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Giants (5-7) vs Chargers (5-7)
The
Chargers took a 17-10 loss last Sunday at home against the Bengals. The ten points
scored was their lowest in a game this season. It was disappointing to the fans
as the Chargers were coming off an exciting 41-38 win over division rival Kansas
City.
Last Sunday night the Giants got their
record up to 5-7, which is not bad coming off an 0-6 start. The 24-17 win over
the Redskins keeps them mathematically alive in the division race, but the rest
of the teams would have to play poorly for them to have a shot. San
Diego Chargers.
They are in the AFC West
and that's a tough division to crack considering how Denver (10-2) and Kansas
City (9-3) have been racking up wins. Even though the Chargers pulled off a surprising
41-38 upset over the Chiefs on the road to end a three-game losing streak, it
wasn't enough to inspire their fans. Last week's home game against Cincinnati
was the first blackout in the NFL this year. Earlier in October they avoided becoming
the first team in more than 10 years, the final game of the 1999 Atlanta season,
not to have a Monday Night Football home game televised locally. They won that
game against Indianapolis and the next before dropping three straight and winning
in Kansas City.
The Chargers won four straight division titles from 2006 to
2009. Since then it's been Kansas City in 2010 and Denver in 2011 and 2012 and
it should be pointed out that none of these teams won the AFC conference title
after that. Norv Turner was head coach for six years and with no playoff wins
and with things spiraling downwards, he was replaced by Mike McCoy. The offense
especially needed a boost and McCoy was coming off being the offensive coordinator
for the Broncos. He helped guide them to their last two division titles with with
diverse quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning. Chargers
Offense.
There's no doubt that quarterback
Philip Rivers will keep his team in a game.
Like Eli Manning he's come a long way from that draft day in 2004 and has also
enjoyed much success. There have been no Super Bowl rings, but Rivers actually
has a better win-loss percentage than Manning and a better completion ratio in
each and every year. Rivers was behind Drew Brees and didn't become the starter
until 2006 and trails Manning by 14 touchdowns, but has thrown 60 less interceptions.
That's right 162-102. It's not a misprint.
The past two years have been down
ones for Rivers, where he's thrown 35 of those interceptions and fumbled the ball
20 times. The offensive line gave up 49 sacks last year and that doesn't help
any quarterback.
They've made changes to fix that and despite numerous offensive
line combinations, Rivers has been sacked only 22 times. However, 10 of those
have been given up in the past four games. Overall Rivers has thrown 23 touchdown
passes and had just 9 interceptions on the year. Eight-time Pro Bowler tight end
Antonio Gates, in his 11th season, is still a great target and he leads the team
with 64 receptions for 726 yards and 3 touchdowns,. Ryan Matthews is the leading
rusher with 782 yards and 3 touchdowns, and free agent running back Danny Woodhead
has been instrumental as a first down maker on the ground or through the air.
He's had 138 touches and 43 have resulted in first downs. Chargers
Defense.
The defense is the weakness of
the Charger team and it's a big weakness. They're ranked very near the bottom
in the NFL in overall total defense. They don't put very much pressure on opposing
quarterbacks and try to bring pressure with
blitzes that leave an already weak secondary even more exposed. They were however
successful last week against the Bengals allowing
just 190 passing yards, but that could be because Cincinnati decided to target
their poor run defense in order to keep Philip River and his offense off the field
longer. The Bengals ran the ball for 164 yards and wore them down. Corey Liuget
is their best pass rusher and he suffered
a knee injury during practice this week. Giants
Offense.
Eli Manning will likely be booed
heavily by the San Diego crowd as fans won't forget that whole draft day ordeal
where Manning indicated he wouldn't play for
the Chargers. We doubt it will affect his game play as boos come with the territory
and he will be concentrating on the Chargers secondary coverage and seeing how
they cover Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks. Tight end Brandon Myers has connected
well with Manning over the last two games where he has
eight catches for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he did miss some practice this
week nursing a groin injury.
