My Antonio Gates Blog

The San Diego Chargers have some questions marks this year as key players have departed although our expert insiders for NFL Picks project them to finish #1 in a weak AFC West Conference. The Chargers will be led by their quarterback Phillip Rivers who is one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks and an explosive offense that scored at least 20 in every game last season.

Rivers put up ungodly numbers last season as he was the best quarterback in the AFC West with a passer rating of 104.4 only behind Drew Brees and Brett Favre. Rivers is known for his big time arm as he has thrown for 105 touchdowns verses 44 interceptions in four years as a starter while going a perfect 19-0 in December and January regular season games. He has plenty of options to utilize with an elite receiving core featuring Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd who combined for 192 catches and 18 touchdowns in 2009.

The Chargers will have to help Rivers and the passing game out this season by improving a running game that only produced 3.3 yards per carry. They made some key changes in the backfield this offseason by letting go of future hall of famer LaDainian Tomlinson and will now rely on the speedy Darren Sproles plus draft pick Ryan Mathews out of Fresno St. The Chargers made a great pick here and filled a need as Mathews led the nation with a gaudy 150.7 yards a game and will be a good combination for Sproles who is unable to carry the load as a full time back.

The Charger defense will be a question mark coming into the season after taking a huge gamble by letting go of a big play cornerback Antonio Cromartie and his 15 interceptions over the past three years. Cromartie will be replaced by cornerback Nathan Vasher from the Chicago Bears so they will need Shawne Merriman to get back to pro bowl form to help their pass defense after he only had four sacks for the Chargers in 2009. The defensive line lost nose tackle Jamal Williams so the Chargers hope Antonio Garay, Ogemdi Nwagbuo and rookie Cam Thomas can secure their rushing defense which gave up 117.8 yards a game ranked 20th in the NFL last year.

The Chargers will be able to score points on anyone but the defense is a huge question mark for the 2010 season. They are in a weak AFC West division so their offense can overcome some deficiencies although when they get to the playoffs, their weaknesses will be exposed once again with an early exit out of the playoffs.

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