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SAN DIEGO CHARGERS -4

It seems that with every passing year, the parity in the Super Bowl championships in this new millennium, head west in these divisional playoffs to face the 14-2 San Diego Chargers in what many consider an AFC Championship-caliber game.

The Chargers lost their two games by a combined total of six points, losing by three in Baltimore in Week 4 and losing by three in Kansas City in Week 7, setting a franchise record with fourteen wins. The only team this season to record more than thirteen wins, San Diego was clearly recognized as the best team in the NFL. They were undefeated at home for the first time ever, but holding that home streak may be tougher than tough. One can say that this contest features the NFL’s best team against their worst possible opponent in these New England Patriots.

New England used an efficient short passing game to control the New York Jets 37-16 in last weekend’s Wild Card, and Tom Brady brought his record to 11-1 in the playoffs as starting quarterback for the Pats. All that record states is that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots rarely lose in the playoffs, so which team is under more pressure? They enter this game as an underdog that knows how to win all the marbles with consistency, something only the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers have shown in recent decades. The Chargers know nothing about all that, having been in the playoffs only once during the Patriots’ ring collection that started after the 2001 regular season.

This ultimate test has a Chargers team with high hopes of sending their coach, Marty Schottenheimer, to the Super Bowl for the first time in his two decades of work. Although he has more wins than any active NFL coach, he has been labeled as being too conservative in playoff games. It is not known how conservative the offense will be when it displays a player that scored a record 31 touchdowns this season.

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson had a season for the ages, but it is very interesting to note that he did not score a rushing touchdown in the Chargers’ two losses; he did score 28 rushing touchdowns in the remaining fourteen games. The Patriots will know that the key to victory is preventing Tomlinson from scoring on them on the ground. The Pats were an impressive fifth in rushing defense in the league, so this will be a good test against the leading rusher in the NFL this season with 1815 rushing yards.

The Chargers will say it doesn’t matter who they face, but this is not an ideal matchup for them based on the history and experience of the Patriots alone. The Chargers will believe they can beat anybody if they beat New England, but this is a Patriot team that won two out of their three recent Super Bowls after claiming AFC Championships on the road. The Chargers’ task is monumental.

PREDICTION: Patriots to cover

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