No Panic Button for Chargers: Slow Start in San Diego Follows Yearly Pattern

Just hours away from a Thursday night primetime match-up with AFC West rival Kansas City, the 2nd place San Diego Chargers (3-4) may find themselves in a must-win situation.

At 1-6, the Chiefs are virtually out of playoff contention as we approach Week 9 in the NFL, especially considering the Broncos and Peyton Manning appear to be heating up. The Chargers, however, find themselves in the heat of the race for the division title.

Philip Rivers' offense got off to a quick start to the season, beginning the season at 3-1 (including a 37-20 victory over these same Chiefs) with the lone loss coming to the still-undefeated Falcons. On defense, San Diego limited opponents to 17.8 points/game while putting up 25.0.

But since that Week 4 victory over KC, the Chargers have dropped three straight games, including a devastating 35-24 loss to Denver three Mondays ago and a 7-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns just last Sunday.

There didn't appear to be any reason for concern when the New Orleans Saints knocked off the Bolts by one touchdown in the beginning of October, but after blowing a 24-point halftime lead to the Broncos the following week, concern started building up.

To make things worse, the Chargers failed to re-group following the bye week and failed to put the ball into the end zone against a team (the 2-6 Browns) that has allowed the 4th-most yards, 10th-most points and 4th-most passing TDs in the entire league.

It's not like the Chargers didn't have run support against Cleveland, either. Running back Ryan Mathews, who, by the way, has finally appeared to be fully recovered from the broken collarbone suffered in August, ran for 95 yards on 24 attempts. But the struggling Rivers managed to complete just over half of his passes for 154 yards.

San Diego's 9th-best scoring defense and 8th-best total yardage defense did its job against rookie signal caller Brandon Weeden and the Browns, limiting them to just 250 total yards and one Trent Richardson touchdown. But Rivers failed to get anything going in terms of touchdown drives and two Nick Novak field goals is all San Diego came away with.

It's been clear that added pressure and lack of a true No. 1 receiver has really hurt the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback thus far in 2012. But, there's certainly a silver lining when it comes to Rivers' and San Diego offense's slow start: it can be overcome, and overcome rather quickly.

Ever since taking over the full-time starting role with the Chargers in 2006, the Bolts have struggled to pull away with a division lead through the first 7 games of the season. In fact, they're usually right around the current pace in terms of winning percentage. Just take a look:

Chargers' year-by-year records (thru first 7 games) since 2006: 5-2, 4-3, 3-4, 4-3, 2-5, 4-3, 3-4.

Total record (thru first 7 games) from 2006-12: 25-24 in seven seasons (average per year: 3.6-3.4)

How many postseason appearances over those 7 seasons? Four. With three double-digit win totals.

When it comes to Philip Rivers' numbers, everyone should be aware of his December/January breakout. Here's a look at his career regular season stats from September-November, compared with his December stats:

Pre-December: 77 games, 42-35 record, 245.0 yards/game, 1.6 TDs/game, 0.9 INTs/game
December/January (Regular season only): 31 games, 27-4 record (undefeated in January), 53 TDs, 18 INTs; 99.9 rating in Dec., 100.7 rating in Jan.

As a whole, San Diego's offense just plays better December football thanks in part to Rivers' elevated play. So, before you start rule the Chargers out of the race out Wes, keep in mind that Rivers is bound to turn this one around and improve on his current 82.4 rating (tied for his career-low as regular starter).

Despite being without top receivers Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal tonight (both inactive due to injury), San Diego's quest for its first postseason appearance since '09 begins with a victory over Kansas City.

Moral of the story: Never rule out the Chargers.

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Rams Host Kolb, Fitzgerald on Thursday Night

Don't you just love the new Thursday Night Football schedule? Football games every Thursday night, couldn't be better.

Tonight, beginning in just a few minutes on NFL Network to be exact, the 2-2 St. Louis Rams host one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the 4-0 Arizona Cardinals.

With the perfect record on the line, Kevin Kolb and Arizona's 15th-ranked overall offense will look to continue its hot streak. Thus far this season, however, its been the Cardinal defense that has kept the squad in games and allowed them to upset teams such as the Patriots and Eagles.

The Rams are 2-0 at home this season, defeating the Redskins 31-28 (thanks in part to a huge mistake of WR Josh Morgan) and the Seahawks 19-13 this past weekend.

