Source: Yardbarker

Philip Rivers deserves the respect of being in the talk for  MVP of the NFL. Rivers has proven for the past three years that the San Diego Chargers are his team. More than likely he will get looked over for now due to the chargers 4-5 record, but it’s a good thing that the award does not get announced until the week after the regular season ends. Just look at Rivers’ stats, passing yards – 2,944 (on pace to break Dan Marino’s record of 5,084) 19 TDs, 8 INTs. Oh yeah, a 102.9 passer rating, which is third in the league and the two players ahead of him in passer rating dont even play full games (Vince Young and Michael Vick). The Chargers are number one in offense putting up 420.2 yards a game, and fourteenth in the league in rushing with 107.8 yards a game, if that does not say anything. C’mon it should easily be Philip Rivers’ award, where and who are his receiver’s each week? If it was not for their record right now Rivers would be the runaway candidate for the MVP. On a fair and unbiased note lets look at the other players that should be in the talk for MVP:

Source: Yardbarker

Peyton Manning, a record four time MVP (2003,2004,2008,2009) , will more than likely always be in the thick of this race,  without several of his top receivers, has 16 TDs and only 4 INTs and 2,478 yards with a QB rating of 96.3. The Colts are 5-3, which is on top of their division, and the rushing attack of the Colts….well there is no attack, they are 25th in the league with 92.2 yards a game. Peyton seems to be in the same boat as Rivers, yet Rivers is doing so much better.

Eli Manning, I suppose the only reason I chose to put Eli in this discussion is because of the record and he is doing much better this season. His stats, 2,075, 17 TDs, 11 INTs, and a QB rating of 92.7. Also the defense is playing lights out, literally taking quarterbacks out of the game.

Source: Yardbarker

Tom Brady, with 14 TDs, 4 INTs, 1,826 yards, and a QB rating of 95.7. The Patriots are 6-2 and right in the thick of things with the Jets who are also 6-2 and have won just one more divisional game than the Pats.

Source: Yardbarker

Arian Foster, who is running over everybody (including the Chargers) could be in the talk of MVP with 864 yards, on a 5.5 yards per attempt, and 9 TDs. He is on pace to a 1,728 yard season, as he averages 108 yards a game, yet this is a quarterback driven league and more than likely it’s going to be Philip Rivers, I mean a quarterback.

Clay Matthews, on a defense that has been devastated by injuries, this second-year linebacker, is proving that he belongs. He leads the league in sacks with 10.5, he has 31 total tackles, a forced fumble, and a pick six for 62 yards. It’s highly unlikely that a defensive player will get an MVP (which is sad), but at least he is in the discussion and should get the defensive player of the year award.

Drew Brees  is not off to the same start as last season, but is still an elite QB. His 2,587 yards, 18 TDs, 12 INTs, and a rating of 91.7, proves that even with the leagues 24th ranked rush offense, he can still get the job done as the Saints are 6-3.

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Source: YardBarker.com

In a crazy game (is this new, they seem to be always crazy these days) our San Diego Chargers were able to pick up our first road victory of the season. Here is the breakdown of the game:

First Quarter:

San Diego win the opening kickoff and Jacob Hester fields a ball that either could have wound up out of bounds or through the end zone. It was another clueless play that our Special Teams made and this is how we started it out. After a 3 and out deep in our own territory, we had to settle for a punt out of the end zone. HERE WE GO!!! If you didn’t watch it, I am sure you can guess what happened… A BLOCKED PUNT AGAIN!!! Scifres punt was blocked and this time the ball ended up traveling a yard, so it may not be officially a BLOCK. On the next play, the Texans run the ball with Arian Foster and he goes in untouched for a TD.

Philip Rivers takes over on the next drive and finds undrafted rookie Seyi Ajirotutu on a 55 yard play action pass for a touchdown to tie up the ballgame. Houston counters with a FG and San Diego takes another possession. The Chargers then take the ball and Rivers finds fill-in Randy McMichael for a TD with two players draped all over him. He looked a little like Antonio Gates on the play.

San Diego 14 Houston 10

Second Quarter

The Chargers started out the quarter with the ball and looked to get Ryan Mathews some work. He carried the ball to the right side and was stood up and he FUMBLED (yea… again) the ball and allowed Houston to recover. Then Arian Foster just started taking over the half. He finished the game with 127 yards rushing and 2 TDs. In the first half, Foster had both of his TDs and 90+ yards on the ground.  On Houston’s next possession, Foster ran in a 2 yard touchdown.

Houston then got the ball back and we were saved by the “Megatron” rule. Early in the season, Calvin Johnson, of the Detroit Lions, looked to have caught a game winning TD against the Chicago Bears in which he lost the ball when he touched the ground. Both feet were down and even his butt was down before he “lost the ball.” The call was reviewed and the play was ruled in incompletion. In this game, Matt Schaub found Arian Foster in the end zone in which he caught, both feet down, and then went down and lost possession when he went to the ground. Initial ruling was a TD, but instant replay called it an incompletion. They settled for the field goal.

