New England at Los Angeles

You can bet the Chargers have had this game circled since last January 20th, when they dropped their playoff game at New England 21-12. That was their second loss to the Pats last season (also lost 38-14 mid-season) and it killed an amazing Chargers season, and their Super Bowl hopes. Both of those games were played at New England while this one is at home for the Chargers. Phillip Rivers played that last game with a torn ACL. This season he will be the best QB in the game with Brady sidelined, and the a reversal is in order. Rivers is having an outstanding season with a 103 QB rating through week five. He has thrown for 11 TDs already. New England, which saw their double-digit pointspreads last year, dissolved with the loss of Brady this season, are just not the same team without him. Last year the Patriots had not scored less than 34 points in any of their first eight games. This season they have not reached 34 once. Matt Cassel has thrown for just three TD passes in four weeks, a mark Brady achieved in week one last year. The offense which was by far the #1 unit last season, has fallen to 23rd and the running game has been non-existent. As a result, teams have begun to stack eight in the box. Just three teams in the NFL are worse than the 3.65 yards the Pats generate with their ground attack. The Chargers will be a motivated home team for this one, and have the talent on both sides of the ball to make this one ugly.