Archive for the ‘San Diego’ Category

How the Chargers ended up with LT, and not Michael Vick

“We were taking Michael Vick – unless we got the trade we wanted,” says Chargers GM A.J. Smith, then Butler’s assistant and confidant. “We wanted Tim Dwight. If he wasn’t included in the deal, Michael Vick was going to be the quarterback here.”

We were committed to taking him,” Smith says, “and I don’t speak out of both sides of my mouth. That’s a fact. John Butler was committed to Michael Vick – unless we got an attractive package. The only player interested was Atlanta. John said, ‘No Tim Dwight, no Michael Vick.’

NFL | 2006 | Week 16 - San Diego Chargers at Seattle Seahawks - Review

20-17 SD at SEA

• Get your 2007 draft list ready because Vincent Jackson is ready to become the #1 WR for the Chargers. He’ll be entering his third year next season and looks to have earned the favor of Phillip Rivers. Jackson was targeted 14 times against the Seahawks and was often the only receiver in the game for San Diego. The Chargers also gave him two chances to run the ball on end arounds.
  
  Jackson is listed at 6′5 / 241 and ran a 4.55 - 40 at the combine almost two years ago. He has good but not great hands, runs good routes, is an very good and active blocker, but just doesn’t have the ability to separate from defenders to make him an elite receiver.
• Both teams were guilty of dropped passes in this game. Normally surehanded receivers like Deion Branch and LaDainian Tomlinson had multiple drops. There must be something about Seattle that does it to anyone.
• Matt Hasselback, who has always been a little sloppy with his footwork, seems to really be struggling to manage that part of his game right now. Some of his throws are really out there as a result of his overconfidence in his arm.
• LT had a 48 yards TD run called back on an unfortunate facemask penalty. RT Shane Olivea had his man (Jammer I think) blocked out of the play, but just got his hands up too high. Other than that, the play was typical Chargers power running. They carry out their blocking assignments so very well and everyone does their job. Even LB Lofa Tatupu, who’s great out shedding blockers and getting to the football, was cut out of the play just enough that he could not take an angle on Tomlinson.
• One thing is clear about Phillip Rivers right now: if you can get him into 3rd and long situations you can blitz him and force San Diego to punt. He’s poised for a first year starter and rarely makes poor decisions, but his willingness to throw the ball away safely can be used against him a little right now as he’s learning to deal with those long yardage situations. The fact that the Chargers are rarely in those 3rd and longs is both good for them now, but bad for Rivers’ growth as a QB.
• The Chargers have a good defense, but there’s definitely something missing that is keeping them from being great. They have dominant players, but yet they rarely dominate opponents. It seems that the strengths of some of their players don’t really compliment one another like how some great defenses have. They could probably use a veteran run stopper in the middle of their linebacking corps - someone like Jeremiah Trotter. And San Diego’s signing of Marlon McCree has helped in the backfield, but a ball hawking FS would do this team wonders.
• The Seahawks defense certainly came out fired up in this game. They definitely seem to elevate their game when playing at home. It wasn’t until there was 6 minutes left in the first half that the Chargers broke their first real big play. It came on a power run right that LT cut back up the middle due to a slight over pursuit by the Hawks’ second level.

2006 | Week 2 - San Diego Chargers

40-7 vs TEN

Targets stats only this week.

CATCHES / TARGETS:
Tomlinson - 7/8
Gates - 4/8
McCardell - 5/6
Turner - 2/2
Jackson - 2/3
Manumaleuna - 2/3
Floyd - 1/2
Neal - 1/2
Parker - 1/1

2006 Misc Football Previews - AFC

INDEX

Much of last year’s preview throught the AFC still holds true for this season. The Bengals, for example, return almost exactly the same offense they’ve put out onto the field the last two full seasons. That kind of continuity will continue to reap huge rewards for Cincinnati, and their defense is just average enough that they’ll win a lot of games, but give up a lot of points too. One thing on Carson Palmer, there’s no way he’s 100%. I’ve watched him run in both of the preseason games he’s played in and it’s good to see him up and running this offense. But Palmer is a very good quarterback outside of the pocket, throwing on the run and buying time on the edge. I don’t know if we’ll see a lot of that early in the season. And I don’t think it’ll effect his throwing too much. There’s no better fantasy quarterback in football than Carson Palmer. (Last Season)

For New England, Josh McDaniels begins his 2nd year as the Pats’ OC and 6th season with the organization. Running the ball was New England’s main weakness on offense last season; leading to the first round selection of RB Laurence Maroney. This preseason, Maroney has looked like a future star running back. It’s not believed that his recent knee injury is significant. I think what Maroney has shown in the last few weeks is a glimpse of what is to come. Corey Dillon turns 32 in late October, and although he said that he can still carry a large role, Maroney is the guy.

Another Patriot worth a fantasy look is tight end Ben Watson. He’s entering his third season, and is not only the Pats most reliable receiver at this point, but he was used heavily in the preseason and looked ready to have a breakout season. Normally, Tom Brady’s receivers don’t make for good fantasy options because the ball gets spread around so much in New England, but since we’re talking about tight end numbers, Watson should have a relatively good season for his position.

Turning in an impressive preseason performance for New England has been WR Bam Childress. The former OSU Buckeye is listed at 5′11 185, but he’s probably more like 5′9 175 and can get thrown around on the field. Still, he’s played tough in the games I’ve seen him in, has good enough hands and is able to adjust the ball pretty well. I expect Brady to connect with Childress out of the slot a number of times this season. Fantasy teams in really deep leagues could steal Bam off of free agency.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, there’s no place to go but down. Way too much off season drama to deal with. This is exactly how and why teams don’t repeat. They’ll be lucky if they finish above .500. A September 1 trade for former Patriot Patrick Cobbs is worth noting, however. Cobbs is a 5-9, 205 pound back who showed a great burst through the hole this preseason. His running style and short, powerful build leads me to believe he may get a chance to be a short yardage back for Pittsburgh. Other than that, I wouldn’t touch any Steeler player this season.

The same goes for the Tennessee Titans. Apparently, after seven seasons in the NFL, the Titans just now realized that they didn’t want to put up with Billy Volek’s ego and have decided to throw him overboard. The Titans will probably go 4-12 as a result of their mess of a preseason and the whole thing will end up costing Jeff Fisher his job. Oh, and Vince Young will never be as great an NFL quarterback as Jay Cutler or Matt Leinart.

In San Diego, Phillip Rivers is going to make some mistakes, but he’s still a solid QB who can put the ball into tight spots and this is still a good enough offense to make the playoffs. I’m also very impressed with the depth the Chargers have put together at wide receiver. Eric Parker looks like he can be a solid #2 man, while Kassim Osgood’s size and speed combo makes defenses take notice as a third option. Rashuan Woods and Vincent Jackson are both former high draft picks who are still learning the position but have the physical skills to be NFL good players. And it even looks like the 6′5 Malcom Floyd made enough plays in the preseason to keep a job. He could develop into a contributor as well. The Chargers still lack a true #1 WR, but Keenan McCardell is a good 1B kind of wide out and with Antonio Gates playing the de facto role of 1A while defenses focus on he and LT in the backfield, the Chargers have enough players to make this offense work.