Andre Brown will be key in this game. He's been
back for only four games and he's run for 343 yards on 83 carries and scored 3
touchdowns. The Redskins focused on him last week, but allowed Peyton Hillis to
average 7.5 per carry on his six runs. Brandon Jacobs is listed as doubtful for
this game, but he made the trip out. Running the ball and moving the chains would
keep Philip Rivers and his group off the field and that could be the right way
to play this one. Giants
Defense.
They have their work cut out for
them this week considering how they allowed Robert Griffen III to complete passes
against them last week, especially in the first half where he was 16 of 17. Philip
Rivers is the top quarterback in making completions happen and near the top in
yards gained per attempt. This defense has been great at stuffing the run and
did that well last week against Alfred Morris, dealing him his worst performance
of the season.
However, they did let Morris catch all 3 passes targeted his
way for 27 yards and Roy Helu completed all four of his for 34 yards. Guess what
Rivers likes to do? Right, throw the ball to Danny Woodhead who leads all the
running backs in the league with 61 receptions. Last game the Bengals went out
of their way to stop Woodhead and Rivers threw his way only 3 times for two completions
for 13 yards. So Giants, do that.
Justin Tuck came up big last week with four
sacks and he leads the team with 6 1/2 sacks. The Chargers had a poor offensive
outing last week and after having just 13
turnovers all season they gave up 3 to the Bengals defense. Pressure could make
a difference as the Giants are hurting in the secondary with cornerback Corey
Webster out and Trumaine McBride and Terrell Thomas limited in practice this week. Overall
Thanks
to an NFL granted extension to lift the potential blackout, this game with the
Giants will be televised in Southern California. Fox 5 and the San Diego County
Toyota Dealers guaranteed the purchase of enough tickets and will work with local
military and charitable organizations to distribute a portion of the purchased
tickets. If anyone in the Charger fanbase is actually interested, they can't win
the division race, but they still have a chance at the final AFC wild-card spot.
There
are four games left and the Giants know that the Cowboys and Eagles play each
other in their last game of the season. Accordingly, even losing three straight,
one of these 7-5 teams would end up with at least 8 wins and both are currently
ahead of the Giants in the tie breaker area. The Giants need to win all the remaining
four games to finish at 9-7. The term is overused, but this is a 'must win' game
for real this time if there is any slim chance at all. NFC
East
The Eagles (7-5) host the Lions (7-5)
on Sunday at 1pm. At that same time the Chiefs (9-3) will be taking on the Redskins
(3-9) in Washington. Later at 4:25pm, the Giants (5-7) will be playing in San
Diego against the Chargers (5-7). The Cowboys (7-5) play in Chicago against the
Bears (6-6) in the Monday night game at 8:30pm. The Eagles are the only NFC East
team favored to win in these games. 
Check out.
The Team
Giants Store, and see some of the really unique items we put together.
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Giants DVDs
and Posters. 
TeamGiants on Twitter.Notes.
Giants
Terrell Thomas, playing for the first time in his home state, bought 67 tickets
for friends and family.
Giants coordinator
Kevin Gilbride was the Chargers head coach in 1997 and part of the 1998 season. Giants
Eli Manning is 0-2 against the Chargers, 2005 against Drew Brees and 2009 against
Philip Rivers. Giants Eli
Manning is 8-3 in playoff games including his two Super Bowl victories. Chargers
Philip Rivers is 3-4 in playoff games. Chargers
Philip Rivers has the highest completion rate in the league - 70 percent. Chargers
Philip Rivers welcomed his seventh child into the world (a baby girl) in October. Chargers
had four of their eight home games blacked out in 2012 and just one so far this
season.
Next Games
Dec 15 - Seahawks at Giants.
Giants Tickets
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or Sell
Dec 22 - Giants at Lions.
Giants Tickets
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or Sell
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