Gameday: Chargers vs Colts

Postgame Notes

• Quentin Jammer picked off a Peyton Manning pass in the second quarter, his second of the season and the team’s first interception in five games. Jammer also had a pick in the Chargers’ first Sunday Night game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, October 12.
• LaDainian Tomlinson passed John Riggins (11,352) on the NFL’s all-time rushing list, giving him sole possession of 14th place. Tomlinson finished the day with 21 carries for 84 yards, bringing his career  total to 11,420.
• Chris Chambers set a season high in catches with six good for 61 yards. He had five catches for 47 yards against New Orleans on Oct. 26. This is his second best receiving-yard day for the season with 61. He had 83 receiving yards against Denver in Week 2.
• Jacob Hester scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard pass from Philip Rivers in the fourth quarter.
• Nate Kaeding kicked a 47-yard field goal, tying his longest of the season. His last 47-yard field goal was in Week 4 against Oakland on Sept. 28.
• The Chargers reported two injuries today: Mike Tolbert (shoulder) and Marcus McNeill (hip).

The Matchup

Two of the NFL’s most successful franchises of the past four years will meet when the Indianapolis Colts visit San Diego to take on the Chargers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football on Nov. 23. Kickoff is at 5:15 p.m. PST. Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer will call the game for a national TV audience.

The Chargers hosted the Colts on NBC’s Sunday Night Football on November 11, 2007, and intercepted Peyton Manning a record six times, including a career-high three by Antonio Cromartie. Darren Sproles electrified the home crowd by returning a kickoff (89 yards) and a punt (45 yards) for touchdowns as the Chargers knocked off the Colts, 23-21.

Since 2004, the Chargers and Colts rank among the NFL’s winningest franchises. Indianapolis’ 57 wins and the Chargers’ 50 wins in that span rank two and three, respectively, behind only New England (58) for the most in the NFL.

Sunday’s game kicks off a three-game homestand and is the third of four nationally-televised home night games on the Chargers’ schedule. The Bolts have won two in a row at home under the lights this year.

The Series

San Diego has a comfortable 15-9 overall series edge over Indianapolis, and they have a memorable playoff history. The Chargers advanced to the AFC Championship game with a 28-24 win over the Colts in last season’s AFC Divisional Playoff game at the RCA Dome and they also met in a 1995 AFC Wild Card  game.

Since 2005, the Chargers own a three-game win streak against the Colts, including playoffs.

In 2004, the Chargers took an eight-game win streak to Indianapolis, only to see it come to a halt when the Colts rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Bolts,  34-31 in overtime. But less that a year later in ’05, the Bolts rode a two-sack and thee tackle-for-loss effort from linebacker Shawne Merriman and shocked the Colts, 26-17, to end Indianapolis’ perfect 13-0 start to the season. Since 1990, the Chargers and
The Series cont’d

Colts have played 12 regular season  games and San Diego is 8-4 in those games. Manning’s career passer rating in five games against the Chargers is 71.3, among the lowest against any of the Colts’ opponents that he’s played more than once.

Race to the Finish

Heading into Sunday’s games against Indianapolis, the Chargers are two games behind the Denver Broncos for top billing in the AFC West. With six games left to play, the season is far from over for San Diego, which will play four of its last six games at home. The Bolts have traversed a tough road leading up to this Sunday’s game against the 6-4 Colts, which marks the start of a three-game homestand at Qualcomm Stadium. Through the first 10 games, the Chargers had the tougher schedule. San Diego’s first 10 opponents have a combined record of 53-47 (.530), while Denver’s first 10 opponents have a combined record of 45-55 and just a .450 winning percentage. The Chargers have played four division leaders, including Denver, Carolina, Pittsburgh and the New York Jets, while the Broncos haven’t played any. Things will change though over the last six weeks, when the Chargers play only one division leader (Denver) at home, while the Broncos have to play two, both on the road (Carolina and the New York Jets).

