Last year I hit the nail on the head when the Pats traveled to San Diego for their Divisional
match up to see who would go to the AFC Championship game against the Colts..
The 2007 season has seen the Pats go out and acquire some great new talent to stay toe to toe with the Indianapolis Colts.
They traded for Randy Moss and signed Wes Welker and Dante Stallworth to shore up the receiver crew. On defense they acquired Baltimore Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas.
The Patriots played the San Diego Chargers in week two this season in what was billed as a smack down rematch from last year and with all the hype over Spygate, viewers were wondering just how much this would affect the Patriots. With only two games left we all know now that this Patriots team is special and the Spygate incident only helped fuel the fire that ignites this record breaking streak to get to the Championship Game.
After the Pats blew out the Chargers in week two the Chargers have put together a very nice winning streak of their own. They have piled up 8 straight wins and come into New England a little banged up. Their quarterback Philip Rivers has a slightly torn ACL in his right knee. Rivers is optimistic he will play Sunday. Tight end Antonio Gates has a toe injury and is doubtful for tomorrow. LaDainian Tomlinson has a slightly hyperextended left knee and is probable. Just yesterday Shawne Merriman was listed as questionable due to the flu. This injury report is probably a tit for tat for Bill Belichick's injury reports. Patriots Tackle Matt Light has the flu too. Merriman and Light will do battle on Sunday as they usually match up together as Merriman puts pressure on Brady.
Belichick loves to play cat and mouse with injury reports, as we all know Tom Brady is always on the list listed as probable with a shoulder injury. Ya Right!!!
The Chargers are going to have to play flawless football if they expect to keep up with this high powered offensive juggernaut of Brady to Moss, Welker, Stallworth, Gaffney and Kevin Faulk and don't forget Ben Watson. When the Pats get close to the goal line look for Brady to toss a sleeper pass to Mike Vrabel (look for #50 coming into the game at this point) who usually plays linebacker on the defensive side of the ball.
A big question for Charger fans is whether or not the Chargers can effectively put pressure on Brady. They need to force Brady to throw quickly and rattle his cage early and often. The downside to this is that the Pats front offensive line is one of the best offensive front lines this franchise has seen since the early days of John Hannah and Leon Gray. If Brady has time to unload that pin point accuracy he has had all season look for this to be a long day for Charger fans.
Look for the Pats to come out in a spread offense and possibly a no huddle attack early on. The weather should play a factor in this game if the winds pick up like it is expected to. Once the Pats take control early they will unleash Laurence Maroney who is extremely well rested this season, as the Pats have dominated by going to the air. Once Maroney and the Pats have established the ground game look for them to dominate time of possession and keep the Chargers off the field.
Last week a lot of people thought the Jaguars would have run the ball effectively against the Pats to take time off the clock and keep Brady off the field, but we all know that didn't work either.
The Chargers have the best running back since Barry Sanders in LaDainian Tomlinson and due to his knee he will not be as effective as once thought.
Four players did not play in week two that will be impact players in this game. For the Chargers we have Chris Chambers and Antonio Cromartie and for the Pats they have Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour.
I look for the Pats to win and go on to their sixth Super Bowl appearance.
As a true Patriot fan we will not look ahead to Super Bowl Sunday until this Sunday's 60 minutes of football has ended in Victory.
I'm looking at the stats and with that said:
Patriots 37
Chargers 21
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