[sofaman]

you're like a broken record....the decision was made by Spanos, not Smith.

The fact is that Smith has assembled an awful lot of talent on one team. Marty is Marty and contributed to his own demise....one word, Martyball.

We lost Cameron (thank G-d) and Phillips (whatever), and now Marty. Simply put, I lay the blame for the Chargers loss to New England, squarely at the feet of the coaches.

The Chargers offensive game plan in the Pats game, was an embarassment, thank you Cam Cameron and buh bye! And the defense wasn't much better.

While the players need to execute, it is up to the coaches to instill the basics.

I, for one, am not sorry to see Marty, Cameron and Phillips leave. It is one thing to lose, but it is totally another to lose "ugly", through a combination of lack of discipline, lack of focus and pathetic play calling.

[Terpfen]

you're like a broken record....the decision was made by Spanos, not Smith.

Please explain how Spanos could make the decision to extend Schottenheimer's contract, then less than a month later, fire him.

[Cyclopean Squid]

It wasn't Martyball that lost the Chargers the game. If they had played martyball (running to protect the lead), they would have won. But they abandoned the run despite having the League MVP who was getting yards in chunks, instead entrusting the game to Rivers, who had an off day.

Marty was trying so hard not to play Martyball that he didn't even do what was best for the win.