Yes, after an off-season in which they were written off (Yes, even by me, altough they could still technically lose the rest of their games and finish with the 6-10 record I predicted them to have.) because of serious personel issues (Jay Cutler demands his way out of town, [...]]]> The Denver Broncos are 6-0.

Yes, after an off-season in which they were written off (Yes, even by me, altough they could still technically lose the rest of their games and finish with the 6-10 record I predicted them to have.) because of serious personel issues (Jay Cutler demands his way out of town, Brandon Marshall requests a trade) has started out a perfect 6-0 thanks to a dedicated set of personel. Go figure.

Josh McDaniels was being bashed in the pre-season for running their prized Jay Cutler out of town and for making suspect signings like these. But as it turns out, the former Patriots assistant is one heck of a head coach and he has taken an offense led by Kyle Orton, who McDaniels felt was a perfect fit for his playbook, and a defense that has eight new starters and taken them in a direction that noone except McDaniels himself expected.

It’s not like the Broncos have had a cakewalk to this point either. The win against Cincinnati was fluky, but it was a win, and when you follow that with wins over the Cowboys and Patriots and, you know this team is for real. Well, now you can add a 34-23 victory over the Chargers in San Diego to that already impressive resume.

Orton is doing a perfect job of playing to his strengths. He uses the six yard slant to Brandon Marshall instead of risking a 30-yard out route to Eddie Royal that Jay Cutler most likely would have thrown. That’s how McDaniels has coached him. Josh wanted a quarterback that could manage the game, make smart decisions and limit his mistakes. Limiting his mistakes is exactly what Kyle Orton has done to this point in the season, throwing just one interception in his six games thus far.

Tonight, Kyle took advantage of the San Diego corners when they laid off of his receivers, mostly targeting his tight end Tony Scheffler who was allowed a lot of space all night long (he had 6 grabs for 102 yards including a nice 52-yard gainer that set the Broncos up for the game-winning score). Orton finished with 229 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

While Kyle was impressive when he had the ball, Eddie Royal took a lot of pressure off of him by scoring twice on special teams, once on a 93-yard kickoff return and again on a 71-yard punt return. Royal is lightening quick when he gets into space, which makes me think that McDaniels will draw up a few bubble screens for Eddie during the bye week to give him the ball in the open field three or four times a game.

Darren Sproles was also effective on special teams, taking a punt back to the house for 77 yards. It was the first time in NFL history that one team had a kick off and punt return for a touchdown while their opponents also had a return TD.

Philip Rivers is normally a monster for this San Diego offense, but tonight the pressure put on Rivers by the Broncos defensive front seven was insurmountable for Rivers, who was 20 of 33 for 274 yards and just one touchdown. The Broncos totaled five sacks as a unit, with Elvis Dumervil snagging a pair for himself, giving him 10 on the year.

LaDainian Tomlinson was very close to breaking off a big run all game, but he was unable to. He amassed 70 yards on 18 carries.

[Note: The one underrated part of the Broncos success is the fact that Kyle Orton is actually doing a marginal job at quarterback. What does that say about the Bears? They were unable to use Orton the way he should be - short seven yard passes coupled with a good running game - and now they are struggling to get Cutler settled in. Oh, and don't get me started on how they have been using Matt Forte this year. Inexcusable. ]

The Broncos are 6-0, and they now sit 3.5 games ahead of the Chargers, easily their biggest opponent in the AFC West. The one negative for Denver is that five of their next seven games will be brutal: at Baltimore, followed by home games against the Steelers, Chargers and Giants, and then they travel to Indianapolis after a gimme game against Kansas City. Even if they lose all those games, they should finish the year at a division leading 11-5, and that’s certainly better than we thought they would do.

Vasquez’s pass blocking ability played a big part in helping Graham Harrell find his receivers. Had it not been for his presence on the line, Harrell would have lost precious [...]]]> With the 13th pick in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers selected former Texas Tech offensive guard Louis Vasquez.

Vasquez’s pass blocking ability played a big part in helping Graham Harrell find his receivers. Had it not been for his presence on the line, Harrell would have lost precious seconds in the pocket that he used to make his throws.

At 6-foot-4, 333 pounds, Louis has very good size for the interior line, however he lacks top-end speed. ESPN had Vasquez ranked as the 6th best offensive guard and the 146th best player overall.

The Saints were the most logical fit. With [...]]]> In an interview on the Dan Patrick Show, San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said that he considered the Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens before ultimately deciding to stay with the team he has been with for his entire eight year career.

The Saints were the most logical fit. With Reggie Bush emerging as a better passing option than a running back, adding LT to the backfield would have made a sick combo. It would allow New Orleans to put both Bush and Tomlinson in the backfield with Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Jeremy Shockey as other receiving options. They would also have Pierre Thomas on the bench, which would keep him fresh for short yardage and goal line situations.

I can also understand the Ravens as an option, as injuries to Willis McGahee have hurt his career a lot worse than it could have been. Adding Tomlinson to that team would take some of the pressure off of Joe Flacco when it comes locker room discipline. With Ray Lewis and LT in the locker room, I am sure no one would criticize the young stud. LaDainian also mentioned reuniting with his former coordinator Cam Cameron.

The one team that didn’t make a lot of sense for LT was the Broncos. Why would you want to go to a team that has already signed three running backs this off-season and almost never commits to one running back for a whole season? Mr. Patrick must of felt the same thing as he asked a couple of follow up questions regarding the comment. LT said that he felt their offense was explosive and they were “similar to us.” “Us” being the Chargers. Patrick also asked if LT had thought about having to play against the Chargers twice a year, to which he responded yes.