Notable Connections

• Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith was a member of the Buffalo Bills’ scouting staff when Colts President Bill Polian served as the club’s general manager.
• Chargers guard Kris Dielman played at Indiana University as did Chargers Corporate Sales Manager Chris Lee.
• Bolts Offensive Coordinator Clarence Shelmon coached running backs at Indiana from 1981-83…Chargers offensive line coach Hal Hunter was the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator from 2000-01.
• Chargers outside linebackers coach John Pagano spent the 1997-01 seasons as a defensive assistant with the Colts.
• Chargers center Nick Hardwick and linebacker Shaun Phillips both played collegiately at Purdue…Hardwick is from Indianapolis and attended Lawrence North High School.
• Chargers Executive Vice President/COO Jim Steeg grew up in Fort Wayne and was the co-Hoosier Celebrity of the Year in 2005 with Peyton Manning…Director of Player Development Arthur Hightower spent three years working at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis…Senior Director of Marketing Partnerships Denny O’Leary is a Hoosier alum.
• Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy was the defensive backs coach in Kansas City when Chargers assistant secondary coach Kevin Ross played cornerback for the Chiefs.
• Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner worked with Colts Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks with the Dallas Cowboys in 1991…Turner also hired Meeks to coach his secondary with the Washington Redskins in 2000…Meeks and Chargers quarterbacks coach John Ramsdell worked together in St. Louis in 2001.
• Colts Special Assistant to the Defense Rod Perry was the Chargers’ secondary coach from 1997-01.
• Colts linebacker Freddy Keiaho played at San Diego State.

What to look for

• Another win at home. The Chargers aim to extend their 2008 home record to 4-1.
• The Chargers look to extend their current win streak to four against the Colts. The Chargers and Colts have become well-acquainted of late. Before 2004, San Diego hadn’t played Indianapolis since 1999; since then, the two teams have met four times in four years, including last season’s divisional playoff game at the RCA Dome. 
• Chargers All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates has played in just 87 career games and has 49 career touchdown catches. Should he catch another touchdown this Sunday against Indianapolis, he will have caught 50 touchdown passes quicker than any other tight end in history. Jerry Smith currently holds the mark at 100 games. Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez ranks second at 118 games.
• The Chargers got on the scoreboard first last week in Pittsburgh on a three-yard LaDainianTomlinson run. That was Tomlinson’s first rushing touchdown since Week 4 in Oakland, but also the 135th touchdown of his brilliant career. He needs only one touchdown to move into a fifth-place tie on the NFL’s all-time touchdown list with Marshall Faulk. Should Tomlinson see the end zone against the Colts on Sunday, he’ll extend his career touchdown total to 136, and he’ll score in back-to-back games for the second time this season.

