Chargers McNeill inks, Seattle Preview
[picappgallerysingle id="9551106"]
The San Diego Chargers LT Marcus McNeill has signed his tender offer as the San Diego Chargers are poised to take on the Seattle Seahawks at QWest Field, one of the toughest places in the league to play. What should Chargers fans expect to see this Sunday? Philip Rivers throwing the ball, and then throwing the ball some more.
Rookie RB Ryan Mathews likely will not play in Sundays game after suffering an ankle injury last weekend, so the San Diego Chargers will once again have to rely on the arm of Philip Rivers. Some thought that Rivers production would fall off with the absence of WR Vincent Jackson, but Rivers is still averaging 316 yards per game and has a 107.0 passer rating.I expect Rivers to test rookie S Earl Thomas early and often.
The Seattle stadium is one of the loudest in the country and the fans pride themselves on being the 12th man, there are more false start penalties called in Seattle than in any other stadium in the league. Each team comes into the game 1-1, each having won at home and lost on the road.
The Seahawks are currently 30th when it comes to time of possession, only average 24:54 minutes of possession a game. The Chargers are currently 9th in the league against the pass and 12th against the rush. A continuation of that rend and that is the recipe for a Chargers victory over Seattle.
Philip Rivers hopes Vincent Jackson is happy
[picappgallerysingle id="9814942"]
San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers is trying to help defend the Chargers AFC West division crown this season without WR Vincent Jackson and Rivers hopes he’s happy. Vincent Jackson is currently serving a 6 game suspension and has threatened to hold out for the entire season n what has become one of the more bizarre story lines of the NFL this season. Jackson was widely believed to be traded by Wednesday this week but still remains without a job.
Philip Rivers was a guest on XX Sports Radio in San Diego with Darren Smith and he commented on the Chargers offense without Jackson and the current state of the San Diego Chargers. You can listen to the entire interview right here.
Rivers said the last time he spoke with Vincent Jackson was prior to the Chargers opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. Rivers said that he is experiencing some good chemistry with the receivers on the roster and he wished Jackson a good career.
“It’s different with every guy. There is something special that Vincent and I had. There was a five or six year time period where we threw and caught a lot of balls and talked over a lot of plays. I honestly do feel I have some of that same type of comfort level with these other guys. It’s different. It’s developed differently and it’s developed over different amounts of time. There haven’t been quite the same amount of reps over the last couple of years, but from a communication and a trust standpoint, I certainly have a great deal of confidence in all of our guys. I think probably the relationship and the continuity and where it’s grown the most with one particular guy is Buster Davis. I got a whole summer where he took a brunt of the reps. Shoot I’ve almost thrown him balls these first two weeks and preseason than I threw him in any live game action in the last three years. I’d say that’s one of them that sticks out. I’ve always had a good rapport with Malcom (Floyd) and Legedu (Naanee). Great deal of confidence in all those guys. I’d love to be able to throw it to him again but if not, I want him to keep on and have a great career.”
Chargers look to rebound over Jaguars this week
[picappgallerysingle id="9765251"]
After a lackluster effort against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, the San Diego Chargers look to rebound against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week in the Chargers home opener. Sunday’s game against the Jaguars is one that the Chargers should walk away with. Many pundits mused in the preseason that judging on the Chargers first 6 games, they would be 6-0 heading into a match-up with the New England Patriots. Have they watched the Chargers in the past few seasons? This is a team which loves to dig itself into a hole early on, then race back to run off 10 straight wins and then check out of the playoffs at the earliest possible moment.
The Chargers need to win this game on Sunday. They need to make a statement against a very weak East coast team traveling to the West coast. They need to win this game to shake the questions surrounding Vincent Jackson and the non re-signing of LT Marcus McNeill. They need to win this game for a whole host of reasons, but quite simply, they looked bad on Monday night against the Chiefs and they need to post a win and get into the game early on in this season.
It needs to be a heavy dose of Ryan Mathews and Antonio Gates against a suspect defensive line for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The back end of the Chargers schedule is filled with pitfalls, games against Tennessee, Houston, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Cincinnati. They can’t simply think they’ll be able to rebound this year and run of another 10 plus consecutive wins, they need to get some wins against some of these teams in the front half of the season if they think they will advance to the playoffs this season.
Chargers close to moving Jackson?
[picappgallerysingle id="7791481"]
According to this site, the San Diego Chargers might be very close to trading WR Vincent Jackson to the Minnesota Vikings for perhaps a tiered trade package. Jackson is scheduled to meet for an arbitration hearing this afternoon to see if the league will reduce his 6 game suspension to only three games. If that happens according to the report, the Minnesota Vikings will move on making an offer for the disgruntled receiver.
Minnesota needs receiving help. The starter, Sidney Rice had surgery just days before the season opened and will miss at least half of the regular season. In their opening game against the New Orleans Saints, QB Brett Favre only completed 4 passes to his wide receivers. If this is going to be Brett Favre’s last year, and I hope it is, he’s going to need help at the receiver position.
San Diego Chargers in the Super Bowl?
[picappgallerysingle id="9550218"]
Are the San Diego Chargers bound for Dallas to play in the Super Bowl this season? San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers seems to think the Chargers have a good chance heading into this season despite the holouts and roster changes. Rivers appeared on Sports Radio XX in San Diego to talk about the upcoming season and what fans should expect from the team in 2010. You can listen to the entire interview right here.
Rivers told the radio program that the biggest improvement to the Chargers game this year will be the running attack. Rivers said, “Some of the numbers last year, I think the stats don’t always tell the whole story because we ran it in spurts last year and did some really good things, but I think over the last training camp and the last three months we really improved there.” I have to agree with Rivers, Ryan Mathews has to be considered the favorite for the offensive rookie of the year heading into 2010. Mathews has really looked impressive in the preseason action I have watched, and his fresh set of legs should jump start the Chargers running game this season.
The Chargers have had a somewhat chaotic offseason with the holdouts of WR Vincent Jackson and LT Marcus McNeill and Rivers was asked if he’s thinking of the Super Bowl and whether he thinks the Chargers can get there. His response, (as transcribed by sportsradiointerviews.com)
“I think you’ve gotta think about it and you’ve gotta picture yourself being there on February 6th in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium or whatever they call that. I think you’ve got to. Every team right now thinks they have a chance, and who knows who’s going to? Who really knows who’s going to pan out over 16 games, but I think possibly we can say here we’re one of the teams who does have a chance. Obviously it’s a long way and we have a lot to take care of to do it. If you told me when I was ten years old that I was going to be on the San Diego Chargers and be on a team that’s got a legitimate shot we’d be knocking the door down to get on the practice field and fighting like crazy and doing all we could do to win it. That’s where we are. We’re in that moment and it’s exciting. As emotional as this game is you have to have a plan and a focus over the next five months. You hope that you’re gonna sustain that over five months and you’re gonna be there in Cowboys stadium to go win a championship. I think our team has done a great job with the one game at a time approach and that’s what our approach is, but if that’s not in the back of your mind somewhere, I don’t think you can ever get there if you don’t think about it every so often.”