One other thing about the Chargers, since Clinton Portis injured his shoulder and ruined my hopes for a huge season (see below), I think of the remaining top 3 RBs available, LT is the guy to have over LJ and Alexander (read the Seattle post for more on Alexander). LJ has to deal with a retired left tackle, a departed offensive coordinator, and Herm Edwards. LT, on the other hand, only has a new QB to deal with, and that may actually lead to a better statistical season for him. But the biggest reason, is the insurance you can get when you draft LT. There may not be another backup running back in the league right now that is better than Michael Turner. The guy is a smallish, but is all power, speed, and vision.

Week 14 - San Diego Chargers

21-23 vs Miami

In his post game press conferece, LT admitted they came out flat and didn’t play the first half with enough intensity. It probably didn’t help that the Chargers went up 7-0 early and outgained the Dolphins 94-4 in total yards during the first quarter. The Chargers, in fact, controlled the ball for twice as long as Miami did; but San Diego could not create anything bigger than a couple of 25 yard catches that Antonio Gates made (one in the second quarter and one in garbage time on the game’s final drive).

Miami defended the run well on each of the three levels of their defense. Their line got a good push up the middle, they contained LT from breaking his runs to the outside, and they had good run support from their DBs.

Miami also took away the downfield passing game from Brees and forced him to throw check down passes to his backs. Then, as San Diego adjusted by throwing more short comeback and out routes, Miami’s pass defense stayed disciplined and made the Chargers drive the length of the field.

After halftime, Miami picked up a field goal on their opening drive and when they kicked the ball back off to San Diego, Darren Sproles fumbled the ball back to Miami around their own 20 yard line. Suddenly, the Dolphins were up 13-7 and then on their next possession, 20-7.

Individually, Drayton Florence was picked on all day by Frerotte and Chambers. One week after catching 15 balls on 26 targets for 238 yards, Miami made a conscious effort to get their top receiver lined up on the left side against the smaller and weaker Florence. But even Quentin Jammer got caught looking into the backfield on that big play he gave up to Booker half-way through the fourth quarter. It was on third and 9 when Frerotte looked like he was going to be sacked and Booker was just going to run a simple out cut when instead Frerotte found time in the pocket and Booker turned his route up field and accelerated past the defense. 56 yards later, Miami had flipped the field on the Chargers and put the first nail in the coffin.

An interesting sequence followed that play by Booker when the Chargers recoverd a Brown fumble on the one yard line. Backed up against their own end zone, San Diego chose to throw the ball on first and second down, both from the one yard line. They were fortunate to get a pass interference call that moved them up to the three. But then three of their next four plays were again passes and they found themselves again on the three yard line after a 10 yard sack.

On third and 17, the Chargers completed a 16.5 yard pass to Parker and had to go for it on 4th and 0.5 from their own 25, with 4 minutes left. They gave the ball to Neal, not Tomlinson, and the fullback just barely made the half yard they needed (and he only did so after a linemen grabbed him and pulled him forward- which is supposed to be illegal).

Four plays later, Miami forced and recoverd a Brees fumble on the Chargers’ 23 yard line. What’s interesting about all that is there with Miami recoverd the fumble, there was only 2:30 left on the game clock. Brown’s fumble on the 1 yard line came with 8 minutes left. So that means with the game on the line at 20-13 and having just stolen Miami’s momentum, it took San Diego 5 and a half minutes to go 34 yards before they turned the ball over back on their own 23. They dropped back to pass 10 times out of 13 plays and it wasn’t because they were short on time. It’s because they could never establish their run.

The Chargers did stage a TD drive after Miami kicked a field goal, but it down by two was officially late
After two quarters, San Diego had held the ball for almost 22 minutes, compared to Miami’s 8.
After three quarters, San Diego had held the ball for 30 minutes, compared to Miami’s 15
After four quarters, San Diego had held the ball for 40 minutes, compared to Miami’s 20

So how do they beat the Colts?

Even as they struggled last week, San Diego still went 3 for 3 in the red zone. On the season, they have scored points in 43 of their 45 trips inside the twenty (95.6%). Their TD percentage is also tops in the NFL, at 33/45 for 73.3%. They rank 2nd in the league in 3rd down efficiency (behind the Colts) and their rush defense ranks 1st in yards per game and 4th in yards per carry. They can move the ball methodically, and they can stop the defense. Turnovers will be their key, as they’re just 18th turnover ratio while the Colts are 4th.

San Diego will need to shorten the length of the game by controlling the clock. No matter what the score is, they can’t get into a shootout. Only the Cowboys have held the ball longer this season, so as long as it’s not late in the fourth quarter, there’s no reason for them to give up on the run. If Drew Brees throws 40 passes, they’ll lose. And if LT is still suffering from that chest injury, the Chargers have a very nice backup in Michael Turner. San Diego’s secondary will not hold up if these two teams start trading blows. It didn’t happen in 2004 and it won’t happen here. But I really think they do have a chance to win. Perhaps a better chance than any other team this year. I’ve had this game circled for about 6 weeks now. The Chargers need this game to stay alive, while the Colts already have home field advantage. And maybe a San Diego win may just be the best thing for both teams.

TARGETS(catches):
Gates- 16(13)
McCardell- 8(7)
Parker- 7(4)
Caldwell- 6(4)
LT- 5(1)
Neal- 5(5)
Peelle- 3(1)

Week 12 - San Diego Chargers

23-17 at Washington

I didn’t get the sense that Antonio Gates’ three catch performance in this game was due to his foot injury. The Redskins just blitzed so much that early on the Chargers needed to keep him in to protect. San Diego adjusted by getting Gates lined up in places where he could be more a receiver, but the amount of pressure Washington brought still disrupted Brees’ ability to get the ball out. And when he did, there was Sean Taylor looming; one of the few players in the league who can match Gates’ size and quickness. This just wasn’t a good matchup for Gates. It was, however, a good one for LT because all that blizting left only 3 or 4 defenders in the second level of Washington’s defense to stop LT once he broke through the initial wave of defenders. And as the second half highlights showed, Tomlinson had no problem beating those few.

Nate Kaeding missed two more field goals in this game. I’d compare his kicks to a throws of someone like baseball pitcher Tom Glavine. He’s a soft tosser. Kaeding’s kicks usually start on target, but I remember many occasions where he’s struggled to keep his ball straight in the more difficult of environments (east coast and in the north). In contrast, someone like Mike Nugent is known to kick a heavy ball that is less influenced by wind and dense atmosphere. So unless the Chargers plan on hosting playoff games, they’d better find a new kicker.

Drew Brees had three passes intercepted in this game and saw two more go into the hands of Redskins receivers that weren’t held on to. Granted, one of Brees’ INTs came on a hail mary at the end of regulation. This was definitely a game that San Diego should have lost, but found a way to win.

TARGETS(catches):
Parker- 10(7)
Gates- 9(3)
McCardell- 8(5)
Tomlinson- 8(6)
Jackson- 3(0)
Neal- 2(1)
Caldwell- 1(0)
Osgood- 1(0)
Brees- 1(0)

Thursday Football

Kansas City Chiefs:
This game surprised me. KC either came in with no specific plan to cover Antonio Gates, or their plan was terrible. But form what I saw, there was no effort made on the part of the Chiefs to do anything special for Gates. Why no get one of the top linebacker athletes in the league (Johnson) on Gates? Why would you not do that? Why would you leave the task of covering him to whomever San Diego happened to line him up against? And how could you still be caught off guard when LT has a chance to throw for a touchdown? What were the Chiefs’ coaches doing all week? They had, in fact, an extra two days to prepare. Did they just think they could come out and cover these guys with Wesley and Mitchell?

