Posts tagged PhilipRivers at FanHouse

More "LT on the field" than most Charger fans have seen in the past week.

There are plenty of reasons to be a San Diego Chargers fan. Philip Rivers is, of course, awesome. That stems from his alma mater primarily. LaDanian Tomlinson is also quite good. The weather is generally nice there. And Norv Turner is simply brilliant. Their division title should be a cakewalk this year.

Really, if you're Chargers management, there's very little you have to do in order to keep your West Coasters happy. But there are a few things you can do early on to not make them particularly thrilled. Like holding LDT out of preseason games because of an injured groin, which is what they did. Via U-T Chargerblog.

Not really. He's totally healthy.

But that's what the Chargers are saying is the reason LT won't play in tomorrow's preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Technically, only injured players are allowed to not dress for preseason games. (It has a little something to do with the NFL charging y'all regular-season prices to see an exhibition.)

Yeah, that would tee me off. First, NFL teams should in no way charge full regular season price for preseason games. Economics, apparently, dictate that they can. It's understandable because we all want live professional football right now, but frankly, it's bush league.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, Fantasy FanHouse is here to preview each and every team. Listen closely, you're almost guaranteed to win your FREE fantasy football league, only over at Fleaflicker.

Meet The ...
2008 Super Bowl Champions. Sure, saying that has little to do with fantasy football. I just wanted to get my prediction out there before the billion main-stream experts made theirs. It's not just the star power of LaDanian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers, Shawn Merriman, and Antonio Cromartie. They are loaded everywhere except head coach. The stigma follows Norv Turner in the public eye, however, he did lead the team to the AFC Championship game last season after a troubling start. A proverbial corner has been turned ...

The Breakout
The big boys are all well-established, so you have to dig a bit deeper to find the next one to step up. I'm going with Chris Chambers. He's had so much talent wasted by the dregs at QB in Miami -- and he still had an incredible 2005 campaign -- and is now clearly the top wideout on a prolific offense. He's had over a half-season to acclimate himself to the Chargers offense and develop a rapport with Rivers. After a full pre-season with the squad, you can expect Chambers to come on like gangbusters this season. His career highs were all set in '05 (82 catches, 1118 yards, 11 TDs) and will be challenged this season; especially the yards as the Chargers look to spread the field vertically.

The fine fellows at Hashmarks conducted a wide-ranging interview with NFL head coaches, covering everything from the league's dirtiest player to its best quarterback to brainiest defender. The survey also asked coaches which "Pro Bowl-caliber player would they not want on their roster?"

Of the 20 head coaches who responded, 14 voted for Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who was the runaway winner. Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals was a distant second with three votes.

In case you're wondering, Randy Moss, Drayton Florence and Adam Jones each got one vote. (I had no idea Florence was such a malcontent; my money was on that loud-mouthed troublemaker Philip Rivers*).

So, why is T.O. the runaway winner in what seems like should be a pretty tight race? Since coming to Dallas, Owens has been the model teammate (if we're willing to overlook that whole weird suicide thing, anyway), even going so far as to blubber for his teammate.

The Dallas Morning News' Albert Breer is not impressed with you, Tiger Woods. Sure, you had a double stress fracture and a torn ACL, walked more than 21 miles over five days, and gave one of the grittiest performances in major championship history, but, apparently, it wasn't enough. You want tough? How about ... Philip Rivers? Really?

Breer tries to explain:

...[L]et's stop with all the breathless homages. Put the Purple Heart away. While there was some appreciation for it, I don't remember all this slobbering over someone going on in January, after Philip Rivers did something far more impressive. He played in a football game, in freezing conditions, against a 17-0 team through a similar injury.

Well, I did my fair share of slobbering, and I'm not even a Philip Rivers fan. That said, I think it's ridiculous to compare the two. Breer admits to appreciating Tiger's accomplishment, and calls the feat impressive, but adds, "Is [comparing Woods to Philips] even close. No. Way."

