Pats at Chargers: pre-game opinions

[jmt57]

Thought it would be interesting to see what people in San Diego are saying about Sunday's matchup.



Chargers scouting report: Patriots - SignOnSanDiego.com

Here’s a switch.

The Chargers are in much the same position that the Chiefs, Raiders and Rams were when the Bolts came a'callin'. Which is to say, they’re an exasperating, strugglesome team with dismal prospects, preparing for a visit from one of the NFL’s premier teams. Here come the New England Patriots , and for their sake, the Chargers better hope they learned something in K.C, Oakland and St. Louis about getting their act together to knock off a presumed contender.

Seven weeks into the season, the Patriots are the first opponent that should be favored over San Diego, though the home-field factor still has oddsmakers picking the Chargers by a field goal to be kicked by heaven only knows who. Not only has the New England game been circled as the Sunday when the Chargers’ season really begins -- cough, cough -- the Patriots are coming off a highly impressive victory over Baltimore that has folks saying the Pats are starting to look like the Pats back when they were winning Super Bowls and going through a regular season unbeaten.

As a reverse of the Chargers, the Patriots have made it through a difficult early schedule with a 4-1 record, but they’re similar to San Diego in that they’ve been unbeaten at home and far less impressive on the road. Now get this. While their offense and defense have had their up and down moments, the most surprisingly impressive part of their game has been special teams, including the overtime field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that beat the Ravens.

Though ranked no higher than 10th in the NFL in total offense --San Diego remains first with an average of 432.7 yards -- the Patriots are first in scoring at 30.8 points. (You can probably figure out why they’re again are among the very best on third-down conversion at 49.2 percent.) Conversely, New England’s 25th in points allowed at 23.2 ppg.

 

[jmt57]

Debating what's wrong with Chargers - SignOnSanDiego.com

NICK CANEPA: Well, Bard, I have yet to come to my senses, never will. I thought this team would be better than last year’s. I didn’t know Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill would hold out. I didn’t know Shawne Merriman was going to totally bust. Can’t replace Pro Bowlers unless you have other Pro Bowlers (think I’ve written that). But if there is a more talented overall team in The League, it isn’t by much. It’s a bad league, pally. I suppose you thought they would stink? Don’t lie to me.

SULLIVAN: Can’t say I expected the Bolts to be this bad, but neither did I buy the notion that this could be Norv Turner’s best team. Too many Pro Bowl departures and holdouts. Too much uncertainty. Yet even in the midst of last year’s 11-game winning streak, I kept wondering how this team kept winning without a solid running game or a stout run defense. If they were as talented as you suppose, wouldn’t they have been better on third and short?

Then there is portion further along in the column; does this sound familiar at all?

If you look at the Chargers’ drafts during Smith’s tenure, the number of impact players has decreased almost annually since the brilliant 2004 class that netted Rivers (for Eli Manning ), Nate Kaeding , Nick Hardwick, Shaun Phillips and Michael Turner.

Some of that is a function of draft position — the Chargers have not had a top-10 draft choice since they took Manning — but I’ve stopped waiting for Buster Davis to pan out. Maybe it’s too soon to pass judgment on Larry English (2009), but Clay Mathews was taken 10 picks later and leads the league in sacks.

 

[jmt57]

Chargers missing half their offense - SignOnSanDiego.com

The Chargers will definitely be without kicker Nate Kaeding and wide receiver Malcom Floyd on Sunday and could face the New England Patriots sans tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Legedu Naanee.

All those players, plus tailback Ryan Mathews missed practice today.

Floyd, Gates, Mathews and Naanee have accounted for 44 percent of the Chargers' touches and 59 percent of their yards. Add in Kaeding, and the five players who didn't work today have scored 113 of the Chargers' 157 points (72 percent).

Mathews is the only one of the five that will definitely play against the Patriots. This is the second straight Monday he has missed with soreness in his sprained ankle. He practiced last Thursday and Friday and started Sunday in St. Louis.

Naanee ran well and felt good after a workout on the side. He could be back at practice Thursday. Norv Turner said he is hoping Gates can practice Thursday.

