State your reasons why either team will win (Bolts vs. Pats)

[patfanken]

Most of your reasons are SD-centric, but since you bothered to post reasonably, I'll bother to respond with the assumption that you will try and rebut my points

1) Patriots defense gave up 416 passing yards and 2 passing TDs to Chad Henne so imagine what Philip Rivers will do.

There are 3 things you haven't considered in this statement.
a. Henne played much better than you give him credit for. He's not the same guy he was last year. New OC, new confidence.
b. The Pats D was much better in 3rd down situations and in the red zone. More importantly it was the QB who had the most rushing yds. It will be hard for SD to run the ball
c. Around 200 of the passing yds came on the first drive when the D would be least prepared and it should be noted that the same D stopped Miami the next 4 drives with just one first down, after they settled down and saw what Miami was doing.l And in the last 2 drives which were essentially garbage time.

2) Vincent Jackson is playing unlike when the two teams played last season

.VJ is very good, but he's not better than Brandon Marshall, and the Pats survived a great day from him.

3) Antonio Gates is healthy and playing unlike when the two teams played last season.

Gates is the premier receiving TE in the league, but the Pats have added a lot of size to their secondary and will certainly be targeting Antonio in their defensive game plan. The Pats won't shut him down, but the key is not allowing yac.

4) Marcus McNeil, our left tackle is playing unlike the last time the two teams played.

You'd better hope that he plays better than he did just last week.

5) Our secondary has improved with the addition of Bob Sanders, if he plays.

A healthy Sanders of his Colts days was a one of the top S's in the league, especially in the run game. However please explain how the 5'8 Sanders is going to Cover the 6'7 Cronk OR the 6'3 Hernandez

1) Tom Brady is playing insanely good right now. He could potentially put 30+ points on our defense before halftime.

Probably not before half time, but it could happen before the end of the game. lol SD had a good plan for him last season, but that was last season IN SD. This will be in Foxboro, which is a big difference, even with the short week.

The Pats are better set up to run the ball better. They have more options in the passing game. Holding the Pats offense to under 30 points will be difficult. The Chargers HAVE to be at LEAST plus 2 on TO's

2) Nate Kaeding, who is the most accurate kicker in NFL regular season history is out for the season due to an injury last week. If the game comes down to a field goal, we're screwed.

Its a problem, especially the first week after, but there are just SOOO many guys out there that can kick the ball reasonably well (over 75%) that I doubt it will be the difference in the game.

3) Our DE, Luis Castillo was injured last week as well and won't be playing, leaving us exposed to the run and weakening our pass pressure.

I agree, but then a lot of SD fans are claiming that his replacement will be an upgrade. Creating a consistent pass rush WITHOUT blitzing will be a key for SD, as well as shutting down the run game,

4) Our special teams gave up a touchdown on the opening kickoff last week which leads me to believe we might have the same issues that we had last year with special teams. Poor play on the part of our special teams could cost us the game.

You special teams will see a great improvement over last season. They have to, they couldn't be worse. Well you have THAT going for you...at least lol

5) Mike Tolbert, who accounted for all 3 of our touchdowns in week 1, won't be playing due to injury, and he's clearly the best running back on our team at the moment, as Ryan Matthews still hasn't shown he can carry the workload.

This WOULD be a problem....if it were true. Unfortunately it isn't. The Pats run defense, has been pretty solid throughout the preseason and into the first game. I don't think SD's run offense will be a major factor

Miscellaneous points:

Both teams need to be able to rush the QBs with just 4-5 men. The team that does that the best will win.

More than half of Miami's rushing yds came from QB scrambles and draws. SD may be the only team in the league whose QB comes closest to Tom Brady's lack being a run threat.

This will one of the better games this week. Two teams that will be in the playoffs regardless of who wins the game. It will be good game to see how each team matches up against another good team. The Pats get the edge because the game is at home.

The only reason this game has any long term significance is for playoff positioning.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Patriots will win because:

1) They are a better team.
2) They are playing at home, where they don't lose in the Regular Season
3) SD generally plays us well ONLY in SD. They blow in NE (1-9 in last 10).
4) We have 2 Gronkowski's and SD have none.
5) Because I am a fan of the Patriots, and I REALLY, REALLY want them to win. I mean bad too.
6) Ocho just sent me a tweet telling me "he finally gets it".


Bolts will win because:
1) They have the best coach in the history of the sport: Norvo "the clown" Turner.
2) {see above}........... They don't really need another reason, do they?

 

[Patspsycho]

Both teams need to be able to rush the QBs with just 4-5 men. The team that does that the best will win.

We're either going to blitz or drop, but we're not rushing just 4 men. Rivers eats that for breakfast.

I think we will send out Gronk at Sanders every opportunity we get, if only to neutralize his run support.