He falls into the lazy trap of saying that all Tiger did was "hit golf balls," because "last time I checked, there are plenty of people who aren't in very good physical condition who can endure 18 holes." First, did you really check? I'm guessing no. Second, have you seen Grady Jackson, Sebastian Janikowski or Jared Lorenzen? Am I grossly oversimplifying things? Exactly.

But Breer's readers make my point better than I do:

LaDainian Tomlinson's 2007 season ended on a decidedly crappy note: after just a handful of carries in the AFC Championship game, LdT spent the rest of the afternoon on the bench, head in hands. The Chargers would end up losing to the Patriots that day, but on the upside, San Diego finally won in the postseason, and looking ahead to 2008, both Tomlinson and quarterback Philip Rivers should be completely healthy.

And unlike previous years, Tomlinson is thinking about making a preseason appearance.

Tomlinson said new running backs coach Ollie Wilson, whom he knows and trusts from working with him his rookie season, pointed out how slowly Tomlinson generally starts the regular season. Said Tomlinson: "Maybe that's a part of not playing in the preseason; maybe it's not. Who knows? Maybe I might get a chance to run a little bit in the preseason."

Later, head coach Norv Turner said, "I haven't talked to LT. But if that's something he wants to do, I'd be open to it."

On the surface, this seems like a swell idea, but the concern, as always, is keeping Tomlinson healthy. And maybe more now than ever: LdT's long-time backup, Michael Turner, is now in Atlanta. Currently, Darren Sproles, all 5-8, 180 pounds of him, is behind Tomlinson on the depth chart. And while he's a nice change-of-pace, third-down back, he's not a guy you can expect to carry the ball 20-25 times if there are injuries in front of him on the depth chart.

All else being equal, though, it can't hurt for Tomlinson to get in a little work during the preseason. Well, unless, you know, he actually gets hurt.

It's seldom news when an offensive lineman has surgery in the middle of March. The season is still more than five months off and let's be honest: hearing about a fat guy going under the knife is a lot less sexy than the quarterback or wide receiver or, well, anybody but said fat guy.

This is different, though. Chargers center Nick Hardwick had surgery last week to repair a severe sprain in his right foot, and he could miss the first few games of the season (he thinks he'll be ready by the opener). Initially, Hardwick was just going to rest the foot but apparently the recovery was slower than expected. So instead of heading out on a nine-day Hawaiian vacation followed by a 12-day trip to Australia, Hardwick had surgery. Sweet compromise.

While losing a starter is always a big deal, the Chargers have other injury-related issues:

The Chargers offense potentially could also be missing starting tight end Antonio Gates (toe), quarterback Philip Rivers (knee) and fullback Andrew Pinnock (knee) for some or all of the preseason.

All had offseason surgeries and could be healthy before training camp or not until late August. Or all of them could be ready. For now, all the Chargers can do is wait.

And earlier this week offensive tackle Marcus McNeill (shoulder) and linebacker Shawne Merriman (knee) had minor surgical procedures. Neither player should miss training camp, though; McNeill should be ready to go in two-to-four weeks, and Merriman's looking at a four-to-six week recovery.

I mentioned earlier that the NFL Network's Mike Mayock is pretty good at his job. I don't think anybody would dispute that Boston College's Matt Ryan is the best quarterback entering the draft, but Mayock makes a comparison I haven't heard anywhere, and frankly, I didn't even consider: Ryan is a lot like Ben Roethlisberger.

Both players are 6-5 and big, have quick feet and are mobile in the pocket. Mayock makes the point that Ryan isn't as elusive as Roethlisberger, but he's much more athletic than he looks (just check out that humongous run against Virginia Tech last season). And perhaps most importantly, Ryan, like Big Ben, always has his eyes downfield.

Michael David Smith wrote that the Dolphins could take Ryan with the first-overall pick and that ESPN's Mel Kiper compared Ryan to Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Roethlisberger (not exactly sure how that works). But here's the thing: if the Dolphins see the same thing Mayock does -- Big Ben -- they might take a long look at drafting him.

