The San Diego Chargers (2-1) took down the Miami Dolphins (0-3) Sunday at home.  The Chargers could not get much going at all in the first three quarters, but their defense did a great job of shutting down the Dolphins.  The only positive the Dolphins had on offense was their Wildcat running attack, as it got them 42 yards on seven tries (6.0 avg).

The Chargers shut down Chad Pennington, who left early in the second half after taking a big hit from Chargers’ linebacker Kevin Burnett.  Chad Henne had even less production against the Chargers defense, as Eric Weddle picked a Henne pass late in the 4th quarter and returned it 31 yards for a game sealing touchdown.

Philip Rivers did not have a huge game, as he failed to throw a touchdown, but he did go for 303 yards on 18/33 attempts (55%).  He did have a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the 3rd quarter, the Chargers first touchdown of the game.  The Chargers passing game was effective but the running game struggled.  Darron Sproles only rushed for 41 yards on 18 attempts (2.3 avg).

The Chargers defense did a great job at shutting the passing game down, but they need to figure out how to slow down the Wildcat formation.  Other teams in the league definitely noticed how the Dolphins’ Wildcat was successful against the Chargers and I am guessing they will try to utilize it against the Chargers as well.  The Chargers had a solid game overall, but they have the capability of playing much better and blowing out a team like the Miami Dolphins.

The San Diego Chargers (1-1) are hosting the Miami Dolphins (0-2) this week.  The Chargers have been inconsistent and although they  have a great offense, it has struggled at times early in this season.  Chargers’ star running back LaDainianTomlinson is still out with an ankle injury, and the talented Derron Sproles will replace him once again.  Sproles is just as dangerous in the passing game as he is on the ground, and he is one of quarterback Phillip Rivers’ favorite targets this year.

The Dolphins are going to need to stop the run if they want a chance at winning this game, but stopping the run has not prevented them from losing their first two games.  They are only giving up 64.5 yards per game on the ground, yet they are still 0-2.  The Chargers will need to figure out a way to get Sproles going on the ground, as time of possession is tough to win against the Dolphins.  The Dolphins have a very strong running attack and their quarterback Chad Pennington does not throw the ball a lot.  The Chargers need to stay on their toes, as the Dolphins run the wildcat better than any team in the league.

Rivers has thrown three interceptions already this year, but the talented quarterback has racked up a ton of yards.  Rivers needs to make sure that he limits the turnovers against the Dolphins, and if he does that I think the Chargers will not have a problem winning.  The Dolphins will put up a good fight but I think the Chargers will win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Dolphins 24, Chargers 31

The Chargers will be without starting center Nick Hardwick until at least December due to ankle surgery.  This is a huge blow to the offensive line of the Chargers who will have to run most of the running plays to the outside with the guards also hurting.  Scott Mruczkowski will replace Hardwick in the starting lineup and he has only started 2 games in his five year NFL career.  This injury spells trouble for the Chargers’ offense.

The Chargers have signed DT/DE Alfonso Boone to a 1-year deal.  Boone played in 15 games for the Chiefs last season and he made 17 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he had 1 sack.  Boone has now played in 113 games in his 8-year NFL career and he has made 150 tackles, defensed 13 passes, has 12.5 sacks and he has forced 1 fumble.  The 33-year old Boone doesn’t have a lot of tread left on his tires but the Chargers are gettting desperate.

The Chargers will be without DT Travis Johnson for at least Sunday’s game against the Dolphins with a groin strain.  He has two tackles this season for the Chargers.  This is a bad time for the Chargers to lose defensive linemen as they are having problems stopping the run and the Dolphins are coming to town.

The Chargers should have won this football game, period.  But, Norv Turner decided to run with Darren Sproles up the middle on a 4th and two despite Philip Rivers having passed for 436 yards in the game.  The result was Ray Lewis hitting Sproles in the backfield to essentially end this game.  Philip Rivers completed 25 of 45 passes for 436 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions.  Darren Sproles only rushed for 26 yards on 10 carries (2.6 ypc) but he also caught 7 passes for 124 yards (17.7 avg) with a TD (81 yarder).  Sproles also returned 4 kickoffs for 128 yards (32.0 avg) in this game as he was electrice.  WR Vincent Jackson led the way for the Chargers in the passing game with 6 catches for 141 yards (23.5 avg) with a TD.  Antonio Gates pitched in with 5 catches for 78 yards (15.6 avg) in this game.  The Chargers finished up with 474 total yards in this game (53 rushing, 421 passing).

The defense had some problems with the Ravens’ physical style on offense.  Safety Eric Weddle led the way for the Chargers on D with 10 tackles.  The Ravens finished up with 311 total yards on offense (130 rushing, 181 passing) in this game.  The Chargers are now 1-1 on the season.

The San Diego Chargers hope their offense performs better against the Baltimore Ravens than in their week one game against the Oakland Raiders.  The Chargers were expected to blow the Raiders out, but they were lucky to come out of the game with a win as the offense looked pretty bad.

The Chargers offense took another hit with the news that LaDainian Tomlinson is out with an ankle sprain.  Darren Sproles looked great though, so LT wont be missed too much.  Sproles was the only guy who played well for the Chargers offense and look for more of the same from him against the Ravens.  The Ravens defense is stronger than the Raiders, so they will be able to contain him a little better but Sproles will still be very effective.

Quarterback Phillip Rivers needs to have a much stronger game this week if they want any chance at winning, as that Ravens defense will eat him up if he doesn’t bring his “A” game.  The Ravens defense may not be the biggest concern for the Chargers though, as Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense racked up a franchise-record 501 total yards last week.

I think the Ravens have a complete football team and it will be quite a challenge for the Chargers to win this game.  With the way they played in week one, and how great the Ravens looked, I don’t think the Chargers are going to win this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Ravens 27, Chargers 17

The Chargers have lost 33-year old DT Jamal Williams for the remainder of the season due to a triceps injury.  The Chargers will really miss the 6’3″, 348 pound Williams who is a good run defender.  He had 3 tackles in the season opener against the Raiders last week.  In 12 years with the Chargers, Williams has played in 148 games in which he has 394 tackles, has defensed 21 passes, has 13 sacks, has forced 4 fumbles and 1 interception (which he returned for a TD).  This is a huge loss for the Chargers.

The Chargers wanted to keep Darren Sproles involved in the game despite LaDainian Tomlinson looking healthy.  Sproles got his hands on the football 22 times in the season opener against the Raiders and he was good for 246 total yards.  He carried the ball 9 times for only 23 yards (2.6 ypc) but he scored the game winning TD.  He also caught 5 passes for 43 yards (8.6 avg) in that game on Monday Night.  Sproles was electric on kickoff returns as he had 5 of them for 170 yards (34.0 avg).  He also pitched in with 3 punt returns for 10 yards (3.3 avg).  Sproles might not get to return kicks and punts if LaDainian Tomlinson starts missing playing time due to injury.

The Chargers have lost RB Gartrell Johnson on waivers to the Giants.  Johnson was the Chargers’ leading rusher in the pre-season as he carried the ball 48 times for 184 yards (3.8 ypc).  He also caught 7 passes for 57 yards (8.1 avg) for the Chargers.  With LaDainian Tomlinson limping around the Chargers might have been smart to keep their 4th round pick of this year out of Colorado State.