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Our chances of beating San Diego don't look extremely bright as SD is the NFLs best thus far unless someone proves they can handle them,so I think there are critical areas of concern we must overcome to win this game....
LINEBACKER - Tedi just played an awesome game and Vrable played hard too,IMO these 2 guys must be able to contain LT as he breaks thru the first line of defense which he will frequently as he usually does,if LT is not stopped after the second wave of D he usually is gone and that spells doom for the Defense,TBC and Colvin must protect the edge as well,Turner can break a game open as well as LT so Turner may be a problem to deal with and OLB will play a big role here too.
Front 3 DE - Instead of just focusing on LT I think it is just as important to pressure Rivers with blitzes to confuse him and usually rookie QBs get frantic when D linemen get in their face and many times will make mistakes...If our pass rush is non existent,much like it was against the jets (Pennington had too much time to throw) then Rivers will play much like Rothlisberger and manage the game well and Gates will have a monster game and hurt our chances,Yes Rivers is only a rookie but if you give him time he will destroy a secondary as he has done many times in his first campaign enroute to 14 wins.
O Line - Played O.K. against the Jets,but Vilma is no Merrimen so Light and company will not only have to protect Brady,but also open holes for the RBs -Not going to be an easy task but D pressure can be kept under control and sacks must not happen too often or Brady will get killed and we would have to play Cassel (Gulp!),Regardless of how well our O-Line plays I still expect Brady to get sacked about 3 times in this game..Any more and we may be in trouble-The receivers are just not going to get in rhythm with Tom if he has no time to throw (check our losses this year to see that it was a big factor as to why we lost those games,Brady must have time) .
Special Teams - Fortunately the Chargers have no Justin Miller so field position should be kept down to where the Chargers start on average at their 20 yard line,We cannot afford to give a 14 win team a short field to work with-Tackling must be at its finest and Sauerbrun must improve off the Jets game,I did not think he performed well in kickoffs. - On the other side of ST I think Maroney gives us our best chance to break open a TD return on a kickff so I say Maroney should get the reps there.
So these areas are major things to count on as a factor in the outcome of this game - So don't just say they wil be fine just because we have BB and Brady - We need to play our BEST EVER Playoff game in the Brady BB era to win this game,Thats the bottom line.
I do think the winner of this game will not only get in but win the Super Bowl . . Indy has Manning (A.K.A. playoff choker) and Baltimore (Offense scares no one) - So playing either of those teams should be easier for either SD or NE.
LINEBACKER - Tedi just played an awesome game and Vrable played hard too,IMO these 2 guys must be able to contain LT as he breaks thru the first line of defense which he will frequently as he usually does,if LT is not stopped after the second wave of D he usually is gone and that spells doom for the Defense,TBC and Colvin must protect the edge as well,Turner can break a game open as well as LT so Turner may be a problem to deal with and OLB will play a big role here too.
Front 3 DE - Instead of just focusing on LT I think it is just as important to pressure Rivers with blitzes to confuse him and usually rookie QBs get frantic when D linemen get in their face and many times will make mistakes...If our pass rush is non existent,much like it was against the jets (Pennington had too much time to throw) then Rivers will play much like Rothlisberger and manage the game well and Gates will have a monster game and hurt our chances,Yes Rivers is only a rookie but if you give him time he will destroy a secondary as he has done many times in his first campaign enroute to 14 wins.
O Line - Played O.K. against the Jets,but Vilma is no Merrimen so Light and company will not only have to protect Brady,but also open holes for the RBs -Not going to be an easy task but D pressure can be kept under control and sacks must not happen too often or Brady will get killed and we would have to play Cassel (Gulp!),Regardless of how well our O-Line plays I still expect Brady to get sacked about 3 times in this game..Any more and we may be in trouble-The receivers are just not going to get in rhythm with Tom if he has no time to throw (check our losses this year to see that it was a big factor as to why we lost those games,Brady must have time) .
Special Teams - Fortunately the Chargers have no Justin Miller so field position should be kept down to where the Chargers start on average at their 20 yard line,We cannot afford to give a 14 win team a short field to work with-Tackling must be at its finest and Sauerbrun must improve off the Jets game,I did not think he performed well in kickoffs. - On the other side of ST I think Maroney gives us our best chance to break open a TD return on a kickff so I say Maroney should get the reps there.
So these areas are major things to count on as a factor in the outcome of this game - So don't just say they wil be fine just because we have BB and Brady - We need to play our BEST EVER Playoff game in the Brady BB era to win this game,Thats the bottom line.
I do think the winner of this game will not only get in but win the Super Bowl . . Indy has Manning (A.K.A. playoff choker) and Baltimore (Offense scares no one) - So playing either of those teams should be easier for either SD or NE.