the team’s six games. Left tackle Marcus McNeill missed the first two games of the season and center Nick Hardwick missed the first three.

It took the Chargers some time to get rolling in the run game in 2007 as well. During the club’s first three games, they averaged just 2.4 yards per carry (84 rushes for 202 yards). In the three games that the starting offense line has been in tact this season, the Bolts have rushed for 299 yards and a 3.8 per carry average, which is better but isn’t where they’d like to be.

“It takes some time,” guard Kris Dielman said. “Practice gets it a little bit but you need to get into a game situation. You need to get the reads at full speed, get the communication down, get back to knowing the way Nick is going to step, the way Marcus is going to step. The biggest thing is the communication amongst everybody.”

While the big plays in the running game haven’t been there, the Chargers are certainly having success in the air. In six games this season, they’ve completed 21 passes of 20 yards or more and 10 of 40 or more.

Bills Head Coach Dick Jauron points out that the big plays in the passing game can correlate to the difficulty the Bolts have had finding consistency on the ground.”

“Obviously people do go to some extreme measures to try to stop the run,” Jauron said. “When they do that, they become vulnerable to the passing game. Particularly on Sunday night, the passing game contributed to some huge plays in that football game.”

Tomlinson and company face a Buffalo team this weekend that is in the middle of the pack in rushing defense. They’re ranked 18th in the NFL against the run, giving up an average of 114.2 yards per game. The last time LT faced the Bills, he carried 28 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns.

“We’ve been patient and hopefully a really big day (on the ground) is right around the corner,” McNeill said. “We’ve got a coach that’s committed to the run and a runner who’s the best. We’ll get there.”

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