The San Diego Chargers didn’t need to make a statement on Christmas night in Tennessee after winning nine straight coming into the game with the Titans, but they made one anyway.
The Bolts routed the Titans 42-17 on Friday night to secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC. Their offense racked up 425 yards, including 259 through the air and 166 on the ground. Philip Rivers completed 21-of-27 pass attempts for 264 yards and two touchdowns while shredding Tennessee’s soft secondary. LT also notched two touchdowns while rushing for 59 yards on 16 carries. The Chargers’ offense is a finely tuned machine right now and isn’t having trouble scoring against any opponent.
But perhaps the most impressive thing about tonight’s game is the way San Diego’s defense stepped up. They weren’t dominant by any stretch of the imagination, but they did force three turnovers, including two in the first half after the Titans had driven the ball to midfield. Chris Johnson (142 rushing yards, 1 TD) still got his, but the Chargers limited his big-play potential after allowing him to break a 30-yard run on his first carry of the game. Of course, it helped that Vince Young was brutal tonight. He threw two horrible interceptions and also lost a fumble in the first half after scrambling for a first down.
I could note how having home field advantage is huge for the Chargers in the playoffs, but they’ve beaten teams on and away from their home turf this season so it might not matter. And perhaps the biggest thing to keep in mind is that they’ve had great success against the Colts over the past three years, beating them twice in the postseason and once in 2008 regular season.
Indy might have plenty of reason to be nervous at the moment. (Or as nervous as an undefeated team could be.)
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