On defense, inside linebacker Brandon Siler returned to practice after missing the past two weeks with a foot injury.

 

[jmt57]

Ninkovich: Chargers are ‘going to be dangerous’ | Chris Price, WEEI | Its Is What It Is

Rob Ninkovich discussed Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers and the improved Patriots defense in his session with the media at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday.

What are your thoughts on Antonio Gates? What does he bring to the San Diego offense?

Well, you know, he’s their number one receiver, and he’s got the most catches on the team, so he’s obviously one of [Philip] Rivers’ biggest targets, so if he plays we need to make sure that we get a hand on him and mess up his routes as best we can and get him out of his comfort zone.

For him to be as big and athletic as he is, how difficult is it to game plan around someone like him?

I mean, it’s kind of like the Jets, you know, with Keller. They’re the guys that can get up the field, and they have some good, they’ve got some good speed. So you just have to you know, you have to prepare for that and, you’ve got to be ready, you know, every play. Where is he on the line, what kind of keys is he giving away that he’s, you know, going to maybe get up the field or just run. You know, so you’ve just got to make sure that we do a good job on stopping him and knowing where he’s at on the field.

Is there something about the Chargers that makes them play so much better at home than on the road?

Yeah, I mean, they’re a good team. You know, you can’t take that or anything from them. They have a great quarterback, they’ve got great receivers, they’ve got good running backs. So, you know, anytime you’re playing a team like that, you know, they’re going to be dangerous. So, home or away, they’re a good team, so we’ve got to make sure we go out there and do our job.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

The Pats should be able to beat the Chargers on Sunday.

In fact, this would be a terrible letdown after that great comeback against the Ravens.

Despite the Chargers record, any AFC is important and the Pats shouldn't take lightly.

 

[jmt57]

Edelman misses practice with concussion | Chris Price, WEEI | It Is What It Is

Julian Edelman, Fred Taylor and Jarrad Page all missed Patriots practice on Wednesday on the upper practice fields while Kyle Arrington was limited with a groin injury as the team began on-field preparations for the Chargers in San Diego on Sunday afternoon. The team practices again on Thursday before leaving for Southern California on Friday.

Patriots Injury Report for Wednesday:

Did Not Practice

RB Fred Taylor (toe)
WR Julian Edelman (concussion)
S Jarrad Page (calf)

Limited Participation

CB Kyle Arrington (groin)
WR Wes Welker (not injury related)

Full Participation

QB Tom Brady (right shoulder)
S James Sanders (hamstring)

 

[Triumph]

Three players to watch


TOM BRADY, QB: The Chargers had enough trouble with boyish-looking rookie Sam Bradford on Sunday, and he’s nowhere near the challenge of GQ cover boy Tom Brady, the "Q" standing for quarterback and the "G" for glamor-guy and guts. "Just Brady being Brady" was how Ravens head coach John Harbaugh described the surgical efficiency with which his mad-dog defense was picked apart by the former MVP, playing with a tender shoulder. For the record, Brady’s 2-2 in four regular-season starts against the Chargers, but he’s won both postseason games and has an overall touchdown-to-interception ratio of 12-10.

DEION WELKER, WR: Actually, that’s the combination of Deion Branch and Wes Welker , the latter of whom has come back from what could’ve been a career-ending knee injury and the former of whom has come back to New England from four-plus years with the Seattle Seahawks. With all the hand-wringing in New England over the trade of Randy Moss , the loss of the deep ball and double-team coverage that freed up Welker to produce first down after first down, Brady hit Branch with nine passes for 98 yards and a TD last Sunday. The Chargers already have had their hands full with Branch this season, needing cornerback Antoine Cason to punch out the ball from Branch’s grasp at the goal line to negate his catch-and-run on a 42-yard touchdown play by the Seahawks. Welker, of course, is only about the peskiest wideout in the NFL.

JEROD MAYO, LB: Instead of following the ball when the other team is on offense and trying to run, you can pretty much just keep your eyes on Mayo the whole time, because chances are that he and and ball are going to wind up at the same place. The former No. 1 draft choice and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (‘08) is second in the league in total tackles, most recently with 18 against Baltimore and 14 the game before that against Miami.