Back on offense, San Diego exposed KC’s tendancy to run to the edge. The Chargers did a good job of pushing everything inside and KC was not able to make them pay for it by running up the middle (thanks to big Jamal Williams). Larry Johnson needs to be used more in order to counter this if defenses are going to mimic this philosophy. Johnson is a strong between the tackles runner who can bring good balance to this offense. It looks as if teams are anticipating the outside runs more when Holmes is in the backfield. But San Diego is just one of those teams that matches up well against the Chiefs.

Dante Hall had a big game returning kicks.
TARGETS(catches):
Gonzalez- 10(7)
Kennison- 9(7)
Horn- 8(7)
Johnson- 5(3)
Holmes- 4(3)
Hall- 3(2)
Boerigter- 1(1)
Dunn- 1(0)
Richardson- 1(1)

San Diego Chargers:
Not much really to say here. The Chargers were up 21-3 at halftime because they were well-prepared on both offense and defense. The Chiefs defense basically let San Diego do whatever they wanted to do and the Chargers’ defense just outplayed KC. Shawn Merriman really has strung together a some excellent games recently and this front seven is very strong at attacking the run. TARGETS(catches):
Gates- 16(10)
McCardell- 8(5)
Parker- 7(4)
LT- 5(3)
Caldwell- 3(1)
Neal- 2(2)
Osgood- 1(0)
Peelle- 1(1)
Turner- 1(0)



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Washington Redskins:
The Redskins’ defense came to play, for a little while at least, but they certainly left their offense in San Francisco. The Giants were getting to Burnnel with just a 4 man rush, and as the Redskins kept backs and tight ends to help block, the Giants would just send the linebackers that were assigned to cover them.

Also, I’d be worried about what Chris Cooley will be able to do over the next couple of weeks.

Washington has to face the Eagles this Sunday, and they’re going to have to do something about their pass protection Philly is going to shut them out too.
TARGETS(catches):
Moss- 9(4)
Patten- 5(1)
Cooley- 4(3)
Royal- 4(0)
Portis- 4(3)
Sellers- 3(1)
Betts- 1(0)
Thrash- 1(1)
Jacobs- 1(1)

New York Giants:
The growing trend (and a troubling one) of Eli Manning throwing off his back foot as he bails out of the pocket hurt the Giants in the first quarter of this game. Fortunately, they didn’t need the 11 points they left on the field on their first two drives.

The Giants were again very productive when running to their left. Tiki Barber had 200 yards by the end of the third quarter.

I’ve been saying for a while that this Giants’ defense is playing better than the stats may indicate. They get good pressure on the QB and they cause turnovers. Against Washington, there were five blue jerseys around ball at all times. And in the second half, New York never let up. They came after the Redskins all game.

New York also did a good job keeping Toomer involved in the game. His role has to be increased.
TARGETS(catches):
Burress- 9(4)
Toomer- 6(2)
Shockey- 6(3)
Barber- 2(1)
Ward- 2(1)
Carter- 1(1)

Tuesday Football

San Diego Chargers
The Chargers put themselves in a position to lose this game because of penalties, plain and simple. They had 9 for 72 yards, but every one was huge. The Eagles picked up 4 first downs via a SD penalty.

Both teams looked real sloppy, but San Diego was especially bad.

Caldwell was having a nice game until he fumbled on the 18 yard line with a 1:30 left in the game.

The Chargers only pass rushed 4 players for most of game. Sometimes, they’d send a 5th, but for the most part it seemed they were protecting their secondary. And the Eagles offensive line is one of the best pass blocking units in the league. They had no trouble with the Chargers’ rush.

Don’t worry about Tomlinson. The Eagles did not so much stop LT as they stopped Marty-ball.

In the second half, San Diego found ways to move the ball by using Brees on more short drops with quicker throws. They also began to vary their formations and sets, often lining up Gates in places where they could dictate his matchups. Welcome to the modern day NFL Marty. Guess what, everyone does this from the opening kickoff- not after halftime.

Attention san diego playoff chances, Nate Kaeding is scary. His kicks are still real ugly.
TARGETS(cathces):
Gates- 12(8)
MCCardell- 8(5)
Caldwell- 7(4)
Tomlinson- 6(4)
Parker- 2(0)
Peelle- 2(1)
Osgood- 1(0)
Neal- 1(1)

Philadelphia Eagles
I don’t know why some thought after the Eagles’ week 5 loss to Dallas, that they could not stop the run. In fact, I’ve seen them play extremely well against their opponents’ rushing attack this season and this game against San Diego was further proof of that. The middle of the DL did a good job of collapsing the interior of SD’s offensive line into the backfield.

And Washington should take note, those power right and power left plays that Marty and Gibbs like to run aren’t going to work against Philly.

L.J. Smith looked healthy and showed no ill effects from his ankle injury a couple of weeks ago.
TARGETS(catches):
Westbrook- 13(10)
Smith- 11(6)
OWens- 10(7)
Lewis- 6(4)
Gordon- 5(3)
Spach- 4(1)
Parry- 3(2)
Brown- 1(1)
McMullen- 1(1)



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Indianapolis Colts
Why does anyone ever blitz the Colts?

Don’t look at the score, this game was never close.
Indianapolis was flat for the entire game, and still it was an easy win for them.
TARGETS(catches):
Harrison- 9(7)
Wayne- 9(9)
Stokely- 5(1)
Clark- 5(3)
James- 1(1)

Houston Texans
The Texans’ offense didn’t really get back on track with their 20 points in this game, but they did show a little life. Houston played a smart first half by giving the ball to Dominick Davis over and over and over again. But there is still just nothing going in the passing game and this team will continue to strike out on third downs. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but Houston’s only chance to produce points on offense is if they move more towards a similar offensive philosophy to what Mike Shannahan has going in Denver. Houston is the perfect fit for a one cut running game and bootleg quarterback. The only plays they are making this year are just that. David Carr threw just 9 passes all game.
TARGETS(catches):
Gaffney- 5(4)
Bradford- 1(0)
Mathis- 1(0)
Davis- 1(1)
Rivers- 1(1)



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Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs came out again with a number of three wide receivers sets. And they’re able to run the ball out of those sets often and effectively. With Sammy Parker out with an injury, Marc Boerigter had a busy night. Tony Gonzalez picked up 7 more catches on the night, but a majority of those came in the fourth quarter when KC had a comfortable lead. The Chiefs held the ball for 41:40 of this game.
TARGETS(catches):
Gonzalez- 9(7)
Boerigter- 7(2)
Hall- 4(3)
Kennison- 4(2)
Holmes- 3(1)
Horn- 2(1)
Dunn- 2(2)
Richardson- 1(1)
Johnson- 1(1)

Miami Dolphins
Gus Frerotte played a terrible game. He was highly inaccurate throughout the contest, until he was pulled late in the fourth. It seems to me like he’s forcing too many deep throws and passing up some of the shorter options. And again, his accuracy was just awful. Gus should have had two touchdown passes in the first half (which would have made it a 14-14 game) but he twice missed open receivers in the end zone on third down.

