Gameday: Chargers vs Patriots

The Matchup

One of the most anticipated matchups of the 2008 season will take place on the national prime-time stage as the San Diego Chargers welcome the New England Patriots to Qualcomm Stadium in a rematch of the 2007 AFC Championship Game on Sunday night, Oct. 12 at 5:15 p.m. PDT. Just a little more than 10 months ago, the Chargers fought and battled despite being injury-depleted and came up just short in their quest to reach Super Bowl XLII. NBC will televise the game with Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer calling the action.


Web broadcast begins at 5:15 p.m. PT. Oct. 12, 2008

The Series

The Chargers and Patriots have a long and storied history in both the regular season and the postseason. It goes back to 1963 when the Chargers defeated the Boston Patriots, 51-10, in the 1963 AFL Championship Game. Decades later it continued with the Chargers defeating the Pats in 2002 and again in 2005 during the regular season the year after New England won the Super Bowl. The latter, a 41-17 win in Foxboro in 2005, ended New England’s NFL-record 21-game home winning streak. All told, the Patriots lead the series, 20-14-2, and have won three in a row, including that 21-12 win in last year’s AFC title game.

What to look for

An energized and enthusiastic crowd at Qualcomm Stadium where the Chargers have won seven-straight nationally-televised night games. Just to add to the excitement, the Chargers will wear their Power-Blue alternate jerseys on Sunday night. Last year, the Bolts wore them twice in wins over Oakland (28-14) and the defending Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts (23-21). Former Chargers great, defensive end Fred Dean, will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame at halftime.

What to look for – offense

• LaDainian Tomlinson to become the 17th player in NFL history to go over 11,000 rushing yards for his career. Tomlinson comes into the game with 10,981 yards and needs just 19 more to reach 11,000.
• A matchup between two of the NFL’s top veteran wide receivers, the Chargers’ Chris Chambers and New England’s Randy Moss. Five of Chambers’ 11 catches this season have gone for touchdowns, including one last Sunday in his return to Miami. He has at least one TD catch in four of the Bolts’ five games this season. With 226 yards, Chambers is averaging 20.5 yards per catch, second in the NFL among players with at least two catches per game. Moss led the NFL with 23 TD catches in 2007 and this year has 17 catches for 274 yards, a 16.1 yards per catch average, and a pair of TDs.

What to look for – defense

• Two teams that play a 3-4 defense, with each featuring one of the NFL’s top defensive tackles, San Diego’s Jamal Williams and New England’s Vince Wilfork. Williams has 16 tackles, half a sack and two tackles for loss on the season.
• Two of the NFL’s top pass-rushing OLBs, San Diego’s Shaun Phillips and New England’s Adalius Thomas. Both players lead their respective teams and rank among the NFL leaders with three sacks apiece.

What to look for – special teams

• The Chargers’ Nate Kaeding and the Patriots’ Stephen Gostkowski are two of the NFL’s most accurate kickers. Kaeding is especially tough at Qualcomm Stadium, where he’s hit 52-of-58 during his career, including 3-of-3 in 2008. Gostkowski is a perfect 10-of-10 this season, including a 3-for-3 performance last Sunday in San Francisco.
• Chargers punter Mike Scifres, who also doubles as the holder for Kaeding, is on his way to a record-breaking year. Scifres, who is averaging a lofty 52.6 yards per punt, is well on his way to breaking the Bolts’ team record of 46.2 yards set by Darren Bennett in 2000. He’s currently second in the NFL in gross avg. and leading the league in net avg. (45.1). Scifres is coming off a game in which he averaged a season-high 55.8 yards per punt and a net of 50.5, which was his highest ever in a game that he punted more than one time.
• Three of the NFL’s top return men, San Diego’s Darren Sproles and New England’s Kevin Faulk and Ellis Hobbs. Sproles’ 30.8-yard KOR avg. is the league’s third best, and while he doesn’t have enough returns to qualify, his 10.7-yard PR avg. has him rubbing elbows with the league’s best. Last year Sproles had his ‘coming out party’ in an NBC SNF game against Indianapolis, helping lead the Chargers to a 23-21 win with both a kickoff (89 yards) and a punt (45 yds) return for touchdowns. Faulk meanwhile is the NFL’s second-leading punt returner (15.1 avg.) and Hobbs leads the league in KORs, averaging 34.2 yards per runback.

Notable Connections

Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith was a part-time scout for the Patriots from 1978-80. Smith hails from Warwick, Rhode Island and played wide receiver for the semi-pro Attleboro (Mass.) Kings of the Eastern Football League. Special teams coach Steve Crosby coached special teams and tight ends for the Patriots in 1990. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Steeg is a Boston native.

Chargers defensive end Jacques Cesaire is from Gardner, Mass. Linebacker Stephen Cooper is from Wareham, Mass. Wide receiver and Pro Bowl special teamer Kassim Osgood was born in Boston.

Quarterbacks coach John Ramsdell (Springfield, Mass.) and running backs coach Ollie Wilson (Worcester, Mass.) are both natives of the New England area and played at Springfield College. Crosby (previous page) was on Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick’s staff with the Cleveland Browns from 1991-95. Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders when Pats wide receiver Randy Moss played for the Silver & Black. Chargers defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and assistant secondary coach Kevin Ross were on staff in Minnesota in 2004, Moss’ final season with the Vikings.

The Chargers used a fifth-round selection in the 1994 draft on Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. In nine seasons in San Diego, Harrison intercepted 26 passes, third-best in franchise history, and racked up 21.5 sacks. Tackle Wesley Britt was selected by San Diego in the fifth round of the 2005 draft. Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker joined the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2004 and played one game with the Bolts that season. Patriots guard Stephen Neal is from San Diego and attended San Diego High School. New England tackle Ryan O’Callaghan is from Redding, Calif. and long snapper Lonnie Paxton is from Corona.

Patriots assistant head coach/offensive line Dante Scarnecchia is originally from Los Angeles, as is tight ends coach Pete Mangurian.