Many thanks to Ross Warner, who blogs about the San Diego Chargers and his favorite music on Justice Is Coming, for taking the time to answer our questions about the Chargers and this week's matchup.
Total Titans: One of our readers, Duane, asks, "I'm curious if Ross has an opinion on whether the chargers will try and force Locker to stay in the pocket and to complete passes outside the hashmarks? If so, how would they try and set their defense to do so?"
As for Locker, I don't know if they are focused specifically on keeping him in the pocket. If I understood or could predict what this team does I would have gotten off the bus a long time ago. I am sure they will try to treat Locker like a first year starter. However, they couldn't succeed with that in their last playoff game against Mark Sanchez. I know that you think Chris Johnson isn't the threat he once was, but the Chargers run defense is similarly unknown.
RW: I am not upset with the decision to let Jackson walk. I'm sure you know his checkered pass off the field. His kicking of the challenge flag in the aforementioned playoff lost is reflective of his occasional selfishness and immaturity. He was also in handcuffs earlier that day. When it came down to it, he's not worthy of the money it would have taken to keep him. I like Robert Meachem. He proved in New Orleans that he wasn't just the recipient of Drew Brees' brilliance. He didn't hook up with Philip Rivers all summer, but had a big catch on Monday. I would much prefer the "game management Rivers we saw in Oakland as opposed to what I call the "chuck and suck" approach.
The biggest problem is when they reach the red zone. Gates uncharacteristically let one go off his fingers in the end zone on Monday. That's no shock when it's Brandon Marshall, but Gates usually gets those. The Bolts had to running game without Ryan Mathews, which makes Philip Rivers' patience all the more impressive. They need Mathews, but more for the majority of the season than a single game. I hope he's truly healed because the Chargers will be in trouble if he's shelved for a long time.
RW: Lots of things concern me about Sunday. Many of them are about the Chargers, but that's just because I have been let down so often by them. The stadium will be loud and emotional, with the ceremony for Junior Seau. However, the Bolts played one of their worst games last year when Seau was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. Johnson has always had a few big plays against the Chargers.
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