But, the Cardinals defense has yet to allow any more than 21 points to a team and has a perfect 1-0 record on the road, entering a tough crowd in New England and coming away with a Week 2 victory. The No. 3 overall defense (21st against pass, 16th against run) will be a tough match for quarterback Sam Bradford and the Rams' 24th-ranked overall offense.

It'll certainly be an interesting matchup with Larry Fitzgerald going up against St. Louis' secondary, led by feisty cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who have allowed just 2 passing touchdowns in four games.

I wont be calling for an upset tonight, however, as Kevin Kolb has been playing great football and with Fitzgerald having two consecutive games with a receiving touchdown, I expect another big game from Arizona's passing offense.

My prediction: Arizona improves to 5-0 with a 31-14 victory over St. Louis.

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Real Officials Make Return on Thursday Night Football; NFLRA Officially Approves New Labor Deal

Earlier this morning the NFLRA met and voted on the new labor deal which passed just prior to Thursday night's game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.

Fortunately, the deal was agreed upon on Wednesday night and allowed the regular officials to return to action Thursday night before the NFLRA even finalized the deal by voting on it. The vote on the new eight-year labor deal was made and approved by the officials this morning. Which means the end to the lockout was finally made official.

Week 4 got underway in rainy Baltimore two nights ago, as the now 3-1 Baltimore Ravens knocked off the feisty, yet winless, Cleveland Browns.

It was Cleveland's defense, led by linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, that kept the Browns in the game all the way through. Sacking quarterback Joe Flacco four times and picking him off once more, in addition to holding Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice to just 49 yards on 18 carries, allowed Cleveland to limit Baltimore's offense to just 23 points.

Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden and his offense were forced to settle for three field goals and had two turnovers, therefore preventing any further damage than the team's 16 points. Weeden did look pretty solid on the team's final drive of the game.

Though the team failed to knot the game up at 23 in the end, Weeden drove the team 72 yards down the field on 10 plays. It took just over a minute and was helped out by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Baltimore's Paul Kruger, but Weeden showed poise and patience in the pocket. His desperation pass to Greg Little fell to the ground as time expired, but I think Weeden managed to walk off the field with a bit more self-confidence after keeping it close against a defense of Baltimore's caliber.

But no matter what happened in the Cleveland/Baltimore showdown, we all knew that the return of the officials was going to steal the show on Thursday. And that they did.

In fact, they were basically given a standing ovation as they took the field prior to the start of the game. The National Football League is back, and it's integrity appears to have been restored after zero controversial calls were made. It's a great feeling heading in to Sunday's slate of games, isn't it?

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Thursday Night Fun: Defending Champs Visit Newton's Panthers

I must admit, it's really nice having Thursday night games throughout the season. Seems to make the week pass by quicker. Week 3 kicks off tonight with the defending champion New York Giants visiting the 1-1 Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.

Eli Manning and the Giants are coming off a stunning come-from-behind victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 41-34, on Sunday. A game in which Manning out-passed Tampa's Josh Freeman in the final quarter alone. His two passing TDs in the fourth were enough to erase a 24-13 halftime deficit and his nearly 250 fourth quarter passing yards gave him an eighth-most 510 for the game.

Unfortunately for the 1-1 G-Men, WRs Hakeem Nicks, RB Ahmad Bradshaw and T David Diehl have all been ruled out for tonight's matchup with Carolina's 11th-ranked defense (13th vs. pass, 28th vs. rush).

In Carolina's 35-27 victory over NFC South rival New Orleans Saints on Sunday, which some saw as somewhat of an upset, the offense ran for 219 yards and 3 TDs on 41 attempts. Led by sophomore quarterback Cam Newton's 71 yards, the team spread a majority of the carries between DeAngelo Williams (14) and Jonathan Stewart (11). Both backs ran for 50+ yards and Williams added a 3-yard third quarter touchdown.

Though Stewart (toe and ankle) will be a game-time decision tonight, the Panthers' run game isn't likely to back down against New York's 16th-ranked.

The No. 1 aspect in tonight's game to watch is without a doubt the quarterback showdown between the visiting Eli Manning and Carolina's Cam Newton. Both former No. 1 draft picks, this is surely the match-up to watch.

But, the bottom line here is that I believe the Panther offense will prevail, despite the idea that Stewart likely wont play much even if he is active. Eli without Nicks (10 catches, 199 yards, 1 TD last week) will be tough against a defense that has allowed just two touchdowns through the air thus far this season.

