Tom Brady and Patriots will destroy Chargers
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Tom Brady confused by all the open receivers
There it is.
It is out on paper. The big prediction.
New England will handily defeat the San Diego Chargers.
Come on, you know the game you really wanted was the Colts playing the Patriots. It is the missing matchup of red hot Peyton Manning firing bullets all over Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. And don’t make me spell Mass a what chetts.
Oh yeah, a stadium named for razors, what could be more apt. Tom Brady is a triple blade with all his weapons and Peyton Manning is a cordless electric with rotating heads acting smooth and easy.
Instead we get the banged up chargers playing a replacement blade in Billy Volek.
Now the matchup you are waiting for is Brett Favre and the Packers against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. San Diego has become the kid brother being pushed around.
Peyton and Brett discussing the awesome Billy Volek
Philip Rivers
There is the news that Philip Rivers may play.
Rivers returned to the practice field Friday for the first time this week and sounded ready to go.
“I think honestly, given the magnitude of the game and given the situation, if I’m out there as I plan to be for the first snap and throughout the game, it won’t have an effect at all,” he said.
Chargers coach Norv Turner is taking a more cautious approach. He listed Rivers as doubtful and said it would be a gametime decision. source
Uhh, hard to throw when you are on crutches. Tough to escape that pass rush, too.
But before we continue down the litany of injured players and decide who will play and who won’t play, why don’t we think about how Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and company will score so many points that it won’t matter.
Shawne Merriman
Are Chargers fans thinking Shawne Merriman will have Tom Brady running all over the field? Not according to Gil Brandt. Gil says most of San Diego’s interceptions are because of the rush of Shawne Merriman or Shaun Phillips. Too bad Merriman will be blocked by Matt Light.
Light, who was selected to start in the Pro Bowl, is having his best year in the NFL. He’ll get a good test against Merriman. In the Week 2 meeting, the Pats threw 10 consecutive passes in the first two series — nine of those plays came with a no-huddle and eight came from a shotgun formation. That makes it tough on pass rushers. Light is a sound player who rarely makes a mistake. source
Merriman will still force Tom into some quick throws, but isn’t that what Tom seems to do best with that quick release and pinpoint accuracy?
Scheduling the Chargers
You wonder if the schedule maker has done the Chargers any good?
The last 6 games of the regular season after losing to the Jaguars, the Chargers basically played nobody. They won all those games and you can’t blame the Chargers for the schedule, but they were untested during that time. Can you go untested and stay sharp? Who knows? They did manage to beat the Colts. Maybe this is just a bit of over thinking on my part.
During that same time period the Pats had to play the Steelers, arch rival Jets, and Giants. Now they did have a bye week when Miami came into town.
Antonio Gates vs. Randy Moss
Antonio Gates had 75 catches and most likely will not play in this game the second most catches on the Chargers was LT with 60, but by a wide receiver was Vincent Jackson with 41.
And keep in mind, Billy Volek threw 10 passes all year with a 0 qb rating.
Contrast this with the fact that Randy Moss caught 98 passes for the New England Patriots and Randy was second in receptions for the Patriots! Wes Welker caught 112.
Tom Brady threw 578 passes with a QB rating of 117.2.
San Diego will need Philip Rivers to play, heck, maybe they need Brett Favre to play for them and LaDainian Tomlinson to be able to move on his hyper extended knee to stand any chance at all.
NFL Side note: Your intrepid author will send you to the poor house if you have been betting the farm on his picks. All picks are the sole property of the author himself, who does not bet and if he did, could make a living betting against himself.
To end this rambling, let’s pick the Patriots to beat the Chargers.
NFL Football Fan Question Who are you picking?
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POSTED IN: Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, LaDainian Tomlinson, Miami Dolphins, NFL Football, NFL Playoffs, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Randy Moss, San Diego Chargers, Super Bowl, Tom Brady
2 opinions for Tom Brady and Patriots will destroy Chargers
Jess
Jan 20, 2008 at 9:11 am
The Pats are going make the Chargers look like a bunch of fools. Lets see Hobbs do Merriman’s lights out dance after the game again.
Jt
Jan 20, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I think you make some good points, but don’t count San Diego out. They want this, and it has to be hard to be the Patriots and not think that you already have this one in the bag. Well Indy thought that last week and see what happened. No matter what we will know the outcome in the first half.
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