Are you Ready for Some Football?

[silverbear]

I didn't know that SilverBear. Since I've no reason to doubt your word, I'll make the adjustment. Thanks.

Hope you didn't think I was bein' a wisea$$, I just have some Scots in me (clan McKenzie, on my mother's side of the family)... for some reason, I take great pride in that, I guess you could call me a Scotphile... LOL...

 

[TobiasEagle77]

Scottish right here

I've got both Campbell and McDonald in me - watch out! And some Frazier.

 

[kmd24]

FWIW, Phoenix, I thought you should know that your sig line goes back WAY farther than a John Wayne movie... it is in fact a centuries old Scottish saying, only instead of "a whole half hour", it simply says "an hour"...

I always thought it was an Irish blessing.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

The Charger fans are VERY overconfident. On their predict the record thread....there are a lot of folks who expect them to do better than last year's record, which was definitely built on a weak schedule. That schedule gets much tougher this year, with better teams in KC and Oakland, they play the Pats, Bills and Jets, plus get Pitt and Indy. And they face the NFC East, including Philly.

I am not convinced that we win the game...but it would not shock me either.

 

[followthestar]

i can't say we have a RB as good as LT - but that's not saying he isn't as good. JJ has stated his goal of 1700 yards, and its not totally unreasonable that he comes very close to reaching it. we know he'll get the carries...
our secondary went from the weakest to one of the strongest units, and i anticipate Brees will find his receivers blanketed on nearly every play. about the time he does throw, he'll be getting hit - a lot. we'll see how he does then...
Demarcus Ware is a monster. Glover is having a great year. Roy is in the box. we have a great rotation along the line. i think we can shut LT down for the most part (heresy) and surprise the Chargers with a swarming type defense that will have a couple turnovers.

Really, in all of this, i think the game will come down to our red zone efficiency. we need to get the ball in the endzone and not let Cortez screw it up with a couple misses. our punter is one of the best - it will be a game of field position, turnovers, and special teams.
i think losing Gates Brees' safety valve will hurt them more than they think.

 

[Phoenix-Talon]

Hope you didn't think I was bein' a wisea$$,
Not at all, as you can see, I took the information and made the adjustment. Understand the pride in your cultural background also. Again, thanks.

 

[Concord]

I think the Cowboys can win this game and obviously I hope they do.

But more importantly to me is that they are competitive and keep it close...not only in this game but all of their games.

Hopefully no more blowouts or games over by halftime.

 

[kmd24]

I think the biggest question mark about the game is the effect of Antonio Gates's absence. Some stats for those who doubt it is significant:

Third down conversions
On third down, Gates caught 30 passes, gaining a first down on 28 of them. Drew Brees completed 72 passes on 3rd down for 54 first down conversions. Gates, with 42% of the 3rd down catches and 52% of the 3rd down conversions, is clearly the go-to guy on 3rd down. Incidentally, SD WR's averaged fewer than 2 catches per game on 3rd down. That's not per receiver, that's the entire WR corps!

Red zone
In the red zone, Gates caught 12 of his 13 TD receptions. Brees threw a total of 20 TD's in the red zone, so Gates accounts for 60% of the RZ TD's.

In Gates's absence, Brees will have to turn to someone, but there is no other Charger that presents the matchup problems that Gates does. Whether McCardell, Parker, or the backup TE can fill the void will be a turning point for the game.

 

[silverbear]

I always thought it was an Irish blessing.

Who knows, it might be common to all of Britain... but I am certain that the Scots used it as well...

 

[kmd24]

Another huge factor in the game will be turnovers. The Chargers were very opportunistic in 2004, generating a +21 turnover margin. Dallas was at -14.

So far this preseason, the Dallas defense has looked to be more able to create turnovers. A major concern is Bledsoe, a reputed turnover machine. Bledsoe was able to post a turnover free preseason, but there was little on the line, so he wasn't under pressure to make anything happen.

IMO, Dallas will have to avoid falling behind early. If Bledsoe has too much pressure to force the ball down the field, I believe that he will start throwing into coverage. If the SD defense is able to focus on generating pass rush, then they may actually find their way to the QB upon occasion.

The inteesting thing about the Chargers is that they got a significant number of interceptions from LB's. In general, their DB's are not all that frightening.

I honestly believe that Dallas will need a turnover edge to win this game. For the first time in a while, I feel that it is a possibility.