The Chiefs’ aggressive defense gave Miami’s line trouble. They had just 17 rushing yards in the first half. And other than Ronnie Brown’s impressive 65 yard TD run, the Dolphins’ running game was empty (13 carries for 29 yards).

All Wes Welker does is make plays. He deserves more chances.

Chris Chambers’ first catch of the game came with about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter. And his second catch, the big touchdown score, came from Sage Rosenfelds with two and a half minutes left in the game.
TARGETS(catches):
Chambers- 11(2)
Booker- 6(2)
McMichael- 6(3)
welker- 4(2)
Brown- 2(2)
Williams- 1(0)
Evans- 1(1)



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Denver Broncos
Despite their early season success, I still don’t see how this Broncos’ team can go far with Plummer as their quarterback. What he does well is just too limiting. And on a couple of key throws in the third quarter that could have shifted momentum and stick the Giants behind by 17 points, Plummer had time to throw but missed open receivers on back to back plays.
Opposing defenses really have to take into consideration Denver’s FB Kyle Johnson. This guy has some moves and he can really get open.

Denver’s secondary has a lot of talent, but I think the Broncos’ put them in plays with single coverage and little help. Far too often they have to play 10 yards off the line of scrimmage and make things happen on their own.
TARGETS(catches):
Putzier- 6(3)
Lelie- 6(5)
Smith- 4(3)
Alexander- 4(3)
Bell- 4(2)
Johnson- 2(2)
Jackson- 1(0)

New York Giants
Tiki Barber’s fumble in this game came as his body was nearly horizontal, trying to keep his balance. It had nothing to do with his past fumbling problems and should not be of any concern.

The Giants did a great job at containing the Jake Plummer bootleg while still holding their own against the run.

And I don’t think New York’s secondary will suffer without longtime veterans Will Allen and Will Peterson. Both Deloatch and Webster are good, young corners and they have the potential to be solid starters. In fact, this Giants defense has young talent at all three levels.

The crossing routes to Shockey are really working well for this team right now. Opponents are going to have to make that a point of focus for their defenses.
I don’t know why only now people are saying that Eli Manning is a good quarterback. Was that ever up for debate, really? He did spend too much of this game making throws off his back foot. He’s got to learn to stand in the pocket a little better or he runs the risk of turning into Joey Harrington.

Despite his great numbers this season, Plaxico Burress is still not a consistent receiver. With five minutes to go and down by 6, he dogged it on a post pattern and allowed Champ Bailey a chance to make a great interception. The Broncos got the ball on their own 40 and could have closed the game out right there.

This was a great game on both sides, much like last week’s KC/WAS match. Both teams are playing good football right now.
TARGETS(catches):
Burress- 13(6)
Toomer- 13(8)
Shockey- 7(3)
Barber- 7(6)
Carter- 2(0)

Wednesday Football

Cincinnati Bengals
Marvin Lewis may have outsmarted himself to start this game. The Bengals came out and tried to play a conservative, ball control road game in the first half. But with two minutes left, they were losing 0-10 and Plamer had thrown just six passes so far. So in their hurry up offense, the Bengals came out and ran 9 plays (all passes, all completions) for 79 yards and a touchdown. This Titans team is better than most think, but their one obvious weakness is against the pass and you’ve got to come out flying in order to beat them. And to second that point, Palmer completed 81.8% of his 33 pass attempts in the game.

Chris Perry got 4 chances (run and pass) inside the red zone, giving him 10 on the season. That’s second on the team behind Rudi’s 17.

The Bengals still have not found a way to keep teams from running up the middle against them. And they have to face the Steelers this week.
TARGETS(cathces):
Johnson- 9(8)
CPerry- 9(9)
Walter- 5(4)
Washington- 3(2)
JJohnson- 3(1)
Henry- 2(1)
RJohnson- 1(1)
Schobel- 1(1)

Tennessee Titans
The Titans really picked up a couple of good receivers in last year’s draft (Jones, Roby). And it’s a good thing too. Tyrone Calico hasn’t looked like much more than a 4th receiver this season. He was solely to blame on McNair’s first INT that Odell Thurman returned for a touchdown.

In only one game this season (week two) have the Titans tight ends, as a group, been thrown less than 11 passes.

I’m not exactly sure who it was, but the play-by-play man covering this game for CBS must have used the word ‘beautiful’ to describe a pass at least 15 times, and I’m not exaggerating. At one point, it did so on four straight plays and only a McNair incompletion could stop him.

This game ended with a real smart job of coaching on the part of Jeff Fischer. Down by 11 with less than a minute to go, the Titans were able to get a first down on Cincy’s 30 yard line. And rather than spend more time trying to get a touchdown, the Titans spiked the ball to stop the clock and then kicked a field goal to bring them within 8 points of tying the game. Tennessee did not retrieve the resulting onside kick, but you still have to appriciate what that kind of winning attitude will do for a young team like this.
TARGETS(cathces):
Jones- 12(5)
Bennett- 11(7)
Kinney- 5(4)
Troupe- 5(4)
Brown- 2(3)
Calico- 2(1)
Roby- 1(1)
Scaife- 1(1)

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Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens finally played fast and physical on defense and special teams. For the first time this season, they looked to me like a hungry team.

Anthony Wright played a smart game, but by no means was he a playmaker out there against the Browns. He did do a good job at getting the ball to the guys that need to get it most: Mason and Heap. The Browns could not cover Todd Heap. He finally looks healthy and ready to make a difference.

Mark Clayton had an end-around touchdown called back by a holding penalty. The Ravens had 11 total penalties for 97 yards. That’s 32 for 244 in two weeks.

Dear Jamal: HIT THE HOLE RUNNING! You’re dancing behind the line like you think you’re Michael Jackson. Lewis was easily the third best running back on the field this past Sunday in Baltimore.
TARGET(catches):
Mason- 8(8)
Heap- 7(6)
Taylor- 6(4)
Lewis- 3(2)
Hymes- 2(1)
Clayton- 1(1)
Wilcox- 1(1)

Cleveland Browns
This game was a lot like the first three quarters of the Browns game last week against Chicago. The Ravens’ offense was unable to score in the second half, but unlike the Bears, Baltimore’s defense held up. And despite the final score, the Browns were competitive throughout this game.
TARGETS(catches):
Norhtcut- 9(4)
Bryant- 6(4)
Heiden- 5(4)
Shea- 4(3)
Jackson- 3(0)
Droughns- 1(1)
Green- 1(0)

—
San Diego Chargers
With an early lead, the Chargers played a real conservative football game in Oakland. They also used Antonio Gates as a decoy for most of the game; often throwing underneath his routes to Peelle, Neal, or LT.

Keenan McCardell dropped an easy pass in the end zone. It would have been his 6th touchdown of the season.
TARGETS(catches):
Tomlinson- 5(2)
Gates- 4(2)
Neal- 4(4)
McCardell- 3(2)
Peelle- 3(3)
Parker- 1(1)
Caldwell- 1(1)

Oakland Raiders
The Raiders’ defense started this game fired up and ready to stop the run. But their offense wasn’t up to the task. Collins was forced to rush his throws thoughout the game.

