Week 4: San Diego Chargers At Kansas City Chiefs
| The Chargers will go as far as Philip Rivers can carry them this year. After two solid weeks, he was not at his best in the Week Three home loss to the Falcons. When Rivers is under duress, he tends to fire the ball into double coverage. | Quarterback | Matt Cassel came through with a stellar effort in the Chiefs’ surprising win over New Orleans. When it looked like the Chiefs would get blown out, Cassel kept his cool and made decisive and accurate throws to rally his team. |
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| The Chargers’ ground game should be solid with Ryan Matthews, but he is losing his status as the team’s top running back to former Chief Jackie Battle. Malcolm Floyd and former Saint Robert Meachem are solid receivers but they are not stars. Tight end Antonio Gates needs to step up. | Offense | Jamaal Charles started the Chiefs’ comeback against the Saints with a 91-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. That bolt was the key to his 233-yard rushing effort. Dwayne Bowe is explosive and dangerous at the wide receiver position, but he is not always consistent. The Chiefs will try to get tight end Tony Moeaki going at full speed. |
| The Chargers defense must bounce back after they got taken apart by Matt Ryan and the Falcons. The Chargers gave up three touchdown passes to Ryan. Linebacker Takeo Spikes is a hard hitter and a sure tackler, but he does not have enough helps from his teammates in that area. | Defense | The Chiefs were getting run over on defense for the third straight game, but they turned things around after the Chargers opened up a 24-6 lead. Derrick Johnson and Brandon Flowers are this unit’s leaders and they played superior football once the Chiefs got in a desperate situation. Crennel is hoping the unit can start playing a little sooner against the Chargers. |
| Special teams played fairly well against the Falcons. Punter Mike Scifres has a big leg and he averaged 51.5 yards against Atlanta. Veteran Nate Kaeding is dependable and usually gets the job done in end-of-game situations. | Special Teams | The Chiefs are waiting for and expecting Javier Arenas to break a big return because of his explosive speed. Ryan Succop has become a dependable kicker and Dustin Colquitt is a solid punter who dropped four punts inside the 20 against the Saints. |
The winner is
The Chiefs may have rescued their season with their comeback win over a hungry Saints team. They should come home to a raucous crowd and head coach Romeo Crennel needs to make sure his team is ready for a peak effort against the division rival Chargers who suffered a stinging loss at home against the Atlanta Falcons.
More Tales of the tape
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NCAA Championship Game: #1 Louisville Vs. #4 MichiganRick Pitino has been here before, after making his 7th Final Four appearance, he’s now in his third go-round in the title game. He’s got plenty of experience on the big stage and he has the Cardinals playing high level basketball at the right time.
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NCAA Tournament Championship Weekend: #4 Michigan Vs. #4 SyracuseNo. 4 Michigan and No. 4 Syracuse square off in Atlanta this weekend with the winner getting a shot to play for the National Title.
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NCAA Tournament Championship Weekend: #1 Louisville Vs. #9 Wichita StateRick Pitino and No. 1 Louisville take on No. 9 Wichita State in Atlanta this weekend for a shot to play in the National Title game on Monday.
