Injury Update

LT says that he is feeling a little sore but expects to be playing after tweaking his groin on Sunday. Antonio Gates has a slight ankle sprain but also expects to be playing. Hopefully both can be healthy because with LT playing how he did against Denver, it really makes our offense dynamic. I don't believe the Colts have a very strong run D either so if we can get the run going with LT and Sproles then we can burn them on some play actions.

Rivers for MVP?

One thing that has been frustrating me over the past couple weeks is the fact that Philip is getting very few mentions as a candidate for MVP. Although I'm obviously a little biased, compared to many of the names put out there and the reasons for them, Philip has easily surpassed them and their achievements. Two names that seem to be popular right now are Miami's Chad Pennington and the Colt's Peyton Manning. Philip leads both of them statistically with a higher passer rating, more touchdowns, yards, and a higher average. We all know that stats aren't the sole deciding factor for MVP though, so we'll look at it from another angle also. Miami and Indianapolis both had higher ranked defenses and allowed fewer points on average, compared to the Charger's defense which was ranked in the bottom two in pass defense all season. In Pennington's case it's the fact that the Dolphins were 1-15 last year and now as a playoff team, it must be him that was responsible. The truth however is that the Dolphins were never that bad of a team, they were just the victim of turnovers and now with a game managing quarterback they have been able to eliminate that factor. There's no justice in a game managing quarterback winning MVP over a quarterback who has carried his team though. For the case of Peyton Manning, it has been inconsistency until later in the season. Then everyone likes to remember how Peyton had to overcome knee surgery, but then conveniently overlook that Philip had reconstructive knee surgery in the offseason.Now of course I'll agree that it is the end of the season where it matters, but Philip has been consistent all year and then even picked it up with the season on the line. That is what an MVP player is. In the worst year of LT's career, Philip put his team in position to win and was the lone bright star of a team that came back from a 4-8 start to make the playoffs. When Philip didn't make the Pro Bowl it was the pundits that all said it was because of wins. Now two of those "worthy" Pro Bowl quarterbacks have pulled off huge late season collapses while Philip has willed his team to a playoff spot. With any less of a quarterback the Chargers could easily be 4-12. What more must Philip do to finally be recognized?

What Kept the Chargers Alive

A little while ago I had a post about what was wrong with the Chargers. Now with the Charger's epic comeback to take the AFC West, as well as the quality football they are playing, I didn't think it would make much sense to continue that post, so I decided instead to summarize a few things that kept the Chargers alive.

• The Broncos` They capped one of the biggest collapses in NFL history with their loss to the Chargers, as they were leading the division every week up until the final one. With 3 weeks left to play and with a lead of 3 games the Broncos could not clinch at any of the games and instead allowed the Chargers back into the picture. The Broncos should be the first ones the Chargers thank because without them all their efforts would have equaled nothing.
• Defensive improvement The switch midseason to Ron Rivera may have also saved the Chargers as their defense continues to improve going into the playoffs. The most important aspect were the increased turnovers(10 for Cottrel 14 for Rivera) One big example of the impact these turnovers have can be found in Sunday's game over the Broncos where the two interceptions of Jay Cutler made a win while in game 1 the interceptions were nowhere to be found.
• Philip Rivers Philips stellar play all season kept the Chargers in position to win games, but was often let down by the play of the rest of the team. With improvement all around, Philips efforts finally began to have significance down the stretch with the Chargers winning their last 4 games

Chargers 52 Broncos 21

What a relief!!! A fantastic display of football to send a strong message to the rest of the NFL. A historic comeback from a 4-8 start to win a playoff spot that no one was going to take from them. This is a team on a mission. A team to be feared, and the team that we knew they were. Congratulations to the players and coaching staff and good luck next week!!!

Broncos at Chargers Odds (Source: vegassports-odds.com)

Written by Brock Lanning
Saturday, 27 December 2008

Broncos at Chargers - 8:15pm EST on NBCThe AFC West title will be on the line Sunday night as the San Diego Chargers (7-8) host the Denver Broncos (8-7) on NBC at 8:15pm EST.
The Broncos have collapsed in recent weeks allowing the Chargers back in the race and now it is San Diego that looks like a playoff team rather than Denver.
The Broncos have been in first place in the division all season but a loss to the Chargers and it all means nothing. If the Broncos lose they would become the first team since division play began to blow a three-game lead with three weeks remaining.
"Unfortunately we're not going to be able to go up there and take it easy," Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall said.
"We're going to have to go up there in their back yard and prove to them that we're better than them. They're a good team, they're playing better now, and they've got all the momentum."
The Chargers are red-hot having won three straight games including last week’s 41-24 win at Tampa Bay.
"We were 4-8. We could have shut it down," said San Diego tight end Antonio Gates, "Honestly, you know, we could have said, 'You know what, Denver ain't going to lose three in a row.' We could have taken that mind-set. But it was more about the San Diego Chargers and what we were trying to accomplish. Eventually that gave us a chance to sit here and play."
The Chargers have won big in the last two home games against Denver by a combined score of 71-23. NFL odds makers at SBGGlobal have the Chargers -8.5 point favorites at home in NFL odds against the Broncos with a total of 50.5.
Earlier this season in Denver the Chargers lost to the Broncos because of a bad referee’s call but now that seems a distant memory as San Diego can get their revenge and win the division on Sunday.
It could be an offensive shootout considering Denver has Jay Cutler throwing the ball all over the field while San Diego’s Phillip Rivers has been even better. Cutler broke Jake Plummer's single-season franchise record with 4,210 yards in last week’s loss to the Bills.
Cutler is headed to the Pro Bowl while Rivers is not. Rivers though has the better numbers as he leads the NFL in touchdowns and passer rating.
If you want to bet the Chargers as -8.5 point favorites in NFL odds against the Broncos with up to a 30% deposit bonus, then visit SBG Global.

What's Wrong With the Chargers?(Part 1)

Everyone knows that the Chargers have never really seemed like themselves this season. One part always seemed to be missing for whatever reason and the team suffered through some absolutely horrendous looking games. Here are my reasons for why they haven't seemed themselves.

• Stephen Coopers suspension/Shawne Merriman's injury Shawne Merriman's injury immediatly took away a dangerous factor of the Charger's defense that would always have to be accounted for, and with him out the pressure was shifted down the ladder to Shaun Philips and while Stephen's suspension was only 4 games, the turnover it caused in the middle of the defense was harmful to the overall stability of the team. While he was out the half blind Derek Smith took his spot, and didn't have the athleticism to effectively blitz the quarterback or cover well enough. During this time, Matt Wilhelm suffered from a continuous bout of poor play possibly due to lack of support or just bad attitude. These factors were enough that it took the team a while to recover as well as adapt to a new coaching scheme that equaled a very poor defensive performance.


• Offensive Line The uncharacteristically poor play of the offensive line has come at the worst time. Coupled with LT's toe injury, the running game has severely suffered and it is just out of respect to LT just being there that the passing game has been able to survive. Marcus McNeil has not played as the Pro Bowler he is, and Mike Goff's age has now become a factor. The offensive line should be an important issue come draft time.


• Just Bad Luck Whether it's a hand an inch away from deflecting a pass in the endzone with time expiring, to an erroneous call from the referee to give the opposing team a chance to score, the Chargers have been on the wrong side of almost every split decision this season .Credit has to go to the offense for keeping the games close, but most often it was the defense that couldnt close the deal. Examples include both the Colts and Chiefs games were the offense put the Chargers in the lead with minutes left but the defense then allowed both teams to drive down the field for scores. The Chargers could get some form of redemption on Sunday, but the fact remains though, the Chargers could be 12-4 if not for all the bad luck they've had. (Part 2 soon)

Chargers vs. Broncos Preview

This Sunday's game of the Chargers and Broncos should easily live up to it's hype and come down to a shootout. Though the Charger's defense has been showing great strides of improvement under Ron Rivera they still have been lacking in pressure on the quarterback with only 11 sacks and a 31st overall ranking. The Broncos are not much better at 27th and both teams will look to exploit each others deficencies with their top 10 ranked passing offenses. The Broncos offense however, is down to it's 8th runningback in Tatum Bell, and arent expected to have much impact on the ground. Probably one of the most important aspects for the Chargers to be watching is Brandon Marshall, who scorched them for 18 receptions in their first matchup this season, good for 2nd all time for receptions in a game. Jay Cutler, looking beyond his arrogance, has played excellent this year and will look to beat the Charger's defense by spreading the ball to his other talented receivers that include Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokely, and tight ends Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler. On the Charger's side, Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson will both try to stay on a hot streak. Philip Rivers also reconnected with Antonio Gates against the Bucs with 2 touchdowns and could be a threat over the middle, even with Champ Baily's return as Baily has always had trouble matching up with Gates anyway. Ladainian Tomlinson is now recovered from his toe injury and can run the ball well enough to keep the offense balanced, along with a little dash of Darren Sproles sprinkled in. With a playoff spot on the line, both teams will be tested and it could possibly come down to a last minute scramble. If the Chargers play as they did against the Bucs, with 21 points coming in the 4th quarter, they should be able to look forward to welcoming the Colts next weekend. The Broncos won't go down without a fight though and the most we can hope for is that the game won't come down to a ref's error again. Jamal Williams and Igor Olshansky returned to practice after missing Wednsday, but Malcolm Floyd and Brandon Siler were limited. The Broncos had all their players practice.

AFC Playoff Picture

Looking ahead.... assuming the Chargers manage to defeat the Broncos on Sunday night, the Chargers would claim the #4 seed as a division champion and would play the Colts who have clinched the #5 wild card seed. If then, the Chargers beat the Colts, they would go on to play the #1 seed, the Tennessee Titans, who have clinched a first round bye. On the other side of the bracket the only thing that is certain are the Steelers, who clinched the #2 seed and a first round bye. The #3 and #6 spots are currently being disputed by the Jets, Dolphins, Patriots, and Ravens. The Miami Dolphins can clinch the #3 seed with a win over the Jets this week and the Ravens can clinch the #6 seed with a win this week also or a Miami or New England loss.

Chargers 41 Buccaneers 24

By Tim Williams

Both the Chargers and the Buccaneers entered Sunday's game looking for a playoff spot. The Chargers, unlike the Buc's however, did not control their own playoff destiny, and their deperation showed in their play. The Chargers came out firing, putting the Buc's on their heels going into half time with a 20-10 lead after Nate Kaedings franchise record 57 yard field goal in the dying seconds of the half. After halftime, the Buc's came back with 2 drives, including a 71 yard bomb to Antonio Bryant, going for touchdowns and took the lead for the first time in the game at 20-24. Just when the game looked like it could become a shootout, the Chargers finished with 2 unanswered touchdowns and slammed the door on the Bucs with a 59 yard interception return by rookie Antoine Cason. Game balls go to Philip Rivers who went 21/31 for 287 and four touchdowns. Rivers managed to find open targets all day and also made some impressive throws under pressure, including a beautifully placed ball while on the run, to Antonio Gates in the back of the endzone. Big games also came from Vincent Jackson who consistantly made big catches all day and ended with 7 receptions for 111 yards which puts him over 1000 yards on the season making him the first Charger wide receiver since Curtis Conway in 2001 to reach that mark. The Chargers now control their own destiny as the Broncos come to town next Sunday night with the AFC West title and a playoff spot on the line. Link to game highlight below

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80d8283c