Our zone coverage on the seams has got to get better, I'm not worried about Gates who we will bracket, but about the other big receivers (Floyd, Jackson) who we will inevitably leave in one on one matchups. We gave up a few big plays in the seams out of the zone coverage in the Miami game (Fasano, et al.)

We ran very poorly against the Chargers last year. That has to change.

Our defense has to step up big. When the Chargers have scored 20 points or under, they've never won a game on the road.

Also the turnover game is going to be huge- whenever we've won that at home, we've won the game (42 of 42). However, when the Chargers win that, they've been 15 of 16 wins on the road.

I think our game plan is to first and foremost stop the run and just wait for those big plays that we know Norv will call- he will get impatient from time to time and feel the urge to move his team down the field in a big hurry, and sometimes that turns out to be fatal for him.

Also, their ST has been undependable, up and down performance, and that's an area we need to take advantage of.

 

[Fahrenhype]

Why are people acting like one game is a sudden reversal in fortune for the defense? Henne had a good game but the Dolphins offense is not as good as some of the other attacks the Pats D will face this year. I'll give them props when they perform consistently. That requires a bit more under their belt.

 

[patfanken]

We're either going to blitz or drop, but we're not rushing just 4 men. Rivers eats that for breakfast.

Well, last week the Pats only blitzed 10 times in 50 drop backs, PP. Rivers is a pro, and much like Brady doeswell in picking up the blitz. He also has a lot of targets that need attention. So I think the Pats will NOT be blitzing that often (about one out of 5 like last week). What WILL be key is disguising the defenses well and make Rivers throw hot reads when the the Pats AREN'T coming.

I won't be worried about the amount of yds the Pats give up. I'll be looking to see if they can continue pressuring the QB (a combination of 20+ sacks/hits/hurries). Stopping the run. (keeping SD under 100 rushing yds). AND giving up fewer big plays (over 20 yds) than last week. To me that will be a good indication of how the D is progress.

 

[PatsCanDoIt]

Most of your reasons are SD-centric, but since you bothered to post reasonably, I'll bother to respond with the assumption that you will try and rebut my points


There are 3 things you haven't considered in this statement.
a. Henne played much better than you give him credit for. He's not the same guy he was last year. New OC, new confidence.
b. The Pats D was much better in 3rd down situations and in the red zone. More importantly it was the QB who had the most rushing yds. It will be hard for SD to run the ball
c. Around 200 of the passing yds came on the first drive when the D would be least prepared and it should be noted that the same D stopped Miami the next 4 drives with just one first down, after they settled down and saw what Miami was doing.l And in the last 2 drives which were essentially garbage time.

.VJ is very good, but he's not better than Brandon Marshall, and the Pats survived a great day from him.

Gates is the premier receiving TE in the league, but the Pats have added a lot of size to their secondary and will certainly be targeting Antonio in their defensive game plan. The Pats won't shut him down, but the key is not allowing yac.

You'd better hope that he plays better than he did just last week.

A healthy Sanders of his Colts days was a one of the top S's in the league, especially in the run game. However please explain how the 5'8 Sanders is going to Cover the 6'7 Cronk OR the 6'3 Hernandez





Probably not before half time, but it could happen before the end of the game. lol SD had a good plan for him last season, but that was last season IN SD. This will be in Foxboro, which is a big difference, even with the short week.

The Pats are better set up to run the ball better. They have more options in the passing game. Holding the Pats offense to under 30 points will be difficult. The Chargers HAVE to be at LEAST plus 2 on TO's

Its a problem, especially the first week after, but there are just SOOO many guys out there that can kick the ball reasonably well (over 75%) that I doubt it will be the difference in the game.

I agree, but then a lot of SD fans are claiming that his replacement will be an upgrade. Creating a consistent pass rush WITHOUT blitzing will be a key for SD, as well as shutting down the run game,


You special teams will see a great improvement over last season. They have to, they couldn't be worse. Well you have THAT going for you...at least lol

This WOULD be a problem....if it were true. Unfortunately it isn't. The Pats run defense, has been pretty solid throughout the preseason and into the first game. I don't think SD's run offense will be a major factor

Miscellaneous points:

Both teams need to be able to rush the QBs with just 4-5 men. The team that does that the best will win.

More than half of Miami's rushing yds came from QB scrambles and draws. SD may be the only team in the league whose QB comes closest to Tom Brady's lack being a run threat.

This will one of the better games this week. Two teams that will be in the playoffs regardless of who wins the game. It will be good game to see how each team matches up against another good team. The Pats get the edge because the game is at home.

The only reason this game has any long term significance is for playoff positioning.

Ken, you wrote everything I was thinking about that guy's post and this game. San Diego's defense will have to win this game. That's a tall task even for a good defense like the Chargers.

 

[PittPatriot]

What Tony Romo is to "winning time" is what the Chargers (as a team) are to big games with the Patriots.
We don't know when or how or why…but Classy SD will find a way to lose.