This team can still move the ball with Jerry Porter and Doug Gabriel as their top wideouts, but it’s really the play of their underachieving offensive line that is going to determine whether or not Oakland can get back into the playoff race.
TARGETS(catches):
Porter- 12(5)
Gabriel- 11(5)
Jordan- 7(6)
Anderson- 6(2)
Whitted- 5(4)
Moss- 3(0)
Zlemister- 1(0)

—
Washington Redskins
Another game is in the books where Clinton Portis looks great running in a single back set, and not so great having to find room behind lead blockers.

The Redskins have done a great job at getting Santana Moss the ball where he can do the most damage; near the line of scrimmage or way down the field. Over last three weeks, Moss has been thrown 12, 13, and 14 passes respectively.

Fox Sports brought in an interesting stat. After Tony Gonzalez drew a defensive pass interference call on the Redskins with 5:40 left in the first quarter, Fox noted that it was the first of such penalty Washington’s defense has been guilty of all season.

Chris Cooley really does a good job playing that tweener H-back spot for this team. And he runs faster than I thought he could.
TARGETS(catches):
Moss- 14(10)
Cooley- 8(6)
Patten- 6(2)
Thrash- 4(2)
Portis- 4(4)
Royal- 2(0)
Sellers- 1(1)

Kansas City Chiefs
With Willie Roaf back in the lineup, it was believed that Tony Gonzalez would see more opportunities to catch the ball. Over the last few weeks, KC has had to use their tight ends in pass blocking a little more than they are used to and it obviously hurt Gonzo’s already slipping pass production. In this game, the Redskins often used three defenders to contain Gonzo, but on those downs #88 was left to run against single coverage, Green looked for him immediately.

KC seems to be using more 3 WR sets than I remember them running in the past. And I wonder what happened to their high hopes for TE Kris Wilson. I didn’t see him at all in this game.

The Chiefs came out in the second half running a couple of different of screen passes and they ended up scoring on their first possession of the third quarter. Then on defense, KC came after Mark Brunnell hard until Moss hit that 80 yard flanker screen. Later in the game, the Chiefs scored the game winner on another screen pass, this time a 60 yarder to Holmes.

This was a strong game from both teams and one that could have gone either way.
TARGETS(catches):
Gonzalez- 6(2)
Holmes- 6(5)
Parker- 3(2)
Boerigter- 3(2)
Hall- 2(2)
Kennison- 2(0)
Dunn- 1(1)
Johnson- 1(1)
Richardson- 1(0)

Wednesday Football

Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons lost this game purely because they have more weaknesses than the Patriots do. And while people are speculating whether or not Atlanta is better off with Matt Schaub or another traditional drop back passer (just because Schaub threw for 300+ yards) know that what Michael Vick does when he’s on the field not only compliments the run game, but he also helps mask how poor the Falcons receivers really are. I mean, I really like Brian Finneran, but he should not be the most dependable pass catcher on any Super Bowl caliber team. And that’s not to say that Matt Schaub is not a good quarterback, we found that out during his rookie season that he is, but I don’t know if he can make all the throws yet. Schaub missed a number of deep passes on Sunday that championship quarterbacks, like tom Brady, make.

Michael Jenkins had a terrible game in particular. He dropped a few, and failed to fight for the ball on a number of other occasions. Dez White dropped a few too, and he almost didn’t get credit for his touchdown catch because it fell to the ground too. For the season, Brian Finneran is now one target behind Jenkins for the lead among Falcons WRs, and again, Finneran has been terrific.

The Pats game was decided late by three plays in particular. With 8 minutes left and the Falcons driving near midfield, a line judge called Schaub out of bounds two yards before the first down even though Schaub was clearly more than a foot in bounds. The Falcons punted, and while they did soon get the ball back and score a tying touchdown, but New England was left with just enough time to win. And on that game winning drive, the Pats were facing 1st and 25 from their own 20. Kerney was call off-sides even though he was drawn by a false start and then on the very next play Allen Rossum interfered with Deion Branch on a ball that he didn’t need to interfere with and the Pats got a free first down. Game over.
TARGETS(catches):
Jenkins- 10(3)
Crumpler- 9(6)
Finneran- 6(5)
DWhite- 3(1)
RWhite- 3(0)
Dunn- 2(2)
Griffith- 1(1)

New England Patriots
This Patriots’ offense is just rolling. Brady’s 54 yard TD pass to Bethel Johnson was especially nice. He threw it off his back foot, with two Falcons in his face and hit Johnson with a perfect rainbow that fell perfectly into the receivers arms. Brady’s ability to move within the pocket is helping out his rookie LT and LG. Daniel Graham obviously had a huge game, and he gets more playing time because he’s a more complete tight end right now. But I still think Ben Watson has a big game in his near future. He picked up the first TD of his career on Sunday, and despite only having 3 catches on the year, he’s been thrown to 13 times (2 more than Graham’s 11). Deion Branch, after being almost forgotten last week, was heavily featured against the Falcons. And he picked up his 8 catches and 107 yards while matched up against DeAngelo Hall most of the time.

On defense, tight ends vs NE have had some success this year. Gates picked up 108 last week, Courtney Anderson had 2 TDs in the opener, and Crumpler had 99 yards against the Pats. New England looked like they had linebackers on Crumpler to start the game and then swtiched to using more DBs to cover him. Neither technique was effective. And Chad Brown is being abused in coverage.

The Pats also rushed rushed the passer much more than they did last week, showing perhaps less respect for Schaub than they did Drew Brees. This left a lot of Falcons’ receivers in single coverage, but on too many occasions (for ATL, at least) Schaub either missed his throw or the receiver wasn’t able to make the catch. The Falcons attacked down the field all game, they just couldn’t come up with many plays. Against a team with a little better verticle offense, New England will have to go back to protecting their secondary with 7-8 men in coverage, and they won’t be as effective against the pass. There are real problems here for New England.
TARGETS(catches):
Branch- 8(8)
Graham- 5(5)
Givens- 4(2)
Dillon- 4(2)
Pass- 2(1)
Johnson- 1(1)
Brown- 1(1)
Dwight- 1(1)
Watson- 1(1)

—
Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Burger showed on Monday night that he’s making good progress as an NFL quarterback. He’s finally becoming more than just a half field passer, it seems. I expected Willie Parker to be more of a force than he was in this game. For a guy who’s never carried a full load before, it looked a little like he may have lost a bit already. Take for example the 14 yard run he had that ended as he was tripped and couldn’t keep his balance. I can’t help but think that a fresh Parker finds a way to stay on his feet there.
TARGETS(catches):
Ward- 10(6)
Miller- 6(4)
Randel El- 4(3)
Wilson- 2(1)
Morgan- 1(0)
Haynes- 1(1)
Parker- 1(1)
Bettis- 1(1)

San Diego Chargers
After getting just one pass thrown to him in his first two games, LaDainian Tomlinson has picked up a total of 18 targets in his last three. Antonio Gates is on pace for 75 catches this year (81 in 15 games last year), but his 341 yards through 4 games puts him on a 1279 pace for the season. He’s had 33 passes thrown to him in ‘05. That’s good for a pace of 124 for the year. He picked up 111 targets in 2004. Also of note, Keenan McCardell received another pass in the red zone, giving him 8 on the season. Gates has just 3 RZ targets so far.
TARGETS(catches):
Gates- 11(5)
Parker- 7(5)
Tomlinson- 7(7)
McCardell- 6(1)
Caldwell- 1(1)
Osgood- 1(1)
Neal- 1(0)

—
Indianapolis Colts
Edgerrin James looks more decisive with his running as each week passes. He’s not only giving a better effort than ever before since his knee injury, but James is also getting all the chances he can handle because of the way teams are playing Indy. The only problem is that he’s still being taken out in the red zone way too often for his fantasy owners’ likings. James also fumbled on the goal line against the 49ers. He’s just finding ways to not score.