Series history
Over the past several years of games both important and controversial, the Pats may have become the Chargers’ most intense rival, division foes included. New England eliminated the Chargers from the postseasons of both 2006 and ‘07, the latter denying San Diego a Super Bowl. The Chargers have won three of the last four regular-season matchups, including the last two at Qualcomm Stadium. On the strength of 10 straight wins from 1973-2001, the Pats hold the overall series lead, 18-14-2.

Familiar faces
Patriots guard Stephen Neal is a product of San Diego High, where he distinguished himself most prominently as a top wrestler.

Did you know?
Welker began his career as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Chargers, who waived him after he’d played one game. Knew that, huh? Well, did you know that after the Miami Dolphins immediately signed Welker, he ran back a kickoff for touchdown and booted a field goal against the Patriots as the emergency placekicker.

Quote
"I hate that song. First time I heard that (Chargers celebration) song was when I was with the Giants and we played out there. They had [Wes] Chandler, they had [Chuck] Muncie, they had [Kellen ] Winslow, [John ] Jefferson, [Dan ] Fouts, and it was a track meet. They didn’t get through playing that song before they had scored again and they started playing it again. ‘San Diego Super Chargers,’ that’s still ringing in my head . . . so, yeah, I don’t like to hear that song."
_ Pats head coach Bill Belichick before the 2008 AFC Championship game

 

[jmt57]

Chargers will stretch Patriots' secondary to the limit | Tom Curran, CSNNE

It will be a big week at the back of the Patriots' defense.

No team in the NFL likes to go up top more often than Norv Turner's Chargers. No team has more success at it, either.

So while the fixation in the early part of this week has been on Brandon Meriweather's "tone-setting" violence last Sunday, how well he plays the safety position fundamentally is going to be a big story this week. And not just him; fellow safeties Patrick Chung, Jarrad Page and James Sanders, as well. This poses a concern because Sanders wasn't available last week and Page left the game with an injury. Page's departure forced the reinsertion of Meriweather, who was sat down after his decapitation attempt on Todd Heap.


Even without deep-ball weapon Vincent Jackson, the Chargers are getting it done over the top. They have five players averaging 15 yards per catch or more: Malcolm Floyd, 21.4; Patrick Crayton, 19.2, Legedu Naanee, 16.5; Antonio Gates, 15.8; Randy McMichael, 15.

The status of both Floyd and Naanee for this Sunday's game is still uncertain, but regardless of who's in uniform, Turner will be ready to stretch the field.

 

[jmt57]

And then there is the solitary Charger fan who fails miserably in a feeble attempt to rally his fellow fans from San Diego:

Pats coming to town is just what the doctor ordered - Chargers.com forums

Yeah today was not fun but I'm already looking forward to next Sunday and putting a beat down on the classless Cheatriots.

Don't be fooled by their record, their schedule has been pretty weak so far.

A big win at home should be the impetus for a turnaround and running the table the rest of the schedule.

By 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon, we're all going to be feeling a lot better and looking forward to the rest of the season.

I know some of you are bummed about today and don't share the same optimism I do but I'll explain in a later post why we should have no problem whatsoever with the Patsies.

 

[jah]

And then there is the solitary Charger fan who fails miserably in a feeble attempt to rally his fellow fans from San Diego:

Pats coming to town is just what the doctor ordered - Chargers.com forums

Another comment about class from a Chargers fan...is that all they talk about? :bricks:

 

[STFarmy]

And then there is the solitary Charger fan who fails miserably in a feeble attempt to rally his fellow fans from San Diego:

Pats coming to town is just what the doctor ordered - Chargers.com forums

HAHA my favorite part is the one about the weak schedule. I'll give him the Bills and even the Bengals (and that's a stretch to call them "weak"). But Miami in Miami is ALWAYS hard for the Pats, and until last week's game, Baltimore and NYJ were considered by most analysts to be in the top three teams of the NFL.

