"Lights Out"........

For the Chargers!

As I said in my picks on Friday, this game would be close, low scoring and I thought New England would make enough plays at the end to win it..... Unlike my Colts/Ravens pick, I think I hit this one on the head!

Great game, exciting the whole way, with both defenses stepping up and making plays all day long. Some items of note:

1) Co - Plays Of The Game - Everyone knows about Troy Brown causing the fumble getting the ball back for NE, but the other play that not many people are mentioning, is Brady's completion to Reche Caldwell for 49 yards on a 3rd and 10 play with 2:49 left in the game. If NE doesn't convert there, I think the Chargers go on to win the game. After being pressured to death all game, Brady stepped up on that throw and laid it in there perfectly. Gutsy call at that point in the game..

2) Pats Receivers - In 2 playoff games, NE's 2 starting wide receivers (Gaffney and Caldwell) have 30 catches for 337 yards and 2 touchdowns. Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne for Indy? 16 catches and no touchdowns..... All season long NE has been criticized for letting David Givens go and trading Deion Branch, maybe they were right after all..... What does NE get from Seattle for Branch? Their 1st round draft pick which I believe is #24..... Not bad.....

3) Schottenheimer will be fired - I doubted this when I first heard it, but apparently him and AJ Smith (Chargers GM) don't get along and this is an opportunity for AJ to make the change. Don't be surprised to see Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron be elevated to head coach next week...

4) Patriots Celebration - Much has been made about this but I'll bet no one actually has seen any clip of this........... Oh sure you've heard LT talk about it, mediots write about it, but please tell me if you actually saw anything... From everything I've read in the local Boston papers Vince Wilfork (NE's 350lb nose tackle) did a little imitation of it on the field and Rosevelt Colvin (linebacker) did a quick choking sign. That was it. Tomlinson made it out to be like the whole Patriots team (along with Belichick) were taunting them with the lights out dance, but that wasn't the case. As to Tomlinson's comments about NE being disrespectful by their taunting, here are a few quotes from the Chargers after they beat NE in Foxboro last year:

"That's an ass-whipping," said defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in an article penned by Tom Curran, who at the time wrote for the Providence Journal and who now works for NBCSports.com. Cornerback Drayton Florence was less tactful: "F--k New England and their team," he said, before turning to a "collection of onlookers" and adding: "Get the look of shock off your faces. Don't be shocked. We beat your ass."

Do you think LT went to the podium after that game and said his coaches and fellow teammates were showing a lack of class??? Apparently LT is just another whiner who can't get over the fact his team lost....

5) Chargers Rally - Ahh, and here's a beauty..... Here's a clip from a Chargers Rally 4 days before the game. How many rally's do you think Tom Brady, Richard Seymour and Tedy Bruschi went to last week and chanted about how much Philip Rivers sucked????? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say , oh,...... zero........... And you wonder why NE won and SD lost..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHyLlL01tGA

Ciao,

Bill