27-year old WR Vincent Jackson ended his holdout yesterday by signing a 1-year deal with the Chargers worth $583,000.  He won’t be elgible to play until November 28th so in essence he’s only going to make $171,471 bucks this year.  That’s what he gets for holding out.  Jackson played in 15 games for the Chargers last season and he caught 68 passes for 1,167 yards (17.2 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  Jackson has now played in 70 games in his first five years with the Chargers and he has caught 198 passes for 3,400 yards (17.2 avg) with 25 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 10 times for 96 yards (9.6 ypc) for the Chargers.  Well, the Chargers offense will likely get a late season boost with Jackson’s signing.

This will be a very interesting game.  The Titans always seem to take their A-Game on the road as they are 3-0 there outscoring opposing teams 93-40.  The Chargers have played better at home than on the road this year as they are 2-1 at home outscoring opponents 99-46.  So something has to give in this game.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Chargers have the football:  The biggest thing for the Chargers this Sunday is that they have to protect the football.  They already have 18 turnovers on fumbles & interceptions this year.  They can’t afford to help the Titans’ offense by giving them short fields to work with.  Philip Rivers will have to get rid of the ball quick this Sunday as the Titans have 25 sacks already this year but he will at the same time have to be careful as the Titans have 12 interceptions this year.  To slow down the pass rush in this game, Rivers would be smart to throw to his backs a little more than usual.  That likely means that Darren Sproles will have a big role in the offense this Sunday.  Rivers will also likely target Antonio Gates and Patrick Crayton a lot in this game.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Titans are going to have Vince Young back at QB this weekend so they will likely try to grind it out on the ground.  Chris Johnson might have a tough time finding running room against a Chargers’ D that is only allowing 85.7 yards rushing and 3.5 yards per carry so far this year.  The Chargers have 25 sacks and 7 interceptions so far this year so Vince Young will have to get rid of the ball quick and be smart with the football.  Kenny Britt will likely be his top target in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 26, CHARGERS 23

The Chargers continued to kill themselves in this game.  How else can you explain it when the Chargers more than double the Patriots in offensive yards (363-179) and still lose?  Too many turnovers dug a hole too big for Philip Rivers to pull the Chargers out of.  Rivers completed 34 of 50 passes for 336 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT in this game and he also carried the ball 6 times for 9 yards (1.5 ypc).  Ryan Mathews (8 carries, 15 yards) and Mike Tolbert (2 carries, 5 yards, TD) had a hard time finding running room against the Patriots’ D in this game.  Darren Sproles carried the ball 2 times for 7 yards (3.5 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 70 yards (11.7 avg) so he helped out the offense a tad.  Patrick Crayton (7 rec, 82 yards), Buster Davis (6 rec, 53 yards) and Antonio Gates (4 rec, 50 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Chargers against the Patriots.  The Chargers finished up with 38 yards rushing on 19 carries (2.0 ypc) and they also completed 34 of 50 passes for 325 yards.

LBs Stephen Cooper (9 tackles) and Antwan Barnes (3 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits) led the way for the D which played well in this game.  The Patriots finished up with 51 yards rushing on 22 carries (2.3 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 32 passes for 128 yards.  The Chargers are now a stunning 2-5 on the year.

The Patriots are on a roll right now as they have won three games in a row.  The Chargers are 2-0 at home this year having outscored the Jaguars & Cardinals by a combined score of 79-23 so something has to give tomorrow.  Here is how I see the matchups in this game:

When the Chargers have the football:  Even with Malcolm Floyd out and TE Antonio Gates gimpy, I see Philip Rivers throwing early and often in this football game.  The Patriots are giving up 273.4 yards passing per game so Rivers should have no problem throwing on them as long as he has time to throw the ball (he has been sacked 18 times already this year).  The Chargers will be looking for Patrick Crayton and Buster Davis to step up in this game.  Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert will likely get a few carries each in this game against a Patriots’ D that is allowing 109.6 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots have been mixing in the running game more than they have in the past in an attempt to keep the opposing offense off the field.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis & Danny Woodhead will likely get a few carries apiece against a Chargers’ D that is allowing 91.5 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  The Chargers have 21 sacks on the year and they will be coming after Tom Brady.  Brady will keep the passing game of the shorter variety in this game using Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Danny Woodhead quite a bit.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 30, PATRIOTS 27

24-year old “fullback” Mike Tolbert has been outstanding for the Chargers this year.  He has played in all six games for the Chargers this year and he has carried the ball 66 times for 295 yards (4.5 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Tolbert has also caught 8 passes for 57 yards (7.1 avg) so far this year.  At 5’9″, 243 pounds Tolbert reminds me exactly of Michael Turner.  Hopefully the Chargers will be smart and keep Tolbert involved in the offense even with Ryan Mathews back in action.

