ESPN experts predict...

[VJCPatriot]

i doubt minn or jax for that matter has the outside pass rush like SD..noth minn and jax had strong interior linemen which we can handle well...how we handle phillips and merriman is the real key to this game and the spread off to work

I'll agree we'll need to handle Merriman on the outside but is he really that much different or better than Joey Porter or the numerous other "sacking" linebackers of the great Pittsburgh defensive teams of years past? I just see no reason to get intimidated. Matt Light will need some help of course but that's why we have Dan Graham.

And as far as Rivers goes. He can't possibly be scarier than Peyton Manning, and he's a rooke on top of that so there you go.

BB will come up with a great gameplan, trust me.

 

[letekro]

IMO, Brady has to be extremely careful with the ball in every situation other than max-protect. We will keep graham and a back in when we want to go to deep but all other times he has to get the ball out quickly no matter what b/c Merriman and Phillips will terrorize our tackles and will be looking for strip sacks. He could afford to hold the ball at times against Minnesota (the gabriel crossing pattern comes to mind), but he won't have that luxury if we attempt to spread out SD.

 

[pats1]

i'd take marty schottenheimer in that matchup, seeing as how he has dominated BB in the past. the chargers have the advatage there, not the patriots. typo?

I suggest cutting your daily dosage of crack by half starting immediately.

 

[hwc]

i'd take marty schottenheimer in that matchup....

Yeah. Me, too. You can never go wrong picking Shottenheimer in the playoffs.

 

[boltssbbound]

IMO, Brady has to be extremely careful with the ball in every situation other than max-protect. We will keep graham and a back in when we want to go to deep but all other times he has to get the ball out quickly no matter what b/c Merriman and Phillips will terrorize our tackles and will be looking for strip sacks. He could afford to hold the ball at times against Minnesota (the gabriel crossing pattern comes to mind), but he won't have that luxury if we attempt to spread out SD.

You guys want to compare us to Minnie? Sorry, try again. Our pass rush is vastly superior. And Minnie's pass defense was ranked last in the league this year.

The Pats receivers don't really scare the Chargers. You don't really have a legitimate deep threat, so I expect the Bolts to crowd the receivers and jam them coming off the line to disrupt the timing of the short passing game. If Brady has to hold the ball , the rush will arrive and make him pay.

Brady will not have as easy of a time as he did against the Jets throwing outs. Both Phillips and Merriman are extremely agile. They don't get cut blocked easily and both are very good at knocking down the quick pass.

I think the biggest matchup challenge for the Chargers is Ben Watson. He is big and fast and a tough draw for either a LB or a safety. But the Bolts have played other TEs pretty tough of late.

Frankly, I think our defense matches up really well with your O. We thrive at stopping power running teams and getting after the QB. With average receivers to throw to, Brady is going to have to be absolutely perfect in this game.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

That the Patriots will spread out the Chargers and Tom Brady will carve em apart through the air.

Great point by analyst Sean Salisbury - If the Patriots make it a two man game, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady vs. Marty Schottenheimer and Philip Rivers, he takes Brady and BB every time.

^_^ Looks like there's a way to beat the Chargers after all! Who'da thunkit? :rocker:

Don't mean it to be nasty but why do guys on here when they hear a positive thing about the Patriots from an ESPN analyst he is making a great point and when the same guy says something negative about the Patriots he is an A**H*** - Lets be unbiased and like or dislike an analyst no matter what he says instead of changing colors if his opinion about the Patriots changes - to not follow this rule of thumb is stupid and too much of a homie.

 

[Oswlek]

You guys want to compare us to Minnie? Sorry, try again. Our pass rush is vastly superior. And Minnie's pass defense was ranked last in the league this year.

The Pats receivers don't really scare the Chargers. You don't really have a legitimate deep threat, so I expect the Bolts to crowd the receivers and jam them coming off the line to disrupt the timing of the short passing game. If Brady has to hold the ball , the rush will arrive and make him pay.