Tomlinson finished up the interview saying that he still thought he was the best running back in the NFL and fully intends to prove it in the upcoming season.

The San Diego Chargers have placed the franchise tag on running back Darren Sproles. After a few terrible off-seasons where they let stars go, Drew Brees and Michael Turner, the Chargers have decided to keep one of the most explosive players in the league on the roster.

This move means that the franchise [...]]]>

The San Diego Chargers have placed the franchise tag on running back Darren Sproles. After a few terrible off-seasons where they let stars go, Drew Brees and Michael Turner, the Chargers have decided to keep one of the most explosive players in the league on the roster.

This move means that the franchise is committed to giving Sproles significant playing time, but it doesn’t mean the team will stop negotiating with the face of the franchise, LaDanian Tomlinson. If LT comes back, San Diego will have one of the best dual threats in the league.

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The Cardinals are a one dimensional team. They thrive off the pass and have the weapons to due so. Kurt Warner has had a nice year, but he lacks a running game to make his passing attack even more lethal than it is. With no real [...]]]> Wild Card Weekend:

Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are a one dimensional team. They thrive off the pass and have the weapons to due so. Kurt Warner has had a nice year, but he lacks a running game to make his passing attack even more lethal than it is. With no real threat in the backfield, most defenses will drop the safeties back and rush the line. John Abraham and the Falcons will take advantage of this and will have Kurt Warner running for his life. The Falcons on the other hand have a pretty nice balanced attack, with Turner to go along with Ryan, Jenkins and Roddy White. This balance will keep a pretty bad Arizona defense on the field and will wear them out quick.

Pick: Falcons over Cardinals 34-17

Indianapolis Colts @ San Diego Chargers

The Colts are the hottest team coming into the playoffs and they are going to show it against a putrid San Diego defense. Peyton Manning should have a huge game with 350 yards and 4 TDs. Reggie Wayne will have a big game as well, he should real in 7 for 156 and 2 TDs. The Chargers should be able to establish the run but I don’t think they will be able to get anything through the air.

Pick: Colts over Chargers 42-28

Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins

I know that both teams have a great story, but I don’t think that this one will be close. The Ravens will make the usually efficient Pennington into a turnover prone machine, in fact, I think he’ll throw 3 picks. 2 of those should go to Ed Reed, and he will take one of those to the house. Le’Ron McClain will get his share of carries and will put the Dolphins away with a 4th quarter TD.

Pick: Ravens over Dolphins 24-17

Philadelphia Eagles @ Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings have the best running back in the league. That alone will beat the Eagles, in my opinion. The Eagles defense are coming off their best performance of the year, but they did it against a team that has no speed burner. Minnesota has 2 of those, AP and Bernard Berrian. Minnesota has the best defense in the league and they will be all over McNabb. Brian Westbrook will get hurt in this game and Desean Jackson will make another bone headed mistake.

Pick: Vikings over Eagles 21-14

The San Diego Chargers made Jay Cutler eat his words on Sunday night with their 52-21 thrashing of Denver. Phillip Rivers showed the world that he was definitely Pro-Bowl material, completing 15 passes(20 attempts) for 207 yards and 2 TDs. There is no doubt that Rivers would have racked up [...]]]>

(AP Photo/Chris Park)

The San Diego Chargers made Jay Cutler eat his words on Sunday night with their 52-21 thrashing of Denver. Phillip Rivers showed the world that he was definitely Pro-Bowl material, completing 15 passes(20 attempts) for 207 yards and 2 TDs. There is no doubt that Rivers would have racked up more yards if the game was closer. The running game of the Chargers made a big impact in this game. Darren Sproles had 14 carries for 115 yards and 2 TDs. LT had 96 yards on 14 carries for 3 TDs, the first of which put him in second place on the all-time TD list only trailing Emmitt Smith. Even San Diego’s FB got into the running game. Jacob Hester had 37 yards on 8 touches with a TD. Jay Cutler didn’t have too bad of a game himself. Jay had 33 completions(49 attempts) for 316 yards and a TD, but 2 key INTs pretty much defined his night. San Diego is the first team in history to start out 4-8 and end up in the playoffs. The Supa Chargers will host the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the playoffs.

The first quarter reminded the crowd of [...]]]> If the NFL wanted to show England that American Football was more exciting than their futbol, then they sent the perfect teams to London. This game was New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees’ first shot at redemption on his former team, and redemption is what he got.

The first quarter reminded the crowd of a soccer match, because the only scores had come off kicks after field goals from Nate Kaeding and Taylor Mehlhaff. From there the fans could tell the difference between the two sport. Drew Brees connected with Devery Henderson on a twelve yard strike, after an 89 yard drive, for the game’s first TD. Duece McAllister had the next score on a 1 yard draw. The Chargers would answer on a 12 yard screen to LT to get their first feel of the endzone. But, the Chargers defense could not stop the Saints and their offensive attack; Lance Moore(30 yard rec), Mark Campbell (1 yard rec), and Mike Karney (1 yard run) all added 6 points to the scoreboard before it was all said and done.

Drew Brees creates electricity, literally.

San Diego had a very productive 4th quarter but could failed to score with :00 left on the clock, making the game’s final score 37-32. Drew Brees showed the Supa Chargas that he was the one that proved the bolt of energy that sparked their offense. His final numbers looked like this: 30/41, 339 yards, and 3 TDs. But, even though his team won in a highly offensive battle, Brees may not get all of the satisfaction he wanted due to the play of Phillip Rivers(25/40, 341 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT).