Chargers ready for Home Opener against Ravens

The Chargers will play their first meaningful game at Qualcomm Stadium since this past January when they beat the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 in a thrilling wild card game that ended in overtime. That game had put them above the 500 mark for the first time in the 2008 season. As San Diego enters their match up with the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday they find themselves with a winning record much earlier than a year ago at 1-0, having barely pulled out a victory against the Raiders on Monday night. The task of getting to 2-0 versus a much more quality caliber team in the Ravens is sure to be a serious challenge.

Against the Raiders, two main Chargers weaknesses were exposed and both dealing with running the football. Ladanian Tomlinson was held to just 55 yard rushing and the team as a whole gained only 77 yards on the ground. To make matters worse, Tomlinson has been scratched from this weekend’s game with a sprained ankle. Even with a healthy LT the Chargers were going to have a tough time picking up yards through the running game. The Ravens, who are renowned for their defense, were one of the top ranked defensive units in the league last year and are very effective against the run. With star defenders like Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Ed Reed still on the roster the trend of dominance is not likely to change and that could spell big trouble for the Chargers.

The other area of concern for San Diego regarding the running game is their own rush defense. In Oakland the Chargers surrendered 148 yards to the Raiders rushing attack. A very poor defensive effort to say the least and with the Ravens coming to town they’ll be sure to have their hands full once again. Baltimore has a rising star in running back Ray Rice who had a prolific performance with 108 yards on 19 carries. As a team the Ravens compiled 198 yards on the ground and even though it was against the Kansas City Chiefs the numbers are still eye-popping. San Diego will have to hope that defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has drawn up a good game plan that will contain Rice and his running back cohorts. Otherwise it could be an extra long day in Southern California.

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Of course Rivera’s planning cannot only be designed for one half of the Ravens offense. He’ll have to use a good amount of chalk to deal with the passing game and Joe Flacco as well. Flacco, coming off a sensational rookie season, torched the Chiefs with over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns in their week one match up. The Ravens aren’t known as a passing team, but Flacco has more than proven that he can lead a very efficient and potent offense. The Chargers must find ways to create pressure and disrupt the young QB more so than they did with Oakland when they sacked Jemarcus Russell all but one time.

Typically in the NFL a team will only go as far as their quarterback can take them. This has become an increasingly evident reality for the Chargers recently, especially last season. Phillip Rivers practically carried the team a year ago with an MVP and all pro type year even though he won neither award. What he may have won, however, is the control of this Charger team. What once was considered LT’s team is now clearly River’s. He was the difference a week ago when the Charger were trailing late in the game, bringing them from behind twice. Rivers continues to carve out his legacy with late game heroics like he pulled off against Oakland, orchestrating a game winning drive with just seconds remaining in the contest. It’s likely he will have to be the play maker again in the face of physical and ferocious Ravens defense come Sunday.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com San Diego Chargers Correspondent