Brady will not have as easy of a time as he did against the Jets throwing outs. Both Phillips and Merriman are extremely agile. They don't get cut blocked easily and both are very good at knocking down the quick pass.

I think the biggest matchup challenge for the Chargers is Ben Watson. He is big and fast and a tough draw for either a LB or a safety. But the Bolts have played other TEs pretty tough of late.

Frankly, I think our defense matches up really well with your O. We thrive at stopping power running teams and getting after the QB. With average receivers to throw to, Brady is going to have to be absolutely perfect in this game.

I agree with you on Minnesota. I don't really see much of a similarity at all, actually. Minny doesn't have a single pass rusher as good as 3 or 4 guys on SD, and their CBs are probably worse.

Going against Gates in practice, I have a hard time seeing SD have that much trouble with Watson. I think it will just be more of Brady finding whoever is open as long as NE gives him time. While it sucks to not have a #1 guy, it also stops the D from being able to key on any single guy. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Gafney is used as a decoy for much of this past game in the hopes the SD overreacts to last week.

 

[nickelbolt]

With all due respect, I think this doesn't mean squat. If the Chargers need to read the papers to get motivated, they shouldn't bother. For the record, I don't think they do ... This stuff means *way* more to fans than it does to players, imo.

I'm fairly sure both teams will be equally motivated. We'll see if both teams are equally prepared, though ...

I don't believe the players "need" to read the papers for motivation. But it does happen... they read, watch tv, listen to radio. They have lives away from work. During the normal course of their day they will hear and see who's picking who to win. This stuff can build up 'til you're just sick of it enough to find that added motivation to play harder than the guy across from you.

That's what this game will come down to. The Patriots have that history, but I believe the Chargers have more talent and hunger to make their own history. We will see. I can't wait for this game.

 

[shakadave]

I suggest cutting your daily dosage of crack by half starting immediately.

This cracks me up --- no pun intended.

 

[PlattsFan]

I don't believe the players "need" to read the papers for motivation. But it does happen... they read, watch tv, listen to radio. They have lives away from work. During the normal course of their day they will hear and see who's picking who to win. This stuff can build up 'til you're just sick of it enough to find that added motivation to play harder than the guy across from you.

That's what this game will come down to. The Patriots have that history, but I believe the Chargers have more talent and hunger to make their own history. We will see. I can't wait for this game.

Ah, players make it "us against the world" no matter what. I still remember Rodney Harrison saying, "no one believed we could win this game" after the Eagles Super Bowl win. Everyone thought the Patriots were going to win that.

I think this is a great game ... Chargers have talent, the Pats have talent. I wish it were Sunday ...

 

[Oswlek]

Ah, players make it "us against the world" no matter what. I still remember Rodney Harrison saying, "no one believed we could win this game" after the Eagles Super Bowl win. Everyone thought the Patriots were going to win that.

I think this is a great game ... Chargers have talent, the Pats have talent. I wish it were Sunday ...

"They said we were a bunch of replacements!"

I love those days.

 

[nickelbolt]

Ah, players make it "us against the world" no matter what. I still remember Rodney Harrison saying, "no one believed we could win this game" after the Eagles Super Bowl win. Everyone thought the Patriots were going to win that.

I think this is a great game ... Chargers have talent, the Pats have talent. I wish it were Sunday ...

Rodney always makes it "us against the world"... every week. That's one of the reasons I was so pissed to see him go.

 

[spacecrime]

I don't believe the players "need" to read the papers for motivation. But it does happen... they read, watch tv, listen to radio.

Agree 100%. And sometimes some players take things personally. When Warren Sapp told Wilbon and Kornheiser, "Trust me, Eric Hochstein couldn't block you guys," it set the stage for a tremendous effort by our entire O-Line. The Carolina D-Line is probably still mad at Sapp.

The Patriots have that history, but I believe the Chargers have more talent and hunger to make their own history.

