San Diego Chargers
Head Coach: Mike McCoy (9-7 all-time in San Diego)
Last Year's Results: 9-7, eliminated by the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round
Projected Starters:
(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)
OFFENSE:
QB: Phillip Rivers (HQ)
RB: Ryan Mathews (GS)
FB: David Johnson (PS)
WR: Vincent Brown (AS)
WR: Keenan Allen (HQ)
TE: Antonio Gates (GS)
C: Nick Hardwick (GS)
RG: Jeromey Clary (PS)
LG: Chad Rinehart (AS)
RT: D.J. Fluker (GS)
LT: King Dunlap (GS)
DEFENSE:
DE: Kendall Reyes (BAS)
DE: Corey Liuget (AS)
DT: Sean Lissemore (BAS)
LOLB: Jarret Johnson (AS)
ROLB: Dwight Freeney (GS)
ILB: Manti Te'o (BAS)
ILB: Donald Butler (BAS)
CB: Richard Marshall (BAS)
CB: Shareece Wright (BAS)
SS: Marcus Gilchrist (AS)
FS: Eric Weddle (E)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Nick Novak
P: Mike Scifres
Schedule:
vs. @ Arizona
vs. Seattle
vs. @ Buffalo
vs. Jacksonville
vs. New York Jets
vs. @ Oakland
vs. Kansas City
vs. @ Denver
vs. @ Miami
BYE WEEK
vs. Oakland
vs. St. Louis
vs. @ Baltimore
vs. New England
vs. Denver
vs. @ San Francisco
vs. @ Kansas City
Predicted Results: 7-9 (3-3 in division)
Team Analysis: Where did the San Diego Chargers come from last season? Seriously? The San Diego Chargers were widely considered a popular Super Bowl choice every year back when they were loaded with talent like Phillip Rivers, LaDanian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson, Shawne Merriman, Antonio Cromartie, Quentin Jammer, etc. These days though? It feels like they literally came out of nowhere last season to steal a playoff spot. While there's no doubt in anyone's mind that the Chargers aren't nearly as talented as the team from the 2009 season, you can't look past the fact that when Phillip Rivers is playing his best football, it usually reflects on the Chargers' "win/loss" record for the year. Isn't that a neat concept? Your QB plays good and the team does better. Speaking of Rivers, he's a guy that doesn't get nearly as much love as he should. He's continuously been one of the best QB's year-in and year-out and even though Eli Manning has those two Super Bowl rings, something tells me that the New York Giants would rather have Phillip Rivers if given the choice. You can't totally blame Rivers for San Diego's troubles over the last few seasons. They had a head coach named "Norv Turner" that had little success as an NFL coach. Last season it seemed like Rivers was buying what head coach Mike McCoy is selling and if that's the case, Rivers should have an outstanding year once again. That's bad news for all the other teams in the National Football League.
The one thing that could keep the Chargers out of the playoffs this season is the difficulty of their schedule. In the first nine weeks of the season, the Chargers have to travel to Arizona (fringe playoff team), Buffalo (cross country trip), Oakland (divisional rival), Denver (divisional rival), and Miami (cross country trip) and they also have to play two playoff teams from last year (Chiefs and Seattle) at home and that's all before their bye week! Things don't get any easier for the Chargers after the bye week as they have to travel to Baltimore, Kansas City, and San Francisco and have to play the Broncos, the Patriots, and the Rams at home. That's a tough schedule for anyone to have to play, much less a team that didn't really add any significant pieces in the off-season. Every year there are NFL teams that come out and either surprise people (the Chargers last season) or disappoint people (the Chargers this season?). It's hard to predict which one the Chargers will be this year, but they will only go as far as Mike McCoy and Rivers allows them to. They are not strong on the defensive side of the ball and will need to put up points to win games. The good news is, they can do that. It's a tough road ahead for San Diego if they plan on making any noise in the playoffs this year, but if someone is up for the task ahead....it's Phillip Rivers and his band of merry men.
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