This Week
The New England Patriots visit the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego CA on Sunday at 8:15 p .m.
The Patriots are 2-0 at the road and 2-1 against the AFC. The Chargers are 1-1 at home and 2-2 against the AFC.
Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Chargers.
Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots +5. The over/under is 44.5.
My prediction is Chargers 24, Patriots, 20. Take the points and take the under. I am 1-3 against the spread and 2 for 4 on calling the over/under in 2008.
Tickets
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased several ways. You can check the availability here.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game at Qualcomm make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.
Click for stadium directions and parking information, public transportation information, stadium policies and code of conduct, fan guide and a Qualcomm Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.
And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
NBC is televising the game to the entire country as the Sunday Night Football Game and Al Michaels will do the play-by-play while John Madden will handle the game analysis. You can look for your local NBC Station.
Being a nationally broadcast OTA game, there is no Direct TV Feed.
For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.
Patriots All-Access airs tonight at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.
It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 126, the Chargers Radio Network has Josh Lewin calling the game while Hank Bauer provides the game analysis and Jim Laslavic patrols the sideline. Their call is available on Channel 127.
The game will also be heard nationally along the Westwood One Radio Network with Dave Simms on play-by-play and Jim Fassel providing analysis.
Last Week
Both teams were on the road, the Patriots beat the 49ers 30-21 to improve to 3-1. While the Chargers lost to the Dolphins 17-10 and dropped to 2-3.
History
- This is the 37th meeting between the two teams dating back to the AFL. New England holds a 20-14-2 series advantage.
- The Patriots have won 13 of the the 16 post merger meetings including the playoffs.
- The Patriots beat the Chargers twice last season both times at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The first time was in Week 2 of the regular season, 38-14 and then again 21-12 in the AFC Championship game.
- The Patriots also ended the Chargers season in 2006 with a 24-21 win in the AFC Divisional playoff game in San Diego.
Connections
- Patriots safety Rodney Harrison played for the Chargers for nine seasons from 1994-2002. He earned Pro Bowl berths with San Diego in 1998 and 2001 and was selected as Chargers defensive player of the year four times (1996-97, 2000-01).
- Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light played with Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips and center Nick Hardwick at Purdue.
- Patriots QB Matt Cassel is from Northridge CA and went to USC.
- Patriots guard Stephen Neal was born in San Diego and attended San Diego High School, where he was a five-sport athlete, lettering in football, wrestling, swimming, tennis and track & field.
- Patriots QB Kevin O’Connell is from Carlsbad CA and graduated from San Diego State.
- Chargers linebacker Stephen Cooper is a native of Wareham, MA. and attended Wareham High School before playing his college ball at the University of Maine.
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the New York Jets’ assistant head coach/secondary in 1997, when Chargers fullback Lorenzo Neal played for the Jets.
- Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi is from Roseville CA.
- Chargers quarterbacks coach John Ramsdell attended Springfield College in Springfield, MA.
- Patriots cornerback Antwain Spann is a native of Oceanside, CA, in northern San Diego County.
- Patriots QB Matt Gutierrez is from Concord CA.
- Chargers head coach Norv Turner was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2005, when Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss played for the Raiders.
- Patriots G Logan Mankins is from Cathey’s Valley CA and went to Fresno State.
- Chargers DE Jacques Cesaire is from Gardiner MA and attended Southern Connecticut State University where he was an All-America his senior year and the Northeast-10 Defensive Lineman of the Year.
- Patriots CB Deltha O’Neal is from Milpitas CA and went to Cal.
- Chargers rookie practice squad player CB DeJuan Tribble played for Boston College.
- Patriots S James Sanders is from Porterville CA and attended Fresno State.
- Chargers wide receiver Kassim Osgood was born in Boston, MA.
- Patriots WR Matthew Slater is from Anaheim CA and went to UCLA.
- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker signed with the Chargers as a rookie free agent in the spring of 2004. He served as a kick returner in the 2004 season opener returning four kicks for 102 yards. He was released on Sept. 15.
- Patriots offensive tackle Wesley Britt was drafted by the Chargers in the fifth round (164th selection) of the 2005 NFL Draft.
Other News
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Chargers. You can also see what San Diego head coach Norv Turner had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.
Here is the injury list for the game.
This is the second year in a row that NBC has had the Patriots-Chargers on a Sunday Night.
This is the first of two consecutive nationally televised night games, the Patriots will host Denver next Monday night. It also starts a streak of 4 prime time games in 6 weeks. Three of the four are Sunday night tilts.
