Chargers Make Patriots Their Bitch

The Result Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I’ve just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story.  The San Diego Chargers came out firing from the very first play which was a 48 yard pass completion right through out the game as they routed the New England Patriots 30-10 Sunday Night at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA. It was if San Diego said we’re gonna straight-up murder your ass and they did it.  It was a straight shot.  Right to the baby maker. The Chargers were just dominant all night in all three phases of the game and were clearly the better team. Offensive San Diego just took it to New England they had pass completions of 48 yards, 10 yards, 14 yards, 49 yards (TD to Malcom Floyd), 14 yards, 18 yards, 59 yards and a 32 yard pass interference penalty that gave them 1^st and goal at the Patriots 1. Plus shorter TD catches of 4 yards to Vincent Jackson and 1 yard to Antonio Gates.  Nate Kaeding also had 3 field goals of 25, 35 and 23 yards.  It escalated quickly and got outta hand really fast and before you knew it the game was out of reach. Defensively the Chargers played very aggressively getting after Matt Cassel with blitzes which forced him to hurry or resulted in sacks. They also forced Cassel into fumbling once which New England recovered and one bad interception in deep in his own territory that led to a Chargers field goal. On special teams New England was only average not generating good kick off returns and giving up too many yards on punt returns to Darren Sproles and then adding to one return with a 15 yard face masking penalty. Maybe the Patriots were distracted by the Charger Girls pointing to their boobies.  Anyway, In the end the Chargers were the ones who went to Pleasure Town. Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• SD – Kaeding 25 yard FG
• SD – Rivers 49 yard pass to Floyd – Kaeding PAT

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 47 yard FG
• SD – RIvers 4 yard pass to Jackson – Kaeding PAT

3^rd Quarter

• SD – Rivers 1 yard pass to Gates – Kaeding PAT
• SD – Kaeding 35 yard FG

4^th Quarter

• SD – Kaeding 23 yard FG
• NE – Morris 2 yard run – Gostkowski PAT

Offensive Player of the Game Chargers QB Philip Rivers was 18 for 27 for 306 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs Defensive Player of the Game Patriots CB Deltha O’Neal who was burned for pass plays of 48, 49 (TD) and 18 yards as well as an illegal contact penalty that gave San Diego another first down. (/sarcasm) Turning Point(s) of the Game There were several key plays but the biggest was the series that saw San Diego stop New England on 4 tries at the end zone from the one yard line and then went 98 yards the other way and scored and turned what could have been a one possesion game into a blow out. Offensive Leaders/Notes In addition to Rivers, Chargers WR Vincent Jackson had 5 catches for 134 yards and a TD and Malcom Floyd had 3 catches for 75 yards and a TD.

• Matt Cassel opens up with 9 yard pass to Wes Welker as the Patriots started in a 5 receiver set
• Sammy Morris ran for 6 yards on 2^nd/1
• Cassel throws to David Thomas for 11 yards and 1^st down at SD 47
• Morris for 7 yard run to SD 40
• Cassel runs for 4 yards on 3^rd/3 to SD 36
• 4^th/5 48 yard FGA by Gostkowski is wide left
• Cassel on third and 7 throws behind Ben Watson incomplete for 3 and out.
• Cassel to Faulk for 7 yards on 3^rd/3 NE punts
• Cassel to Morris for 7 yards on 1^st/10
• Morris carries 4 yards for 1^st down at SD 32
• Moss couldn’t hold onto a pass from Cassel down the sideline on 3^rd/7
• Gostkowski 47 yard FGA is good
• Cassel to Welker for 7 yards on 2^nd/9
• Faulk stopped for no gain NE punts
• Cassel sacked and fumbles ball recovered by Mark LeVoir at NE 17 2^nd/18
• Cassel to Morris for 8 yards and 1^st down
• Cassel runs for 9 yards to NE 45
• Cassel 15 yards to Moss to SD 40
• Cassel 8 yards to Welker
• 3^rd/2 Cassel runs for 4 yards for 1^st down at SD 28
• Cassel to Morris for 27 yards to SD 1 for 1^st/goal
• Patriots fail on 4 tries to score turn the ball over on downs
• Cassel intercepted by Quentin Jammer at NE 29 returned to NE 26
• 3^rd/5 Cassel to Gaffney for 4 yards NE punts
• On 3^rd/15 Cassel throws to Watson 21 yards called back on a hold by Billy Yates.
• 3^rd/25 incomplete NE punts
• Kevin Faulk runs for 11 yards and 1^st down
• Faulk runs for 8 yards for 2^nd/2 at SD 10
• Faulk runs 4 yards for 1^st/goal at SD 6
• Cassel scrambles to SD 2
• Morris 2 yard run for TD

Defensive Leaders/Notes Chargers LB  and Wareham MA native Stephen Cooper had 10 tackles as did Safety Eric Weddle.