It's a borderline delusional comment from a bitter fan of a team that pretends they're classy so they can ignore the fact that their fingers are cold and ringless.

 

[efeene]

"Stay Classy San Diego."

 

[Lansdowne]

HAHA my favorite part is the one about the weak schedule. I'll give him the Bills and even the Bengals (and that's a stretch to call them "weak"). But Miami in Miami is ALWAYS hard for the Pats, and until last week's game, Baltimore and NYJ were considered by most analysts to be in the top three teams of the NFL.

It's a borderline delusional comment from a bitter fan of a team that pretends they're classy so they can ignore the fact that their fingers are cold and ringless.

Check out the crappy video of himself he posted in his sig

YouTube - San Diego Chargers #1 Fan!

LMAO

 

[Kontradiction]

I just hope that the youngsters don't get complacent, fat, and happy after the comeback victory against the Ravens. It's been mentioned often around here, but this could very well be a trap game coming up. San Diego is a team the generally gets up for the Pats given the history between the two teams. The crowd should be raucous as well. Even though he's either missing his best weapons, or they're injured, Rivers is still capable of abusing this secondary as he throws one of the best long balls in the league. Defensively, they're a crew that's shown the ability to give Brady fits in the past. So we're going to have to play smart.

However, with that said, we should be able to move the ball against them both through the air and on the ground. The Chargers have pretty good statistical rankings on defense, but they haven't exactly faced powerhouse offenses this season. In that regard, we're the first real test for them. On passing downs, look for our TE's to be used early and often (especially Hernandez). The Chargers have good cornerbacks that could pose problems for our receivers so the TE's should be used to exploit match-up issues against their LB's and safeties. Defensively, I expect to see us do what we have done lately against the run, which is throw Wilfork in at LDE, Warren/Wright/Pryor at the nose, and either Deaderick or Brace at RDE. If our OLB's can do as good of a job at setting the edge as they've done in the last couple of games, we should be able to funnel a lot of runs up the middle and into the waiting hands of Mayo and Spikes.

 

[Kontradiction]

Nice little report in the Patriots blog about how some of the players are looking back to 2008 for motivation...

Players look to '08 loss for motivation

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Over the long haul of the NFL season, teams look for different sources of motivation.

In Week 4, the Patriots pointed to media disrespect as they prepared for their game against the Dolphins. Last week, prior to playing the Ravens, they did more of the same.

The Patriots are now going back to 2008 for their motivation.

That was the last time the team traveled to San Diego. They lost 30-10.

“We’ve played them a bunch and it’s tough to play out there. We haven’t had a lot of success out there,” said quarterback Tom Brady, who did not play in that 2008 game because of his knee injury.

Still, Brady said he expected that game to be talked about “quite a bit” among players.

“Certain teams play different at home than they do on the road,” Brady said. “They’re 2-0 at home, 0-4 on the road, and we play them at home. I’m sure we’re going to get their best. The times we’ve played out there – in ’06 it was a battle, a hard-fought game we ended up winning. We lost to them in ’08, they beat us pretty good.

“It’s going to be a good challenge. I think everyone is looking forward to it.”

 

[Kontradiction]

Bruschi's keys to the game...

Bruschi Breaks Down Pats Chargers - ESPN Video - ESPN

 

[Dufflebagz]

Check out the crappy video of himself he posted in his sig

YouTube - San Diego Chargers #1 Fan!

LMAO

I was about to say I wanted to have a talk with this guy...now I can. Thank you for posting the video good sir

 

[jmt57]

Patriots-Chargers Preview - Oct. 20, 2010 - NFL - CBSSports.com Game Preview

While San Diego's losses have all come on the road after early deficits, it jumped on Jacksonville and Arizona early in winning its two home games by a combined 56 points.

With the lead, the Chargers were able to focus on running the ball. San Diego has averaged 165.5 rushing yards at home, as opposed to 92.0 yards on the road.

It might be wise to get Ryan Mathews some more touches Sunday. The rookie is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, but has only 35 carries since getting 20 in his NFL debut.

