Chargers - Raiders Week 5
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by OMAR
Chargers 41 - Broncos 3 Think the Chargers are back? Despite the lopsided score, I emphatically say NO, they are not back. Last year, LaDanian Tomlinson averaged 113 rushing yards per game, at 5.2 yards per carry. When I was looking over the match-ups for this game, one statistic stood out from the rest. The Broncos were one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL, yielding 5.2 yards per carry to anyone, and LT is not just anyone. This was all set up to be the breakout game for Tomlinson.
What happened yesterday was something unexpected. LT finished with 21 rushes for 67 yards, or 3.2 yards per carry. Once the game was out of hand, Turner came in and rushed for huge chunks of yardage, but by then the will of the Denver defense had already been broken. I don’t think Turner’s yards are indicative of a resurgence in the San Diego running game.
Turning to the passing game, I see that the Chargers don’t have much of one outside of throws to Antonio Gates. Take away the catches by Gates and the Chargers completed 3 passes to Vincent Jackson and 3 passes to Tomlinson. That’s it. In contrast, Denver completed balls to 7 different targets. San Diego can’t spread the ball around even if they wanted to. Take a look at their depth chart. See any decent replacements for Eric Parker on that page? Parker is going to be out for a couple more weeks, and I don’t think San Diego scares anyone with the pass. That means more stacking the box and shutting down the running game.
Don’t forget that this is the same Chargers team that just lost to the hapless Chiefs 16-30 in San Diego. Blowing out the Broncos in Denver isn’t the accomplishment of the century and hardly means the Chargers should be a 10 point favorite over the Raiders next week. Put me down for Raiders +10′.