• Deltha O’Neal gets toasted for 48 yards on games first play on a pass by Philip Rivers to Vincent Jackson
• Jerod Mayo stuffs LaDainian Tomlinson on 1^st/10 from NE 19
• Jackson reception of 10 yards on Adalius Thomas gives Chargers 1^st/goal at NE 7
• Patriots playing some four man front
• Thomas defenses Antonio Gates on 2^nd/goal from NE 7 for incomplete pass
• 3^rd/goal pass incomplete in back of endzone flag for holding – penalty declined 4^th down
• 4^th/goal 25 yard FGA by Nate Kaeding
• Rivers to Gates for 14 yards and 1^st down no offensive pass interference called
• Rivers goes 49 yards to Malcom Floyd on O’Neal for a TD
• Chargers stopped on 3^rd/2 at NE27
• Kaeding 44 FGA hits upright no good
• Hobbs defends long pass down field on 3^rd down SD has to punt
• On 2^nd/9 Rivers throws 14 yard to Jackson on Terrance Wheatley
• Ty Warren stuffs Tomlinson for one yard loss
• 3^rd/11 Rivers looks long to Jackson but Brandon Meriweather knocks it down SD punts
• 2^nd/8 O’Neal burnt for 18 yard catch by Floyd to NE 12
• Tomlinson runs for 8 yards to NE 4
• Under a blitz Rivers throws 4 yards to Jackson on Hobbs for TD
• Rivers to Jackson for 59 yards on Wheatley to NE 35
• Rivers to Jackson in the end zone interference on Hobbs for 1^st/goal at NE 1
• Rivers 1 yard pass to Gates for TD

• Stephen Gostkowski’s first KO was a touchback.
• Matthew Slater takes second KOR after injury to Ellis Hobbs
• Chris Hanson run into on a punt in 1^st quarter on 4^th/7 gives NE re-kick and 4^th/2.
• On re-kick Darren Sproles returns punt past midfield tackled by Hanson.
• Hanson with help from Jonathan Wilhite pins SD at their 3 yard line
• Patriots called for a face mask on SD punt return adds 15 yard to the return giving SD the ball at the NE 32

Coaching Decisions

• NE – 4^th/goal at SD 1 Cassel is stopped short and they turn ball over on downs
• SD – Challenges whether there was a fumble recovery on pass to Moss in 4^th quarter – upheld

Injuries

• NE – DL Jarvis Green possible ankle injury in 1^st quarter – return questionable
• NE – CB Ellis Hobbs leg injury in 1^st quarter – returned
• NE – OL Nick Kaczur ankle injury in 1^st quarter – return questionable
• NE- S Brandon Meriweather hip injury in 2^nd quarter – returned

The Officials

• Bill Leavy was the referee.
• Missed push off by SD TE Antonio Gates on Rodney Harrison who makes a 14 yard catch for 1^st down in first quarter

Game Notes

• The Chargers chose to wear their alternate powder blue jersey tonight. NFL teams with alternate jerseys can elect to wear them twice during the season. The Chargers have now won their last six games and seven of their last eight in the powder blue uniforms. The Patriots wore their traditional white road jersey.
• Inactives for the Patriots: RB LaMont Jordan (injured – calf), RB Laurence Maroney (injured – shoulder), C/G Dan Connolly, OT Wesley Britt, OLB Shawn Crable, LB Eric Alexander (injured – hamstring), WR Kelley Washington (injured – ankle) and QB Matt Gutierrez (3rd QB).
• Inactives for the Chargers: WR Chris Chambers (injured – ankle), OLB Jyles Tucker (injured – hamstring), ILB Derek Smith, G Kynan Forney, OT Corey Clark, TE Kris Wilson, DT Ian Scott and QB Charlie Whitehurst (3rd QB).
• Note: The third quarterback can still enter the game at any time, but if he does so in the first, second or third quarters, the team can no longer use its top two quarterbacks the rest of the game.
• Offensive starters for the Patriots: QB: Matt Cassel RB: Sammy Morris FB: Heath Evans WR: Randy Moss WR: Wes Welker TE: David Thomas LT: Matt Light LG: Logan Mankins C: Dan Koppen RG: Billy Yates RT: Nick Kaczur
• Defensive starters for the Patriots: DE: Ty Warren DT: Vince Wilfork DT: Richard Seymour DE: Jarvis Green LB: Adalius Thomas LB: Jerod Mayo CB: Deltha O’Neal CB: Ellis Hobbs S: Rodney Harrison S: James Sanders S: Brandon Meriweather
• The Chargers won the toss and elected to receive.
• New England’s 11 game October win streak ended, they are now 20-4 in the month since 2003.
• The Patriots lost for the 1st time in their last 13 regular season road games.
• Patriots owner Robert Kraft presented Junior Seau with his AFC Championship ring earlier in the day at Seau’s Restaurant.
• The 48 yard FGA by Gostkowski in the first quarter was his first miss in his last 17 chances dating back to last season.
• This was Norv Turner’s 1st win over New England since he was the head coach of Washington.
• Philip Rivers earned his first win over New England in his 4th try.
• Bill Belichick is now 5-5 against San Diego in his career.
• New England is now 9-9 against the AFC West in the Belichick Era (since 2000).

Post Game Press Conferences Listen to what Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Matt Cassel had to say about the game. Post game press conferences via patriots.com Things To Work On For Next Week That was pathetic.   Knights of Columbus that hurt. Next Week’s Opponent The Patriots will play the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium at 8:30 p.m.