I also think the Chargers are more talented on a player by player basis. Not acorss the board, most in most positions, the Chargers have the more talented player. Not nearly the discrepancy that the Rams had over us in 2001, though. In baseball and hockey, individual talent is very important. In basketball and football, team play is more important, IMO. And in football, coaching is critical. If Shottemheimer can do to us what Shannahan did in the palyoffs last year, you guys will win. If Shottenheimer coaches like he did in the playoffs last year, you have little chance.

We will see. I can't wait for this game.

Ditto.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I don't know how many times when I've heard "Well on this paper this team looks more talented than the Pats, so they should win." Hmm let's see that was said about the Rams, Steelers, and Colts. How did those games turn out? Yeah. That's right. 3 rings.

Again this year we look on paper and the pundits say "The Chargers look more talented than the Pats." Except this time they are a little reluctant to crown the Chargers immediate winners because of all the egg they have had to wipe off their faces over the years.

So no just because the media isn't kissing the Chargers' feet and declaring em Champ does not indiciate disrespect. Rather it means they have learned to be wary of the Patriots and BB's penchant for genius when it comes down to crunch time.

Go ahead and crown yourselves champs in your own minds all you want Bolts fans. Maybe if you put on a tutu and dance around in circles it will comfort you but it don't change the fact that the game will be decided ON THE FIELD and not on paper. Get ready for war on Sunday. I know if your team isn't that once again the Paper Champions wlll end up getting shredded on Sunday by the big bad Pats.

Don't mean it to be nasty but why do guys on here when they hear a positive thing about the Patriots from an ESPN analyst he is making a great point and when the same guy says something negative about the Patriots he is an A**H*** - Lets be unbiased and like or dislike an analyst no matter what he says instead of changing colors if his opinion about the Patriots changes - to not follow this rule of thumb is stupid and too much of a homie.

I think you are misunderstanding me. The point is not that the ESPN experts are geniuses far from it. Rather they make a good point in this case because the Pats have taken that kind of spread the field offense gameplan and executed it nearly to perfection against teams in the past such as the Vikes. Therefore it is by no means a stretch to think that the Pats could adopt a similar gameplan and execute it VERY WELL which would give us a decided advantage against the Chargers. How you take this to be an homage to the expertise of espn analysts is beyond me. Even they can make good points once in a while or do you disagree with that possibility?

PS So it makes me a homer to think that our Patriots could execute a gameplan that attacks a weakness of our opponent but the Charger Trolls who come in here predicting an 18-20 pt Charger blowout aren't homers? Please let's at least try to be evenhanded against both fans or are we trying to be too PC for that?

 

[ctpatsfan1]

how do you stop a prolific pass rushing team? Screen passes......look for a lot of screen passes this weekend vs the Chargers D to get them to back off the pass rush.

Pats 24/21 Chargers 20/17

 

[nickelbolt]

how do you stop a prolific pass rushing team? Screen passes......look for a lot of screen passes this weekend vs the Chargers D to get them to back off the pass rush.

Pats 24/21 Chargers 20/17

Yep. Screens, draws and delays. That's how KC went up on the Chargers so quickly in the first meeting this year. If the Chargers don't stay disciplined in their rush lanes and be mindful of these plays... they'll get burned.

 

[cblesz]

Yep. Screens, draws and delays. That's how KC went up on the Chargers so quickly in the first meeting this year. If the Chargers don't stay disciplined in their rush lanes and be mindful of these plays... they'll get burned.

Curious. Why didn't everyone else do it if it worked for KC? Did they adjust?

 

[nickelbolt]

Curious. Why didn't everyone else do it if it worked for KC? Did they adjust?

The Chargers definitely had to play more disciplined after that game because of Merriman and Castillo being out. So yeah, I guess you could say they adjusted. But also I just think the teams we went up against weren't very effective at that type of gameplan (the Rams did ok with it, but they love to sling the ball around and they played from behind most of that game). KC uses those little delays and draws every week. It's kind of a staple for them... this my impression from the games I've seen. Larry Johnson is pretty amazing at being patient and letting the hole develop. In the second game, our Defense was just too overwhelming for them.

I'm definitely screaming at the TV when we get suckered up field on those draws & screens.