 

[TheComeback]

The Chargers have a top five pass defense and top five pass offense. That's the perfect formula for beating the Patriots.

We aren't going to put up 30+ points on these guys. Our defense needs to step up tomorrow.

 

[TriplecHamp]

The only way I see the Bolts winning is if they win the turnover battle by at least 2 and or they control the time of possession. If SD doesn't do one of these things and they win, I won't post here until the post season begins.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

I think these 2 teams are pretty equally matched . I'd give SD an edge on CB's and the pats a definite edge at QB. My biggest worry is TB throwing short into the turf, cuz usually when he starts that way, it continues thru the game.

 

[scout]

The Chargers have a top five pass defense and top five pass offense. That's the perfect formula for beating the Patriots.

We aren't going to put up 30+ points on these guys. Our defense needs to step up tomorrow.

and how are the Chargers in the third phase of the game?

 

[PatsDeb]

Reasons why Charges could win:
1) They get to Brady early and he freezes up and has a wicked bad game like he has a few times in the last few years. On top of that our run game is wicked weak as BJGE and Woodhead can't get going and the new guys add nothing, resulting in rants about how we never get a big bruising back (ala Corey or Antwan Smith) and therefore will never win a SB again.
2) Devin McCourtey can't cover Vincent Jackson and the D in general can't cover the middle of the field, i.e. the D has a wicked bad day and the Chargers O has a wicked good day.

Reasons why the Pats should win:
1) The Pats are wicked good at Gillette during the regular season and haven't lost there since the 1960s (or so it seems). Knock wood, no jinx.
2) Brady was awesome last week and the new 2 tight end O was even more awesome and the Bolts (and everyone else) will have trouble covering all of Brady's weapons at the same time.
3) The O line played wicked great last week against a pretty good D and it should continue this week with the return of Vollmer.
4) My kids are making me get off the computer, but I have more...

 

[lightningbolt]

Tolbert is playing, he just doesn't know what he's talking about.

There were reports earlier in the week that he was questionable. It turns out he's going to play. Don't insult opposing fans who are being respectful on your forum.

 

[lightningbolt]

Last 10 trips to Foxboro SD has gone 1-9. And, we've heard about that game for 6 years. Charger fans forget about the losses in 07 here. But, cling to that 05 game as if it matters. Past history doesn't always indicate future results. Tom Brady has won 28 consecutive regular season games at home. That's 3 1/2 years. The Pats have won 17 straight at home. Undefeated in 09 and 10. Why would anyone pick the Chargers?

All streaks are broken eventually. The Chargers had two streaks broken last season. Our 13 game winning streak against the Raiders, and our 18 game streak of not losing in December under Philip Rivers.

So, the Patriots will lose at home during the regular season; the only question is when and to what team. I think the Chargers are a good candidate to be that team.

For one thing, we're overdue for a victory against the Patriots. There are only so many times you can beat a team before they figure out how to beat you. We came close last season but were missing many key guys.

 

[lightningbolt]

Antonio Gates played last year. He Scored a TD. The best offensive player for the Chargers in that game was Darren Sproles. Marcus McNeil had a lot a trouble with Jared Allen last week. Actually the entire offensive line had trouble blocking. IDK if Floyd played last year but he wasn't thrown to.

This game will come down to pressure. Which defense can get to the QB. I like the Pats lines better.

Gates played, but as I pointed out, he wasn't healthy. There were many games that he played injured last season just to try and help us out, but he was nowhere near 100%. This time you'll be matching up against a healthy Gates and Vincent Jackson as well. It'll be tough for you to cover both.

 

[Dufflebagz]

There are only so many times you can beat a team before they figure out how to beat you.

Tell that to Buffalo

 

[Tunescribe]

Because the Chargers are better than the Patriots this year man for man.

I've seen your other posts -- do you ever actually think first? For starters I'll take Belichick, Brady, Wilfork and Gostkowski over Norv, Rivers, any of your interior DL and whoever you've got kicking. Pats also have superior depth across the board. The Chargers have had better players than New England in the past and still didn't win.

 

[Dufflebagz]

Because the Chargers are better than the Patriots this year man for man.

Hmmmmmm, let's see......

Brady v Rivers: Really? your statement is already worthless
Lawfirm v Mathews: I know Mathews is only in his 2nd season but has he run for 1000+ yards? Well, BJGE has.

Now you try to argue a couple positions.

 

[YearbookCurfew]

Pats will win because of numba 12. Nuff said

 

[jah]

Well, my Madden 08 (PC version) with 2011 rosters is predicting a grim outcome...17-3 Chargers at the half. The only point in the game where the Patriots offense had shown any sign of life was after the 2 minute warning. I'll finish the game in the morning, but I'm tired...