The Patriots, meanwhile, may have found an unlikely answer at running back in Danny Woodhead. A waiver pickup from the Jets in mid-September, the undrafted Division II product chipped in 115 all-purpose yards and picked up six first downs against Baltimore.

New England has won the series' last three meetings in which Brady's been healthy - two in the playoffs - despite the two-time Super Bowl MVP throwing seven interceptions in those games.

Rivers threw five picks and posted a 57.6 passer rating in those losses.

 

[jmt57]

Week 7 matchup: Patriots at Chargers - NFL - Sporting News

Top three story lines

Margin for error. San Diego has lost two straight — to Oakland and St. Louis — to fall to 2-4. This week’s game begins what appears to be a tougher stretch of the schedule, and they cannot afford too many more losses, even playing in the weak AFC West. The kicker: The Chargers lead the NFL in total offense and defense.

QB duel. Tom Brady has three more Super Bowl rings than Philip Rivers and has been a starter twice as long. While Rivers’ fourth-quarter magic has been negated by his team’s mistakes this season, Brady led the Patriots to a comeback victory in overtime last week. It would not be surprising to see one of them as the hero this week.

The rivalry. It is certainly more of a rivalry to the Chargers than the Patriots, but the two teams have split their past six meetings (since 2005). The Chargers have won just twice in six games against Brady, including playoff losses after the 2006 and ’07 seasons. Remarkably, outside the AFC East, that is the third-best record against him by any team that has faced him more than four times.

Three key Chargers

QB Philip Rivers. He is coming off his worst game of the season but still leads the league with 2,008 passing yards and is second in rating (100.7) and touchdown passes (12). Though the Chargers failed to pull off fourth-quarter comebacks in all of their losses, Rivers turned in some masterful performances. He is facing the 29th-ranked defense, and the Patriots are 28th against the pass.

LB Stephen Cooper. The Chargers’ headiest defender, Cooper sizes up formations and communicates with his teammates at the line. While LB Kevin Burnett is making more plays this season, Cooper has had some of his strongest outings against the likes of Brady and Peyton Manning, in part because of the challenge they provide.

WR Patrick Crayton. With WR Malcom Floyd out (hamstring) and TE Antonio Gates hobbled (toe), Crayton will again be one of Rivers’ two go-to receivers. Crayton, acquired via trade the week before the season, more than doubled his previous production with the Chargers with six catches for 117 yards on Sunday at St. Louis. He showed he can run multiple routes, catch in traffic and be the dependable receiver the Chargers need him to be this Sunday.

Three key Patriots

QB Tom Brady. This will be the first elite quarterback the Chargers have faced. The Chargers have the league’s top pass defense but allowed rookie Sam Bradford his highest passer rating (87.8) last Sunday. Brady will certainly go after Antoine Cason, who had a rough day at St. Louis.

WR Wes Welker. He has caught 24 passes for 220 yards in his past three games against the team that initially signed him as an undrafted free agent. Welker might not know it, but he is something of a folk hero in San Diego among those who dislike Chargers G.M. A.J. Smith, who cut Welker prior to the 2004 season.

S Patrick Chung. The Chargers have given the ball away 14 times. They have had three punts and a field goal blocked. Sounds like a perfect storm for Chung, who has two interceptions, a blocked punt and a blocked field goal.

 

[jmt57]

Belichick's verbal defense gets penetrated by Tom Curran for NECN

"(Norv Turner's patented insistence on going downfield) really sets up everything else," Belichick explained. "The deeper you go to take those plays away, the easier it is for the quarterback to dump it off to the running back or (Antonio) Gates, (Darren) Sproles, (LaDainian) Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith... whoever it's been. You end up giving up a lot of 15 yard plays on 2-yard passes because everybody's so conscious of the deep ball. You can't let them throw it deep. You can't let them run the ball. You can't send everybody back there or he'll screen and checkdown you to death."

Belichick continued, saying, "(The Chargers) don't care if you're up, back, two-deep (safeties), one-deep, man, zone, they're going deep on every play and if it's open they throw it. If it's not, those (downfield receivers) have carried enough people with them to open up things underneath for the quarterback."