Playoffs Divisional Round Jets - Chargers Preview

Friday, 15 January 2010 00:00

The San Diego Chargers (13-3) are the NFL’s hottest team,riding an 11-game winning streak that earned them their fourth consecutive AFC West title and the conference No2 seed.

Opening the postseason fresh off a bye,they will host the New York Jets (10-7) and their top-ranked defense in a divisional matchup Sunday afternoon.

With Phillips Rivers playing the best football of his career,and firmly established as one of the league’s top quarterback,the Chargers have a great opportunity to return to the Super Bowl for the first time in15 seasons.

However,thay have been in a similar position before,winning 10 straight going into the playoffs in 2006 only to lose to New England in the divisional round,then they won eight in a row the following season before losing again to the Patriots.Last year,San Diego got in the postseason from a 4-8 record by winning their last four games,upset Indianapolis in wild-card matchup but lost to Pittsburgh in the next round.

“We’ve been there before.We’ve been the popular pick to win the Super Bowl and haven’t”LB shawne Merriman said “Our whole mentality this year is completely different,in not looking too far ahead down the road.That’s the big key this year altogether,is not looking too far down the road.”

San Diego’s last three playoff defeats came against teams ranked in the top five in scoring defense,they now face the Jets who are No1 allowing only 14.8 points per game,and first in total defense with 252.3 yds .

“I think they’re the best defense we’re going to play.”RB LaDainian Tomlison said “They do a lot of things well.But they got the winning formula.”

Tomlison was below 1,000 yds rushing this season for the first time in his career,but remained effective in the red zone with 12 touchdowns.The Chargers posted an NFL-low 3.3 yds per rush.

Rivers finished the regular season third in the NFL with a 104.4 passer rating.He threw for 4,254 yds and 28 TDs and was intercepted 9 times.He relies on a trio of big targets in Vincent Jackson,Malcolm Floyd TE Antonio Gates.

San Diego’s top receiver Jackson will be matched up for most of the game with Pro Bowl cornerback Darrelle Revis,who routinely plays man-to-man and has shut down several of the league’s best receivers.

New York’s ground attack is also the NFL’s No1,averaging 172.2 yds per game,and is the perfect complement to their No1 defense.The Jets,who caught a few big breaks to make the playoffs,have the best formula to go far in the postseason,great defense and great rushing attack.

Jets leader RB Thomas Jones ran for 1,402 yds and 12 TDs in the regular season,but a banged-up knee limited him to 34 yds on 15 carries in the wild-card game.Rookie Shonn Greene picked up the slack,running for 135 yds against the Bengals’ strong run defense.

San Diego struggled all season defending the run,allowing 117.8 yds per game.They will have to find a way to be more efficient Sunday in that department,to force New York’s rookie QB Mark Sanchez to throw the ball more often,a position he might not be very comfortable with.

Sanchez threw a league’s second-most 20 interceptions in the regular season.He’s been turnover-free,though,on the last 3 three games as he wasn’t allowed to take any risks while the Jets relied even more on their running game.

However,Sanchez had the best game of his short carrer against Cincinnati,going 12 of 15 for 182 yds and a TD and earning a stratospheric 139.4 passer rating,taking smartly advantage of a defense that loaded against the run.

“We’ve improved as an offense...taking care of the football and making the right decisions,which is sometimes a conservative one and just playing smart.”Sanchez said “I have plenty of room to improve.I haven’t arrived.I’ve still got a long way togo.”

With Sanchez taking care of the ball in the last few games and the running game working full throttle,New York believes it will be tough to beat.

“We’ve won six out of seven and we feel pretty good about ourselves”Coach Rex Ryan said “San Diego has won 11 straight,so both teams are carrying a lot of momentum going into this game.Its just going to be who can out-execute the other.”

Great matchup between San Diego’s prolific passing offense versus the league’s best defense and running game.

The Chargers will have to bring their best game to go through New York in this divisional postseason round.Although San Diego looks to be the favorite,if Sanchez takes care of the ball like he did on the wild-card game,I think the Jets have a realistic chance to win.The key for New York is their defense,they have to stop Rivers at the begining of the game so they won’t have to play catchup with Sanchez throwing the ball.

Take your picks for the playoffs divisional round and check the action at BetPhoenix.com Sportsbook.

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Playoffs Divisional Round Jets - Chargers Preview

Playoffs Divisional Round Jets - Chargers Preview

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