What to look for on offense

• Since Philip Rivers has been the Chargers starting signal caller he’s posted an impressive 18-2 regular season record at home. This season, the Chargers are 3-1 at home, and Rivers has thrown 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions for a passer rating of 121.3 at Qualcomm Stadium.  Rivers is a perfect 3-0 in his own backyard against AFC opponents this season and has a career record of 25-11 against AFC teams, including the playoffs. He’s also a perfect 2-0 against the Colts since he’s been San Diego’s starting QB, including a playoff win in January of this year at the RCA Dome. In that game, Rivers completed a solid 14 of 19 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns and one interception before missing the end of the game with a knee injury.
• Rivers ranks second in the NFL and first in the AFC with a passer rating of 100.8.  He has thrown a league-high 21 touchdown passes while completing over 60 percent of his passes. This season, Rivers has thrown at least three touchdown passes in six contests and has recorded four 300-yard games. Look for Rivers to continue his aerial assault as he aims for his fifth 300-yard outing of 2008. Rivers has been particularly strong in the fourth quarter this season, ranking fourth in the AFC and sixth in the league with a passer rating of 99.6. As a result, the Chargers have outscored their opponents 85-62 in the fourth quarter.
• Spreading the wealth. This season, Rivers has thrown touchdown passes to seven different receivers. They include, TE Antonio Gates (6), RBs LaDainian Tomlinson (1) and Darren Sproles (1),  WRs Vincent Jackson (4), Chris Chambers (5) and Malcom Floyd (3), and rookie fullback Mike Tolbert (1).
• Look for LaDainian Tomlinson to move up the NFL’s all-time rushing list. Tomlinson moved into 15th place against the Chiefs in Week 10 and has 11,336 career rushing yards. He needs just 17 yards to pass John Riggins, who ranks 14th with 11,352. Tomlinson is the AFC’s fourth leading rusher with 686 yards, and he ranks eighth in the league with 980 yards from scrimmage . The All-Pro running back is also tied for first among third-and-one rushing leaders (6 for 6).
• Tomlinson needs six catches to reach 500 for his career. This season, Tomlinson has 36 catches good for 299 yards. Since 2004, he’s averaged three catches per game against the Colts, including the playoffs.
• Antonio Gates needs 159 receiving yards to reach 5,000 for his career. Gates has scored a touchdown in every home game this season. He aims to catch his fifth in has many home games this Sunday against the Colts. Gates leads NFL tight ends with six touchdowns.
• Last week in Pittsburgh WR Vincent Jackson set a single-season career-high in receiving yards (646), surpassing his previous career-high of 623 yards from the 2007 season.  

What to look for on defense

• Takeaways. The Chargers look to create turnovers. Having gone four games without an interception, the Bolts defense is eager to return to its ball hawking ways and win the turnover battle. San Diego won the turnover battle the last two out of three times they played the Colts, combing for a +5 turnover ratio, including six interceptions last November, three of which were picked by the hands of Antonio Cromartie. Indianapolis has thrown nine interceptions this season. Three of the nine have been returned for touchdowns.
• An encore performance from the Chargers front seven. Last week in the Pittsburgh, the Charges sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times, equaling their second-highest total of the season. Look for the Bolts’ defense to apply pressure on Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning. San Diego ‘s defense will have their work cut out for them as the Colts have only given up 11 sacks this season, ranking 4th in the  NFL.
• An encore performance by Cromartie from last November’s Sunday Night game against the Colts. Cromartie made his presence felt, intercepting Manning a team-record-tying three times in the first half. The Chargers are 7-0 when Cromartie has an interception.
• Chargers OLB Jyles Tucker registered a sack last week against the Steelers, setting a career high and tying him for the team lead with four. Last year, the undrafted free agent spelled Pro-Bowler linebacker Shawne Merriman, playing in six games and racking up 3.5 sacks on the year. Now in his second year out of Wake Forrest, look for Tucker to continue his sack-happy ways in for the injured Merriman.
• CB Quentin Jammer has played his best against the best. Jammer is having a Pro-Bowl caliber season, shutting down some of the league’s best receivers. This week he’ll again take on the challenge of covering a trio of the NFL’s best receivers in Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Dwight Clark. While Jammer only has one interception in 2008, he leads the team with 17 pass break-ups and ranks fourth with 61 tackles.  In 660 defensive snaps, Jammer has given up only two scores while defending in single coverage.

What to look for on special teams

• Darren Sproles is one of the most dangerous return men in the NFL. He is averaging 26.7 yards on kickoff returns and 11.4 yards on punt returns (both rank 8th in NFL). Look for Sproles to be particularly special on Sunday Night against the Colts. Last November, Sproles electrified a national-television audience when returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns to help the Chargers beat the Colts, 23-21.
• Punter Mike Scifres continues to rank among the league’s best in key categories, including the No. 1 spot in net average (42.9).
• Pro Bowl special teamer Kassim Osgood is having another solid campaign. Jarrett Bell of USA Today  recently selected Osgood to his Midseason All-Star team.