SAN DIEGO (AP) -Before Tom Brady and Shawne Merriman were lost for the season with knee injuries, Sunday night’s game between the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers looked to be an epic battle between two of the AFC’s elite teams.
It should still be a pretty good show, the renewal of a rivalry that’s become edgy if not one-sided.
Although the Patriots (3-1) are the underdog in the betting line, they’ll come in relatively fresh after having remained in California following their win at San Francisco last Sunday. The Chargers (2-3) come in confused, trying to figure out why they’ve been so inconsistent in a season that started with Super Bowl expectations.
Just when they need a win the most, the Chargers have to face a team that’s given them headaches and heartaches.
s seen the teams play in both the Los Angeles Coliseum and Fenway Park.
“There’s some built-up dislike between both teams because of the circumstances in which we’ve played in the past. Two playoff games, two losses, one being at home,” Wilhelm said.
This will be the fifth time the Patriots and Chargers have played in four seasons. Three of San Diego’s last 10 losses have been to the Patriots. There’s been enough smack talk and bad blood to make it feel like a division rivalry.
The two losses that really hurt were when the Patriots coldcocked the Chargers’ chances of reaching the Super Bowl.
On Jan. 20 in frozen Foxborough, Brady led the Patriots to a 21-12 win over the hobbled Chargers to clinch the AFC championship and run their record to 18-0. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers gamely played with a shredded ligament in his right knee but LaDainian Tomlinson glumly watched most of the game while huddled in a parka, sidelined by a sprained knee that kept him from cutting and accelerating.
Afterward, Chargers center Nick Hardwick accused Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour of being a dirty player. Seymour said Hardwick’s comments were “classless.”
stakes in what proved to be Marty Schottenheimer’s last game as their head coach.
Several Patriots celebrated at midfield by mocking Merriman’s spasmodic sack dance, prompting Rivers to call Ellis Hobbs “the sorriest corner in the league” and sending the normally mild-mannered Tomlinson into a rage. Tomlinson said the Patriots “showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach.”
Tomlinson and Patriots coach Bill Belichick smoothed things over at the Pro Bowl a month later.
“It’s the loss that lingers more so than the disrespect and what they did on our field,” Wilhelm said. “We want to go out and beat a quality opponent that we hadn’t beat in a long time.”
Sandwiched in between the playoff losses was a 38-14 loss at Foxborough on Sept. 14, 2007, when Brady and Randy Moss schooled the Chargers.
Tomlinson doesn’t even want to refer to it as a rivalry.
“Really and truly I think that’s beyond us right now, to call it a rivalry,” said Tomlinson, who’s been slowed this season by a toe injury. “One, because we haven’t beaten them; and two, this is a regular-season game for us. They are in better shape than we are. I wouldn’t call it a rivalry. I would say it’s just another game on our schedule that happens to be the Patriots and we need a win, badly.”
e defending AFC West champions have fallen two games behind Denver, and the Broncos beat the Chargers in their first meeting.
“This is as challenging of a situation as we can be in,” Rivers said.
The Chargers are trying to figure out why they’ve started games slowly. They’re hoping a home game in prime time will help them snap out of their funk.
“We need to come out with a bang and get excited and get started quick against this team,” Wilhelm said. “We have not only a lot to prove to ourselves, but to this team that we owe some payback to, but to prove to our fans as well.”
Even though they don’t have Brady, the Patriots do have a winning record behind another California-born quarterback, Matt Cassel.
Cassel has settled in after being thrown into the starting role after Brady went down with a knee injury in the opener. Cassel threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Moss in a 30-21 win over the 49ers.
Cassel grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge. He played in the Little League World Series in 1994 when he was 12. At Southern California, he backed up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
Now he’s 2-0 as a starter on the road and expects to have a lot of family members and friends watching on Sunday. Among them will be older brother Jack, who pitched for the San Diego Padres for part of the 2007 season.
ve had to overcome some adversities here and there, but it’s been all worthwhile now that I’m here,” Cassel said.
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