Houston 20 San Diego 14

Time for the second half San Diego Chargers to step their game up. Houston opened up the half with possession and just moved it down the Chargers throat. Arian Foster looked like he was just going to be unstoppable ALL DAY long! The Coach Gary Kubiak helped us out! With the ball at our 11 yard line, he pulled Arian Foster for Derrick Ward to see if he could get the score. We were able to stop him from scoring and held them to the FG.

Now give Rivers the ball and watch what he does with it!! We start with a run and then a short pass over to Patrick Crayton. Crayton was able to turn the short pass into a 47 yard gain while stiff arming the defender down the field. A few plays later, Antonio Gates Randy McMichael makes a onhe handed catch in the end zone for the TD.

Houston 23 – San Diego 21

Fourth Quarter

The Texans drove the ball all the way to the Charger 17 and were left with a 4th down and 1 to go to start the quarter. Simple play call, Arian Foster has been running wild all day long, give the ball to Foster. They give the ball to Foster and Shaun Phillips slips by the defenders and makes the play in the backfield to cause the turnover on downs. Bend, but don’t break Defense.

The Chargers looked to get the defense some rest and started running the ball a little bit. On a play action pass deep, Rivers missed Crayton on what would have been a 67 yard TD. The next play, Philip Rivers was hit below the knees and threw the interception. SIGH!

The defense held with a key sack by Eric Strickland and got the ball in Philip’s hands AGAIN. You can only give Rivers so many opportunities before he BURNS you. On this possession, Rivers found Tutu again for a deep touchdown pass. It was one on one coverage on the left side, and Rivers beat the coverage with a 28 yard TD.

Now it was up to our defense to finish off the game. Houston takes possession and decides to run the hurry up offense. Passing the ball all over the field and then were left to a 4th and 1 play. They hurry up and call for the QB sneak. The Chargers stuffed them and took over possession on downs. The Chargers were not able to do anything with their possession and had to give Houston the ball one more time. Arian Foster (oh yea, remember him!!) had a long 33 yard gain on the possession and started moving the ball down the field again. Then, Matt Schaub goes over the middle to Andre Johnson which Johnson then knees up into the air for Paul Oliver to intercept the pass!!! SIGH of RELIEF!!

San Diego 29 – Houston 23

The Chargers played this game without a number of starters on their offense. Vincent Jackson, Malcom Floyd, Legedu Naanee, Antonio Gates, and Kris Dielman all were unable to contribute to the offense that finished with 290 passing yards. King Rivers was able to use all his weapons and bring the team back to a 4-5 record headed into the mush needed BYE week. The Chargers will be able to get a lot of rest to all the injuries and should be able to have a lot of key players back for the late run. Now we have to root for the Raiders and Chiefs to just beat each other up with the Raiders hopefully winning (I hope to never say that statement again).

Source: YardBarker.com

Here are my 5 Keys to beating the Houston Texans this weekend:

1. Stop Arian Foster

We need to do the same thing that we did against the Tennessee Titans. The Houston Texans have a dynamic running back that can break off some long runs like Chris Johnson. It will be up to the defense to stop Arian Foster from taking over the game, like he did against the Indianapolis Colts earlier in the season. The front 7 will need to fill in all the gaps and secure the tackle.

2. Hit Matt Schaub

The Chargers need to put pressure on QB Matt Schaub. Vince Young had way too much time last week and he was not sacked. The Texan offensive line is not as physical as the Titans and the Chargers should be able to hit Schaub a couple of times. If Schaub has a lot of time to throw, the secondary will surely be beaten deep with Andre Johnson running the routes. The Texans are a dangerous offensive team with a lot of weapons. Shaun Phillips and Antwan Barnes will need to create pressure and put Schaub on his back. Their offense starts with Matt Schaub!!

3. Share the Wealth

With our top receiver, Antonio Gates, likely to sit out the game, it will be up to mix and match group of receivers to step their game up against the leagues worst ranked defense. Patrick Crayton will be relied on heavily as the lone veteran receiver of the unit. The “kids”, Seyi Ajirotutu and Gary Banks, will have to play big and make the expected catches against the Texans. Philip Rivers will have to trust all his options this week and they cannot fail him with dropped passes or fumbles.

4. Ryan Mathews

It is time for the rook to have his breakout game!! He is now fully healed and he is needed more than ever with the team hurting at receiver. He will need to carry the team with his rushing ability and start showing off that potential we drafted. The running game and running backs will be important to move the chains for first downs and they will be needed in the passing game as well. Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert will be needed to step up big as well.

5. Special Teams

I don’t know if I can go another week without placing Special Teams on the list. I left them off last week and we allowed another blocked punt and we failed on an extra point try. This poor play has lasted way too long and we need to get it cleaned up!!