Bill Parcells, the new Dolphins overlord, loved Roethlisberger as a rookie. After a 2004 Steelers come-from-behind victory in Big D, Parcells offered this about Pittsburgh's first-round pick:

"He is the best (quarterback) prospect I have seen in 10 or 15 years," Parcells said Wednesday during a conference call. "I have not seen anybody come in the league like that. The only guy that I can say came in, and the first year started playing like he is playing, is Dan Marino."

Even with John Beck on the roster, it might be hard to pass Ryan up if the Tuna feels similarly.

It's not particularly shocking that a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune might sometimes come off as a homer. Hey, even Dan Shaughnessy occasionally slips up and writes something laudatory about the Patriots. Whatever, Nick Canepa returns from Phoenix thinking that the Chargers very easily could've been the team hoisting the Lombardi Trophy if not for a few key injuries.

Chargers GM A.J. Smith often talks about luck, and injuries are a part of it. I'm now convinced that, if tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, tight end Antonio Gates and quarterback Philip Rivers were healthy for that game, there might have been a parade for these guys downtown this week.

Obviously, it didn't work out that way, but Canepa notes that "the window of opportunity for San Diego never had been more open." I can't disagree; the Chargers are young, stacked and when completely healthy, very hard to beat -- even with Norv Turner at the helm. Put differently, San Diego has had 14- and 11-win seasons under Marty Schottenheimer and Norvell.

Who knows if talent -- even when healthy -- will be enough to get the Chargers to the Super Bowl in '08. The Patriots suddenly look very old, but the Colts and Jaguars are also the early favorites to go deep into the postseason. Still, a year ago, this team was just getting ready to can Schottenheimer; that they've had so much success in light of all that's happened is pretty amazing. And I'm pretty sure nobody saw it coming. Even A.J. Smith.

As AFC West rivals, the Chargers and Broncos don't like each other. That's not a surprise, really. Especially when you remember Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler jawing at each other during the regular season. Or better yet, when Rivers and Champ Bailey got into it.

Rivers has since earned the reputation as something of a smack-talker even though he claims he's been doing this for as long as he's played football. Whatever, we all kind of forgot about that part of his game after watching his gutsy performance in the AFC conference finals against the Patriots. Even Bailey:

"I couldn't believe he went out there," Bailey said today after the AFC Pro Bowl squad practiced. "I'm very impressed. He's very tough." Bailey in December criticized Rivers as being classless and talking too much after the teams played a Monday night game on Christmas Eve.

Bailey did reiterate his late-season stance concerning Rivers' mouth, telling the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee that none of the top quarterbacks he's played against have initiated trash talk the way Rivers does. Still, Bailey said "I'll give him credit where credit is due." I think we could all do without the gum-flapping, but no matter what you think of Rivers (and I've been critical in the past), his effort against New England was impressive.

Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill was a pleasant surprise in 2006, his first year in the league. He was a second-round pick who emerged as one of the team's best offensive lineman, making the Pro Bowl as a rookie. This year, though, McNeill regressed, and he willingly shoulders the blame.

McNeill vowed yesterday that this year's Pro Bowl appearance will prod him to greater things, where being voted here in his rookie season last year perhaps prompted him to simply plod.

"Mentally, I should have been a little more prepared than I was going into this year," McNeill said. "Nothing is going to be easy, and maybe I felt it would be. I'm going to come back stronger next season. This is going to make me better. If you don't have that want and desire, you're not going to push yourself."

After a slow start to his sophomore season -- McNeill gave up 9.5 sacks through the first 13 games of '07 -- he "played like an All-Pro the last six weeks" ... according to Norv Turner, anyway. Amazingly, as a rookie, McNeill was only responsible for five sacks.

With defensive ends getting bigger and faster, left tackles are at a premium. McNeill had an off-year -- it happens -- but there's no reason to think he'll suddenly morph into a turnstile. And even if he does, no need to worry: the fleet-footed Philip Rivers will be even tougher to bring down with his shiny new knee.