My prediction: Carolina 28, New York 21

Bold Predictions:

*Eli throws 2 INTs

*Cam Newton throws for 250 and runs for another 80; 2 pass TDs, 1 rushing

*Giants held to under 100 yards on the ground

*Jon Beason records another 10 tackles (did so in Week 1 vs. TB)

*New York Giants D: ZERO sacks against Newton

Interesting stat: Cam Newton has thrown for 2 INTs this season, Eli Manning has thrown 3 INTs. All five of those interceptions have come against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Thursday Night Football: League's Most-Storied Rivalry Renewed

Yet another first for the 2012 NFL season tonight, as tonight marks the first Thursday Night Football matchup of the season. And it's only Week 2.

One of the great moves, in my opinion, for this season is the fact that primetime Thursday football takes place throughout the entire season rather than mid-to-late in the season like previous seasons.

The 0-1 Green Bay Packers, led by reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers, will play host to the 1-0 Chicago Bears tonight (on NFL Network) as the National Football League's fiercest and most-storied rivalry renews.

In 182 all-time regular season meetings, the Bears currently hold a 91-85-6 series lead. The teams have only met twice in the postseason, however, and that series is tied at 1-1. The first-ever meeting between the two teams came on November 21, 1921, back when the Bears were named the Chicago Staleys. According to pro-football-reference.com, the "Staleys" won that game 20-0 and virtually owned the rivalry early on, winning seven of the first 10 match-ups.

As of late, the Chicago/Green Bay rival has been dominated by the green and gold, posting a 7-2 head-to-head record, including a 21-14 NFC Championship victory, since the start of the 2008 regular season.

Now that we have a bit of background information on the league's oldest rivalry, it's time to get on with business. Chicago defeated the Indianapolis Colts 41-21 on Sunday in rookie Andrew Luck's pro debut. The Packers on the other hand, were shocked at home by the NFC runner-ups from last season in San Francisco, 30-22.

Green Bay lost just one regular season game all of last year, but all of a sudden in the first week of play they find themselves sitting at 0-1. Clearly no one is going to be panicking after one week of a 16-game season, but if anyone wants this game more, it's the Packers.

Despite the news that Pro Bowl wideout Greg Jennings (groin) will not be active tonight, I believe the Packers will win on its home turf at Lambeau Field. My prediction: Chicago 21, Green Bay 35

Enjoy tonight's game!

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Must-win for Houston Tonight at Lincoln Financial

Houston has been very lucky this season? If Peyton Manning wasn't having an off year they would not have a shot in hell to make the playoffs right now with a 5-6 record (2-2 in division). But, coming off a 20-0 defeat of division rival Tennessee, Houston seems to be on track to put themselves in the middle of the playoff hunt in the South.

Just one game behind the first place Colts and Jags (both 6-5), the Texans have the ability to put themselves atop the division--temporarily, at least--with a convincing win over Michael Vick and the high-flying 7-4 Eagles.

Tonight, at 8:20 on NFL Network, Michael Vick will test the Texans' 28th-ranked defense in front of NFL fans all over the country. This is Houston's chance to show the nation that they truly do deserve to be considered a playoff contender coming out of the South. Whether they will manage to beat out Indy for this division title is yet to be seen, considering they still have Baltimore, Denver and two more divisional matchups (TEN, JAC) left on their schedule.

Despite having the seventh-best offensive attack in the league (seventh in rushing, 15th in passing) and one of the game's best runners in Arian Foster, I really don't think Houston will manage to contain Vick.

Unfortunately for Houston, Philly is poised to put a beating on Houston. This is actually unfortunately for me as well--I had Houston making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history this offseason.

Vick puts the ball in the end zone four times tonight, three through the air and one on the ground. Philly wins the game 38-17. That's my prediction. Bold, I know, but hey someone's gotta do it.

Whatifsports.com says...

Philadelphia 21, Houston 18

Not quite as big a margin as I was predicting, but same outcome nevertheless. Vick didn't have any rushing yards on five attempts (Houston did manage to contain him), but threw for 198 yards and tossed two TDs. LeSean McCoy ran all over Houston for 112 yards and a score.

Jeremy Maclin's 15-yard catch and run from Vick, which he put in the end zone, allowed Philly to extend its lead to 21-10 early in the fourth quarter. Foster ran the ball in from 13 yards out with four and a half minutes to play, but Philly's defense stopped Matt Schaub's late-game surge.

This loss may be the end to any playoff run Houston was hoping to make this season, putting to waste their solid 4-2 start this year.

Photo Credit

Arian Foster: AP Photo/David J. Phillip