San Diego SUPER Chargers

First of all, I would like to formally announce my presence as a contributor to "Hot Ham Water," I am Ian Miller, and as my esteemed colleague Carl so eloquently opined, I am indeed generally a fan of Los Angeles based sports teams. However, as a mostly fair weather Chargers fan (and anti-Norv zealot), I was, of course, extremely interested in today's playoff game between our beloved Bolts and those heathens from Nashville. After a brief, and mostly useless jaunt to Lampost Pizza in Vista, we settled in at home to enjoy the majesty of Norv Turner's face in hi-def. I must admit, when I saw Gates go down, I was immediately worried that the Chargers would once again suffer a crushing playoff loss, as they have done ever since the 1994 season. Our hero, LaDanian Tomlinson was ineffective, and putting our hopes on the broad shoulders of Philip Rivers had not worked out too well throughout the season. That made it all the more impressive when the Chargers showed a smattering of resiliency after the loss of their second best offensive option. The combination of the offensive inconsistency in the first half, the loss of Gates, and the generally mediocre play of Rivers throughout the year, led me to believe that the Titans had legitimate hopes to win a game they should have had no chance in. It was to my surprise then that Rivers stepped up to the plate, made some quality throws, no major mistakes (the interception wasn't really his fault) and, in the words of every sportswriter ever, managed the game well. While Rivers was impressive, the most encouraging aspect of today's game was the excellent play of Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers. Today showed the Chargers have the talent to win games when LT and Gates are almost completely non-factors. Jackson seemed to be open consistently, and made a nice move on his touchdown catch. Chambers found some holes in the defense, and though the Rivers interception was mostly his fault, was a major part of the Charger offense. Hopefully Gates will be able to play against the Colts on Sunday, but if he can't, the Bolts might need another good showing by the wide receivers to be competitive. 

One cannot discuss today's rain-soaked competition without mentioning the "opportunistic" San Diego defense. One fumble caused by the incomparable Shawne Merriman, another interception and three sacks not only helped my playoff league fantasy football team, but was a major contributor to the Chargers victory. It's unlikely they will be able to repeat their regular season six interception performance against the Colts, but the combination of pressure and good coverage down field should be enough to give them a chance. Oh who am I kidding, they need to play one of their best games of the season to beat Peyton "You Feel Me" Manning. 

Well, since I have this public forum in which to broadcast my expertly qualified views, I might as well take advantage of it. So here's my predictions for the 2nd round of the NFL Playoffs...

Seattle Seahawks 17 Green Bay Packers 24

N.Y. Giants 20 Dallas Cowboys 34

Jacksonville Jaguars 21 New England Patriots 38

San Diego Chargers 20 Indianapolis Colts 24

And in closing, here's tonight's random Emerson Boozer factoid: Instead of attending the University of Maryland at College Park, what most of us know as the University of Maryland, he was on the football team at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, in Princess Anne, Maryland. Way to be different, Emerson.