27-year old Kevin Burnett and 29-year old Shaun Phillips have both been playing excellent football so far this year for the Chargers.  Burnett has played in all six games for the Chargers so far this year and he has 32 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 5 sacks, 4 passes defensed, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  Shaun Phillips has played in all six games for the Chargers so far this year and he has 22 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, 5 passes defensed and 1 interception (he returned it 31-yards for a TD).  Phillips & Burnett are a big part of the reason why the Chargers’ D is playing so well.  The Chargers are only giving up 255.2 yards of offense per game so far this year.

The Chargers will be without starting WR Malcolm Floyd this weekend due to a hamstring injury.  Floyd has played in all six games for the Chargers this year and he has caught 24 passes for 513 yards (21.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Floyd has ably filled in for Vincent Jackson so far this year.  The Chargers will turn to veteran WR Patrick Crayton as the #1 WR until Floyd is ready to return to action.  Crayton has played in 5 games for the Chargers so far this year and he has caught 11 passes for 211 yards (19.2 avg).  Crayton will likely do a solid job while Floyd is out of action.

The Chargers have signed 33-year old kicker Kris Brown.  Brown played in 16 games for the Texans last season and he connected on only 21 of 32 field goals (65.6%) and 43 of 44 extra points good for 106 points.  He has now played in 176 games in his NFL career and he has made 252 of 326 field goals (77.3%) and 347 of 354 extra points good for 1,103 points.  Brown will be replacing Nate Kaeding who’s out indefinitely with a groin injury.  Kaeding has played in the first six games for the Chargers this year and he has made 7 of 9 field goals (77.8%) and 18 of 18 extra points good for 39 points.  The Chargers have also released 3rd string QB J.T. O’Sullivan to make room on the roster for Kris Brown.

The Chargers’ struggles continued on the road today as they fell to the Rams.  Philip Rivers was under pressure all day long today as the Rams sacked him an amazing 7 times.  Rivers still managed to complete 22 of 37 passes for 249 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT despite playing without his top two receivers (Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates) for most of the game.  Ryan Mathews led the way on the ground for the Chargers today with 64 yards rushing on 12 carries (5.3 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 12 yards (4.0 avg).  Mike Tolbert ( 3 carries, 3 yards, TD) and Darren Sproles ( 1 carry, nine yards and 5 catches for 48 yards) also helped out a little bit today.  Patrick Crayton (6 rec, 117 yards) and Buster Davis (3 rec, 39 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Chargers today.  The Chargers finished up with 79 yards rushing on 17 carries (4.6 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 37 passes for 208 yards. 

Safety Eric Weddle (12 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and DT Antonio Garay (6 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Chargers on D in this game.  The Rams finished up with 117 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.3 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 31 passes for 183 yards.  The Chargers are now a very, very disappointing 2-4 on the season.

The Chargers are favored by 8.5 points this weekend despite having not won a game on the road this year.  The Chargers are 0-3 on the road as they have been outscored 83-61!  The Rams however have played pretty decent ball at home this year as they are 2-1 outscoring the opposition 63-36!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Chargers easily have the best offense in the NFL right now as they are averaging 461.8 total yards per game.  The Chargers would probably like to throw to get the lead and then grind out a win on the ground.  For that to work the O-Line is going to have to keep Philip Rivers clean and it won’t be easy as the Rams have 10 sacks already this year.  If Rivers has time to throw the ball he should have a field day throwing the ball to Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates as the Rams are giving up 231.2 yards passing per game this year.  Mike Tolbert and Ryan Mathews will likely also have decent games as they will likely find a lot of running room against a Rams’ D that is allowing 110.8 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.

When the Rams have the ball:  The Rams are going to likely try to play keepaway from the Chargers with Steven Jackson’s running.  The Chargers are only allowing 86.4 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry so Jackson’s going to have to earn every yard he gets.  The Chargers have 18 sacks and 7 interceptions this year so look for them to try to blitz rookie QB Sam Bradford into making some big mistakes. 

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 30, RAMS 13