The Chargers put up a good fight yesterday despite not having LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates for most of the game.  Philip Rivers couldn’t get much mustard on his passes because he couldn’t push off his bad knee.  Rivers completed 19 of 37 passes for 211 yards with 2 interceptions.  LaDainian Tomlinson only carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc) before he had to leave the game due to injury.  Michael Turner filled in for L.T. and he carried the ball 17 times for 65 yards (3.8 ypc).  Darren Sproles was electric when he touched the football as he carried it 3 times for 34 yards (11.3 ypc).  Vincent Jackson (6 rec, 93 yards) and Chris Chambers (7 rec, 90 yards) both had solid games for the Patriots yesterday.  The Chargers finished up with 104 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 37 passes for 207 yards.

The pass defense of the Chargers was exceptional yesterday as they held Randy Moss to 1 catch for 18 yards and they intercepted Tom Brady 3 times.  But, poor tackling against the run killed them in this football game.  CB Antonio Cromartie led the way for the Chargers Defense with 9 tackles and a interception.  Igor Olshansky backed up his talk early in the week with 7 tackles and 1/2 a sack.  The Patriots finished up with 149 yards rushing on 31 carries (4.8 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes for 198 yards.

The Patriots continue their march to an unbeaten record, but the Chargers will be a formidable foe.  After all they did knock out the defending World Champs on their own field last weekend. 

The Chargers come into this game banged up on offense.  It looks as if Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates will all attempt to give it a go.  Rivers has been outstanding in the post season and he always plays with a chip on his shoulder.  Rivers though will be playing with a partially torn ACL so the front line better block well.  Look for the Patriots to blitz more than usual to try to rattle Rivers or knock him out of the game.  But, the Chargers could just decide to feed the ball to LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner to try to control the clock and keep the ball away from the Patriots offense.

Chargers defensive end Igor Olshansky could wind up being the new Anthony Smith (Steelers safety) as he was talking trash earlier in the week.  Look for the Patriots to run a few plays his way to try to make him look bad.  It will be fun to watch the Antonio Cromartie vs. Randy Moss matchup as Tom Brady will have to be careful there.  Still, the Patriots could use Moss as a decoy again this week and spread the football around.  The Patriots will also likely run the ball more than usual if they get a lead in this game.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 31, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 21

The Chargers Front Office was under big time heat for firing Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 record and hiring Norv Turner who was a loser everywhere he was ever the head coach at.  The Chargers won the AFC West again with a 11-5 record and Turner has led them to 2 playoffs wins which now have the Chargers in the AFC Championship this weekend against the Patriots.  Turner has now been a NFL head coach for 10 seasons in the NFL and he has compiled a 69-87-1 (.442 %) during the regular season and he now is 3-1 (.750 %) in the post season.

The Chargers pulled a shocker last Sunday and they did it with some of their backup players.  Philip Rivers was outstanding before he left the game with a knee injury.  Rivers completed 14 of 19 passes for 264 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 interception.  Billy Volek finished up the game completing 3 of 4 passes for 48 yards.  He also carried the ball 3 times for a loss of 1 yard….but he scored the eventual game-winning TD with a goal line plunge.  LaDainian Tomlinson only carried the ball 7 times for 28 yards (4.0 ypc) before leaving the game with a injury.  Michael Turner replaced L.T. in the game and he played well.  Turner rushed for 71 yards on 17 carries (4.2 ypc).  Darren Sproles only carried the ball 1 time for 1 yard but he also caught 1 pass for 56 yards and it was for a TD.  Vincent Jackson (7 rec, 93 yards, TD) and Chris Chambers (3 rec, 67 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game with outstanding efforts.  The Chargers finished up with 99 yards rushing on 30 carries (3.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 23 passes for 312 yards.

The Chargers defense was led by Stephen Cooper (16 tackles), Antonio Cromartie (6 tackles, interception) and Eric Weddle (5 tackles, interception).  The Colts finished up with 44 yards rushing on 18 carries (2.4 ypc) and they also completed 33 of 48 passes for 402 yards.

On November 11th of this season the Chargers beat the Colts 23-21 in San Diego.  It’s unlikely that the Chargers will pick off Peyton Manning six times again like they did November 11th, so they will need to play mistake free football to have a chance to win on the road. 

The Colts have been very good at stopping the run this season so the Chargers will need to throw the football often on first down to loosen up the Colts secondary.  They will need Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers to repeat last week’s performance against the Titans but that will likely be hard to do against corners Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden.  With that in mind look for a lot of passes to LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates (if he can play).  That will put big pressure on outside linebackers Freddy Keiaho and Tyjuan Hagler.  Still, the Chargers won’t forget to run the ball considering that they have the best running back on the planet.

The Colts will likely try to mix the run in more than usual with Joseph Addai taking on the interior of the Chargers defense.  That’s because Peyton Manning had one of his worst games ever in the regular season meeting with the Chargers and Colts as he threw six pickoffs.  Look for Manning to keep the passing game short to Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Anthony Gonzalez and Dallas Clark.  The Colts must get good blocking from their tackles or the Colts could be in trouble with Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips blitzing off of the edges.

PREDICTION:  COLTS 24, CHARGERS 23