The Colts don’t seem to be doing anything new with their offense yet. The 49ers just didn’t play the game like others this year have. And despite the score, the Colts were real sloppy in this match. They lost a fumble (as I mentioned, on the one yard line), Peyton threw 2 picks, and Indy had 10 penalties for 80 yards. Very uncharacteristic. But still they dominated. Harrison’s injury seems to be limiting him right now.
TARGETS(catches):
Wayne- 10(6)
Stokely- 8(6)
James- 5(4)
Clark- 3(3)
Harrison- 3(2)
Rhodes- 1(1)
Walter- 1(1)

San Francisco 49ers
I know he threw 4 INTs, but Alex Smith looked much better in the pocket than he has at any point I’ve seen him this season. He still has most of the way to go before he’s a good QB, but at least Smith has made significant progress past that whole first year ‘deer in headlights’ thing. It seems he’s always going to have that awful release though. It’s the only thing about Smith that is slow. Oh, and Smith certainly earned every one of his INTs too. They were all ugly. Only one pass was completed to a WR (cato June had two INTs), and 13 of Smith’s 23 passes went to either a back or tight end.

Kevan Barlow is basically a head down, straight ahead runner at this point. Frank Gore has been running with much more explosiveness, but it’s still the veteran who’s getting most of the carries.
TARGETS(catches):
Barlow- 4(3)
Lloyd- 3(0)
Battle- 3(0)
Morton- 3(1)
Gore- 3(1)
Jackson- 2(0)
Amey- 1(0)
Bush- 1(1)
Bajema- 1(1)
Beasley- 1(1)
Hetherington- 1(1)

Thursday Football

Just one game to add for now. NHL’s opening night has me behind in the schedule.

NE- The closest thing I remember seeing a pass go to Deion Branch was right at the end of the first half when a ball in the end zone that was originally intended for Troy Brown was tipped and went through Branch’s hands. In fact, I had to rewind the tape just to find which part of the game Branch’s one catch did finally come in. And in searching for it, I realized that not only was I not seeing #83 in my limited tv camera view, but I also didn’t really see Quentin Jammer. Based on that, I can only assume that either Jammer was owning Branch for much of the game, and/or the Patriots’ offensive staff couldn’t figure out any way to get Branch involved. He really was nonexistent. In turn, David Givens had a big game.

The Pats line did a good job, considering they started rookies at LG and LT. But as a team, they did get away from the run a little too much in the second half. Dillon was running well when he did get his chances.

There isn’t much wrong with New England’s offense, other than they don’t have the best play caller in football working for them anymore. There are problems on defense though (see below).

Also, Matt Cassell’s INT wasn’t really his fault. The pass was deflected coming out of his hand and went almost straight up before it was picked off and returned for a touchdown. Cassell did, however, launch a poorly thrown pass on his first attempt. It was a sideline route that looked like it didn’t quite have the arm strength behind it to be considered an NFL caliber throw. TARGETS(catches): Givens- 10(6), Pass- 9(8), Brown- 6(2), Branch- 6(1), Dwight- 2(2), Watson- 1(1), Dillon- 1(1).

SD- In a big game like this, it was interesting to see the San Diego come out early and try to get the ball into the hands of Darren Sproles as they did.

The Chargers’ offensive line was good enough when run blocking for LT and Michael Turner, but they weren’t really tested by the typical New England pass rush. The Pats were most likely protecting against their problems in their secondary. Being cautious didn’t help though. On the play that put the Chargers ahead 31-17, it was third and 7 from the NE 28 and Brees had enough time for Caldwell to sell his route all the way to almost the middle of the field before breaking it off to the corner of the end zone for a score. I’d be surprised if Brees was even knocked down for the entire game. The Pats just didn’t come after him. The Chargers finished the game 7 for 12 on third downs. They also scored 40 points, and this is at New England. Wow.

Turner, incidentally, continues to look great as LT’s backup. If Tomlinson happens to miss any time, I wouldn’t blink for a second in putting Turner into my lineup.

LaDainian Tomlinson carried Monty Beisel for about four yards into the end zone on his first score, and on LT’s second TD, he just blew Beisel up a yard before the goal line and rolled over him for the 6 points. No doubt, TJ Duckett has been smiling a lot this week.

SD couldn’t get much pressure on Brady. That’s been a trouble spot for them and it looks like it continues to be a problem. The Chargers should also be concerned about their run defense. Over the last two weeks, both the Giants and the Patriots have been successful running wide, away from Jamal Williams. And now they have to face Willie Parker this Monday night. TARGETS(catches): Gates- 8(6), Parker- 4(4), LT- 4(3), Caldwell- 2(2), Sproles- 2(1), McCardell- 1(1), Neal- 1(1), Peelle- 1(1)

Thursday Football

NO- This game was a battle of quarterbacks who don’t know how to throw the ball on time. Devery Henderson took advantage of the Vikings’ lack of depth at corner for 6 catches on 7 targets and 137 yards. Joe Horn had a hard time against Antoine Winfield. Horn had just 1 catch on 6 targets. Donte Stallworth was covered up pretty well too. He didn’t catch any one of the four passes thrown his way. Stallworth did have a punt return TD called back on an illegal block. Ernie Conwell is still the most consistent receiver on this team. Aaron Brooks clearly trusts his tight end. Conwell picked up 8 more targets, but he dropped a few and ended up with just 3 catches. Also, Duece McCallister doesn’t look as quick as I remember him being.

MIN- Don’t be fooled. The Vikings are not back yet. Daunte Culpepper is having problems in the pocket. He’s playing like a first year QB, at times running with the ball way too much and at other times holding on to it too long. And I don’t think it’s so much that he can’t read the defense during the play, but maybe he just doesn’t have confidence in either the offense’s design or his receivers or both. Bottom line, he’s not confortable. The Vikings need to give him more check down options. A couple times they used Mewelde Moore as a swing out option, like how Norv Turner does in Oakland, and they need to do more of that. Mewelde isn’t the best blocker anyhow, so they’re better off getting him to chip on someone before flaring out as a safety valve. With the way the Saints were turning the ball over in their own territory, if Minnesota’s offense was truly fixed, the Vikings would have made this game 28-0 after the first quarter.

What big plays Minnesota did have were just as much at the fault of the Saints as they were to the credit of the Vikings. Minnesota’s first and third touchdowns were simply a case of the receiver beating a corner in man coverage without much help from a safety. Dwight Smith, in particular, had a terrible day against the Vikings.

Still, there are some areas where a little optimism isn’t misguided. Moore looked like he can make a difference out there as this team’s featured back, as long as he can stay healthy. The OLine did a good job blocking for him and despite the seven sacks the stat book shows, they weren’t awful in pass protection. A lot of those should be put on Culpepper.

