The Chargers Public Relations Director, Bill Johnston, has some advice for Chargers fans and writers freaking out about the loss to Denver on Monday: “Take a Chill Pill.” I guess – and this is a bit of a shock – some people are not happy in San Diego and plenty of people have declared the Chargers as finished.

Johnston actually raises plenty of good and funny points, if he were not associated with the team’s official site. It would probably come better from a neutral source. When you’re a kid and you break the lamp, you don’t get to say relax. That’s the wise old adult in the room who tells mom or dad that it happens.

A few of the more recent Chargers teams have been declared dead by quacks, only to awaken in good health.  The 3-3 Chargers of 2004 won nine of their final 10 games.  The ’06 Chargers won their final 10.  The ’07 Chargers started 1-3 before winning 10 of their last 12.  The ’08 Chargers won their final four in a row and the ’09 team won its last 11 games.

Good health for Chargers fans, though, has always resulted in a sudden onset of grave illness in January, so he doesn’t have the leeway that the Patriots Public Relations Director would have in prescribing medicine. I don’t remember the thought process on the 2004 team, which was emerging, as being a freak out after a 3-3 start. In fact, I remember thinking that team was pretty good based on watching them, and they just lost some close, tough games early.

There was no freakout in 2006 after a 4-2 start, and to suggest this team is about to engage in a huge run is laughable. That team dominated some opponents, while losing tight affairs on the road to Baltimore and Kansas City, two fellow playoff teams. I’m sure 2007 raised its share of talk radio animus after the start, given that the team had just fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 start. I wouldn’t crow about 2008, when 8-8 was good enough to win a bad division. 2009 was another slow start.

The thing is, I don’t this team is very good and the window has kind of closed. Those were really talented teams that lost some close games early. The Denver game was, in fact, pretty big. Denver faced a tougher schedule this year, but that’s out of the way because they’ve now already played Houston and New England while San Diego has already beaten Tennessee in their uncommon games. San Diego’s wins so far: Oakland (1-4), Tennessee (2-3), Kansas City (1-5). They got destroyed at home by Atlanta, and let’s be honest, just got manhandled by Denver at home as well after they were spotted 10 points on special teams errors.

Oh, and we left out 2010 and 2011. I don’t think the A.J. Smith/Norv Turner regime has earned any “chill pill” dispensation recently. The way to silence the noise in the NFL is to go out and do it. Win the next two and the chilling will commence.

[photo via US Presswire]