Belichick is 5-4 in his career against San Diego (1-2 with Cleveland; 4-2 with New England).
Matt Cassel in his third NFL start last week against San Francisco was pretty good as he was 22 of 32 for 259 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.
The Patriots have won 11 consecutive games in October dating back to 2005. Since 2003 the Patriots are 20-3 in October.
New England has now won 12 consecutive regular season road games dating back to December 2006.
The Patriots play all four of the NFL’s west coast teams on the road this season with games in San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland and Seattle. This is the second of the games.
Including playoff games, since December 17, 2006 the Patriots are 26-3, since September 10, 2006 they are 35-7.
The Patriots overall franchise record is 369-350-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXIII, XXXIX) in 6 appearances.
The Patriots are 9-8 in their last 17 regular season games against AFC West teams dating back to 2000. They are 3-1 vs the AFC West in the playoffs in that time span with wins over San Diego (twice) and Oakland and a loss to Denver.
The Patriots stayed the week in California, practicing all week at San Jose State University until they travel to San Diego on Saturday. Belichick said the staff and players treated it like a regular week as if they were at home.
The Patriots are yet to wear their dark blue uniform jerseys in 2008 having worn their white jersey in all four previous games. In the NFL the home team selects which jersey they want to wear.
Former Patriots T Tom Ashworth is 31 today. He played with the Patriots from 2002-2005 and was a member of two Super Bowl championship teams.
2008 Patriots schedule/results
News from this weeks opponent:
San Diego head coach Norv Turner is 1-3 in his career against New England (0-2 with San Diego, 0-1 with Oakland and 1-0 with Washington).
Turner is 13-8 in his second season in San Diego. He was 9-23 in two seasons in Oakland and 49-59-1 in 7 seasons in Washington. Overall in his 11th season as a NFL head coach Turner is 71-90-1 and 3-2 in the playoffs.
Prior to taking the San Diego head coaching job Turner was the offensive coordinator for Mike Nolan in San Francisco in 2006.
The Chargers have started 2-3 for the second consecutive season under Norv Turner. Last year they finished 11-5.
Chargers linebacker Stephen Cooper returned last Sunday (Week 5) against Miami after serving a four game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
San Diego return man Darren Sproles was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. He had 14 kick off returns that totaled 453 yards for a 32.4 yard per return average. He also ran one back 103 yards for a touchdown.
The Chargers are not playing well and according to some in the media it reminds them of the bad days.
Even the San Diego players feel they lack a consistent performance.
Chargers QB Philip Rivers has never beaten New England in his career, he is 0-3 against the Patriots.
San Diego’s all-time record is 356-362-11. They are 9-14 in the post season and last played for a conference championship last year losing to the Patriots after beating Tennessee and Indianapolis for their first playoff wins since 1994. They have appeared in one Super Bowl losing to San Francisco 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.
The Chargers won one AFL Title beating the Boston Patriots 51-10 in 1963. It was the only AFL Championship they won after going to the title game five times in six seasons (1960-61, 1963-65).
In the 2008 NFL Draft San Diego had one first round pick and chose DB Antoine Cason (Arizona -27th overall). In all the Chargers made 5 picks in the 7 rounds. They also took Boston College DB DeJuan Tribble in the 6th round.
The Chargers have more players on their roster from San Diego State (3) than any other school.
In 2007 the Chargers had LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Jamal Williams, Lorenzo Neal, Shawne Merriman, Antonio Cromartie, Marcus McNeill, Kassim Osgood and Kris Dielman make the Pro Bowl. Cromartie, Neal and Tomlinson were also First Team All-Pro’s.
When telecommunications company Qualcomm bought the naming rights to Jack Murphy Stadium, the city renamed the playing surface Jack Murphy Field after the long time San Diego sports writer.
Would you like to get to know the Charger GIrls?
Sirius Radio’s Tim Ryan think LaDainian Tomlinson is hitting the competitive wall.
Bill Belichick thinks Chargers QB Philip Rivers has grown as a NFL QB.
The teams have played each other in 9 different stadiums:
- L.A. Coliseum
- Boston University Field
- Balboa Stadium
- Fenway Park
- San Diego Stadium (aka Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium)
- Boston College Alumni Stadium
- Harvard Stadium
- Schaefer Stadium (aka Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro Stadium)
- Gillette Stadium
2008 Chargers schedule/results
Next Week
The New England Patriots host the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium. Kick off is at 8:30 p.m.