Also, the Vikings’ defense did a good job forcing the Saints into third and longs, and then brought a myriad of blitzes on third down.

With Atlanta coming up for the Vikes, I’m not too confident that this team has turned the corner on their problems. They easily left around 20 points on the field in week three. They also threw for just 30 yards in the second half, and this wasn’t a blow out either. At one point, the Saints were down by just 8.

As for the targets, Jermaine Wiggins led the team with 7, with Travis Taylor right behind him with 6. Troy Williamson did some good with the four passes thrown his way, but Marcus Robinson was a non-factor, except for one long play down the sideline that Dwight Smith left him wide open for. This team has too many perimeter receivers and will miss Nate Burleson dearly for as long as he’s out. And the bottom line is that Culpepper doesn’t have too much confidence in anyone right now. He’ll throw to them if they’re running free, as they were against the Saints. But against the Falcons, I think they’re going to continue to struggle.

—
ARZ- Anquan Boldin led the team with 12 targets, and he has 30 on the year. Larry Fitzgerald had only 6 passes thrown his way, as he’s clearly the guy opposing defenses want to stop first. Adam Bergen is the starting TE for this team right now, but his chances have been limited. Marcell Ship had another good game running the ball, but his playing time was again limited. This game was 10-9 Seahawks at the half and then 24-9 Seahawks 5 minutes into the third and 31-12 Seahawks after three quarters. The Cardinals defense is very vulnerable up the middle and the only thing they do well (rush the passer) can be partially negated when they play a team like Seattle who uses mostly three and five step drops. Kurt Warner’s groin injury is a serious one, so look for Josh McCown to start more than just this week. I think the Cards are better off with him in there anyway. Arizona has been terrible inside their opponents thirty yard line this year.

SEA- As I mentioned above, Seattle’s strengths on offense really played well into Arizona’s problems on defense. Bobby Engram again had a fine game, catching 5 balls on 8 targets. Darrell Jackson was the team leader with 13, as Arizona played their DBs 10 yards off the line for much of the game. Jerramy Stevens getting chances as the lone TE threat. He picked up 3 catches on 4 targets (including one in the red zone to set up a Alexander TD). Seneca Wallace and Peter Warrick hooked up on a nice 42 yard pass play. It was the first ball thrown to Warrick all season. PDub did a nice job returning punts as well.

—
KC- Tony Gonzalez had a tough time against the Broncos’ linebackers. He did get a season high 9 targets, but caught just 5 of them for a lowly 29 yards. As I expected, he is way behind last year’s pace. Eddie Kennison is still the receiver leader. He picked up 8 catches on 11 targets. The Chiefs tried to get the ball to Sammy Parker too. He got 9 passes, but caught just two of them. KC gets the Eagles at home this week.

DEN- With 17-0 first quarter lead, the Broncos ran the ball for much of the game. They are still a two WR team though, and Rod Smith led the team with 8 targets. After a couple of poor outings, the tight end has temporarily disappeared from this offense. Jeb Putzier did not get one pass his way and Stephen Alexander got only one. The Broncos’ schedule doesn’t get any easier on their short week. They travel to Jacksonville and I hope they saved some real good plays for the Jags. Actually, I’ll be picking against them. So I hope the didn’t.

—
NYG- Depsite missing the first quarter, Plaxico Burress led the team in targets for the third straight week. He had 5 catches on 11 passes. David Tyree was active as well, with 5 catches on 6 targets. Amani Toomer had his biggest game of the year, with 8 targets, but clearly he’s Eli Manning’s third favorite receiver on this team. Jeremy Shockey went 6 for 9, but he didn’t get any red zone chances. Those went to back up Visanthe Shiancoe (two).

SD- The Chargers got back to doing what worked for them last year. Antonio Gates caught six more passes on six targets. And LT picked up 7 targets to go with his 21 carries and 1 pass attempt. Keenan McCardell saw his targets fall to just 4, but he made the most of them, catching each for a total of 80 yards and two scores.

Friday Football

BAL- In their first game with Anthony Wright at quarterback, Derrick Mason was the most active Ravens receiver. He caught 8 passes on 10 targets for 60 yards and a score. The tightends, all three of them, were again heavily featured. Heap, Wilcox, and Dinkins had 11 total passes thrown their way. With a bye this week, Baltimore’s top priority is to find their running game.

BUF- J.P. Losman was lucky he didn’t leave Tampa with two or three interceptions to his credit. Josh Reed picked up 7 targets, as did Eric Moulds. But the real story with the Bills right now is with their running back, Willis McGahee. He and Coach Mularkey have had a minor media fued this week in reference to McGahee’s running style lately. I, too, noticed in the preseason that he looked hesitant. The 1-1 Bills face another tough defense this week as they host Atlanta, and McGahee needs to show that he can dominate games because J.P. Losman can’t.

CIN- After picking up 4 more targets against the Vikings, Chris Perry now has 10 total on the season. He also had an impressive 87 yard flare pass called back on Sunday by a holding penalty. Chad Johnson was again the team leader, with 13. He’s on pace for a 184 target season (last year he had 158). Chris Henry looked good, catching 4 of the 4 passes thrown his way. And T.J. Houshmandzadeh picked up 4 red zone targets.

CLE- Trent Dilfer is doing a good job so far this season at getting the ball out of his hands quickly. He’s also spreading his targets around well. Steve Heiden led the team with 8, as the Packers have been hurt by tight ends a lot this year (Marcus Pollard in week 1). Billy Miller also got a chance in the end zone that was knocked away by a defender. As expected, Frisman Jackson only had two passes thrown his way and everyone saw what Braylon Edwards did with three of his four targets. The Browns will face a very fast Colts defense this week, and I expect their rather immobile offensive line to have all kinds of troubles.

DEN- The Broncos did all they could to lose to the Chargers, but it didn’t take. Denver turned the ball over twice inside the Chargers’ 30 and Elam missed two field goals in their first 8 possessions. But 10 fourth quarter points led them to a key divisional victory. Rod Smith (11) and Ashley Lelie (10) led the team in targets and Jeb Putzier had a surprisingly low 3. Charlie Adams seems to still be the #3 WR, as he got 4 passes thrown to him. Darius Watts had just one. The Broncos host KC on Monday night, and they should doing so with an 0-2 record. Still, they also could have beaten San Diego by three touchdowns. Denver’s defense played well.

HOU- Awful.

IND- The Colts are going to expload this week, I can just feel it. They’ve faced two of the best defenses in the league, and yes they are going against Romeo Crennel this week but his Browns just don’t have the talent to do what the Pats have done in the past. Dallas Clark played his first game of the season and he picked up 3 targets. The WR trio maitained their form; Harrison 8, Wayne 7, Stokely 5.

JAX- Reggie Williams continued his rise, with 4 catches on 5 targets. The Jags also kept Matt Jones involved with 3 targets. But Jimmy Smith is still the clear #1. He picked up 7 passes.

KC- Almost by default, Eddie Kennison is still the top WR on the Chiefs. He had a career high 1086 yards in just 14 games last year. He picked up 102 targets last year and is on pace for 104 this season. But I still like #2 guy Sammy Parker. He had 6 passes thrown to him against Oakland, catching 3 for a 28.7 ypc average. In the red zone, the Chiefs went to their running backs 10 times in week one, and 11 times last week. Tony Gonzalez has just two RZ chances on the season. He’s a little behind his three year average of 21.6 and he’s got those talented Denver linebackers to deal with this week.

