5 Keys To Beating Chargers

The Patriots, fresh off their 37-16 win over the Jets on Sunday in an AFC Wild Card playoff game, travel to San Diego to play the AFC's top seeded Chargers this Sunday. San Diego is a powerful football team, led by runningback LaDainian Tomlinson, the NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, tight end Antonio Gates, and quarterback Philip Rivers on offense, and a fierce defense consisting of Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips, and Jamal Williams. Can the Pats pull off the upset? They can if they control these five aspects of the game. 1. Keep Brady standing. The Chargers defense loves to put pressure on the quarterback. Merriman is a beast (17 sacks) but he isn't the only standout. Donnie Edwards, a player the Chargers tried to dump this past offseason, led the squad with 142 tackles; Shaun Phillips complemented Merriman's pass rush with 11.5 sacks; cornerback Quentin Jammer led their secondary with four interceptions; and the massive Jamal Williams and Luis Castillo stop the run up front. The Patriots offensive line needs to quiet the Charger pass rush to allow Brady to pick apart the San Diego pass defense. If he gets the time to throw, Brady has shown he will find the open man. The man is 11-1 in the playoffs, he finds ways to win -- the Pats just need to allow him time. 2. Hold onto the football. One thing the Patriots can't afford to do is be sloppy with the ball. They can't give extra possessions, as well as momentum to a fired up home crowd, by turning the ball over. Controlling the ball also keeps Tomlinson on the bench. 3. Don't allow Tomlinson to control the game. LDT is the man -- no arguments accepted. He rushed for 1815 yards, added another 508 yards receiving, passed for two touchdowns (don't overplay the toss sweep too much) and scored an NFL record 31 touchdowns. The task for the Pats defense will be keeping Tomlinson in check. The run defense needs to bring its' A+ game on Sunday -- Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren, Richard Seymour, and Tedy Bruschi all have to dominate the line of scrimmage and tackle LDT before he hits the open field. Tomlinson will get his during the course of the game but the Pats have to limit his success. 4. Make Philip Rivers beat you. This ties in with keeping Tomlinson in check. Rivers had a very good season (3388 passing yards, 61.7% completion percentage, 22 TD's against only 9 INT) but he is still a first year player after sitting behind Drew Brees for two seasons and has never taken a playoff snap. The secondary (hopefully with the addition of Rodney Harrison) has to confuse Rivers into believing things are open when they really are not and then capitalize. This is a Belichick trademark. 5. Take advantage of the difference in coaching. Bill Belichick is 11-1 in the playoffs as Patriots head coach (12-2 overall) and has won three Super Bowls as well as two others as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. Marty Schottenheimer ... eh, not as good. Marty has a history of coaching great teams in the regular season before falling asleep at the wheel in the playoffs. As coach of the Cleveland Browns in the '80s, he lost two heart breakers to John Elway and the Denver Broncos. If the Patriots can control all five of the keys to the game, he will be losing one to Tom Brady and the Patriots. Pats - 23, Chargers - 17.