MIA- Randy McMichael was busy against the Jets, pulling in 8 passes on 11 targets. On the year, he has 14 catches on 18 targets, and four looks inside the red zone. Chris Chambers is also getting a lot of passes, as he has 20 targets on the year and five inside the twenty. But Chambers only has 6 receptions so far.

NE- Daniel Graham only got one pass thrown his way in week two, but it was a 1 yard touchdown strike. Ben Watson is still the top TE target, he got 5 more passes thrown to him against Carolina. Deion Branch (14, 25 in two weeks) is the clear #1 and David Givens (9) a solid #2 guy. New England’s offense really struggled last week. They only ran one play in the red zone (Graham) and that was only after Troy Brown’s 71 yard pass play that ended on the 1. Their best starting field position was from their own 33 and they made it into Carolina territory just four times (TD, INT, FG, Fumble).

NYJ- Laveranues Coles and Justin McCareins had identical target numbers in week two (10 and 8, respectively). Not too much else going on here. The Jets are still finding their way around their new offense.

OAK- Lamont Jordan had a tough time hanging on to the ball against the Chiefs. He caught just 6 of the 11 passes thrown to him. Many of those incompletes were due to Jordan trying to run with the catch too soon. I still think he’s a above average receiver, especially considering his size. The errors he made Sunday night were not really physical; he definitely has the hands to catch 70-80 passes this year and he’s obviously going to get the chance to in this offense (see the OAK preview). After two weeks, it looks like I might be wrong about Randy Moss. He’s got 10 catches and two scores so far and that’s in line with the projections I had him at. But the 257 yards he’s racked up is way ahead of the pace I’d thought he’d go on. In fact, he’s on pace for 2056 and even though it’s only two games, I didn’t see him getting to 1600. But that looks to be where Moss is headed. He’s getting the ball thrown to him plenty (22 total targets). Jerry Porter had 11 targets in week two and with Ronald Curry out of the year, Porter should see an increase in his production. Also look for Doug Gabriel to make an impact as he returns this week from a finger injury.

PIT- All of these crazy Pittsburgh stats are either very misleading or they underscore how fantastic this team is playing. We’ll find out this week, but from my point of view, it looks like they are rolling.

SD- The Chargers got Antonio Gates involved right away, as he went 8 for 8 in passes. Keenan McCardell continued his high pace with 8 more targets, giving him 22 on the year. And not only has LT not caught a pass all season, but he’s only been thrown one ball.

TEN- Steve McNair used his back heavily against the Ravens, throwing 15 passes to the trio of Chris Brown, Travis Henry, and Troy Fleming. In turn, the tight ends saw considerably fewer balls (4, down from 13). The wide receivers were led by Drew Bennett (8) and Brandon Jones (6). The Titans are back on the road to St. Louis this week.

And from the NFC…
CAR- The Pats were focused on slowing Steve Smith. He only had 4 catches on 6 targets for 34 yards. Keary Colbert had 7 balls thrown his way but didn’t come down with one. Ricky Proehl stepped up for the Panthers, catching 3 of 3. And Rod Gardner, who reportedly has been slow to learn the offense, picked up one red zone chance. It’s Stephen Davis’ team inside the twenty, he scored 3 RZ touchdowns on 6 chances.

2005 Fantasy Football / Offensive Coordinator Preview - San Diego Chargers

The 2004 Chargers scored the third most points in the NFL in part because they did two things very well: 1) they limited turnovers (+15 ratio, third best), and 2) they coverted red zone chances into touchdowns. In 63 possessions inside the twenty last season, San Diego scored an NFL high 44 touchdowns (69.8%). And they came away with points nearly 91% of the time, also an NFL high.

But Cameron’s and Schottenheimer’s Chargers will have to produce more yards this year if they are going to equal their point output from 2004. San Diego finished 11th in the NFL in total yards, but just 18th in passing yards last season. Their philosophy is to run often (4th most attempts in ‘04, 6th most yards) and pass conservatively (least INTs given).

These Chargers aren’t going to catch anyone by surprise this season and they’ll need Drew Brees to continue improving in order to make the playoffs again. Brees is a very accurate quarterback who needs to keep making smart, quick decisions with the football to be an effective passer. Despite throwing for just 3159 yards last year, Brees made a fantasy impact with his 27/7 TD/INT ratio. While I don’t think he’s going to turn the ball over too much more this season, you still have to look at his numbers and wonder how much better they could possibly be in this offense.

In the last 12 seasons of Marty-ball, dating all the way back to 1991, a Schottenheimer coached team has finished higher than 15th in total passing yards just once- in 1994 with Joe Montana and Steve Bono. In fact, his average passing yards finished over those 12 seasons is 20.75. On the flip side, his teams have finished inside the top 10 in rushing yards eight times over those last 12 seasons, and his average rushing finish is 9.8.

That said, whomever is running the ball for Schottenheimer is automatically a top fantasy candidate. It just so happens that the Chargers have at running back the most complete player in the NFL today. There is no one in the league better at the job he does than LaDainian Tomlinson. If you need him to catch the ball out of the backfield, he’s proven he can do that with 291 receptions in four years (including a 100 catch season in ‘03). If you need him to pick up blitzes, he can do that too. LT has appeared in 63 of his team’s 64 games in his four NFL years. He’s averaged 1475 yards rushing and 506 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns during that time. Yes he’s the first overall pick. In my opinion, he’s been the first overall pick for three years now. What we have here is a superstar player in a system that allows him to be a superstar. Michael Turner looks to be the leading contender to back up LT this season.

And then there’s Antonio Gates; oh the heartache he’s put Charger fans and fantasy owners through this off-season. The thing is, this is not a T.O. situation. Gates is loved by all his teammates, he’s a team first guy, and most importantly, he was deserving of a pay raise. And Gates got it too, two days after reporting to camp, the Chargers announced they had signed him to a six year deal. Unfortunately, he’ll still be forced to sit out week one against Dallas, but Gates also sat out week 17 last year and he still set the NFL record for touchdowns by a tight end. Sure, many fantasy leagues don’t play during week 17, but the point is, you just never know how a player is going to perform in one particular week. If you’re in a league that doesn’t play during W17, that means you’re getting Gates for 14 games. Still, there’s absolutely no reason to downgrade Antonio just because of this one game suspension.

Gates is the model fantasy player. He doesn’t block well, he doesn’t have a lot of experience playing football (except learning defenses on Madden, as he has described in the past), but Gates gets as much separation from defenders as any top WR does and because he’s so big, he’s nearly impossible to defend in close spaces. Gates was targeted 26 times in the red zone last year. He scored on 12 of those plays. By comparison, Tony Gonzalez, was targeted 28 times but only scored on 3. It’s just a matter of how teams use their players. And in the red zone, the Chargers rely on Gates and LT almost exclusively.

As for the other receivers, I feel the Chargers wide outs are mostly a non factor in fantasy football. Keenan McCardell is by far the best option, but he only averaged 56 yards per game last year and only scored one touchdown. And as described above, this teams looks elsewhere inside the twenty, so you should look elsewhere for your WRs.