Tomorrow, the Tennessee Titans (7-7) and the San Diego Chargers (11-3) will square off in a Christmas Day battle at LP Field. There’s no love lost between these two foes, who competed against one another in two late-season matches in 2007. The Chargers greatly endangered the Titans’ playoff hopes that year with their 23-17 OT victory. A few weeks later, San Diego officially ended Tennessee’s season with a 17-6 playoff win. Will the Titans avenge those scathing defeats with a win over a hot Charger team on Friday? My take on this week’s Titans/Chargers battle…after the jump. The Titans must contain the Chargers’ dynamic playmakers Chuck Cecil’s boys will be facing a real test tomorrow as they prepare to clash with one of the league’s most explosive passing offenses. Led by the exploits of QB Philip Rivers, the San Diego offense can put points on the board in a hurry. Catching the majority of his passes are his two 1,000 yard receiving threats: TE Antonio Gates and WR Vincent Jackson. Despite allowing a lot of yardage, the Titan defense has bounced back from its terrible start by emerging as an opportunistic unit that thrives on forcing turnovers. Getting pressure and forcing Rivers into mistakes may be easier said than done, but it’s gotta be the game-plan for the Titans this week, or else the onus will fall on Vince Young, Chris Johnson and the offense to put up 30 or 40 points in order for the team to emerge victorious. All aboard the CJ express! Speaking of Chris Johnson, it’s going to be paramount for the Titans to get a big game from CJ against the Chargers. According to the stats, the odds of Johnson stepping up with a big rushing performance are pretty good. as the Titans prepare to face a Charger defense that’s ranked 21st in the league against the run. If CJ can reach/surpass the century mark in rushing yards for the tenth straight week, the Titans chances of beating a hot Charger team will increase dramatically. The Revenge Factor Sure, many of the faces have changed since the aforementioned wars between the Titans and Chargers in 2007. However, the emotions and feelings from those two pivotal contests remain strongly with the guys who competed against one another that year. So expect a lot of hard-hitting, trash-talking and some Bah humbug from two teams who probably won’t be showing too much Christmas spirit towards one another tomorrow. Prediction Time! Per the norm, the Titans defense will bend but won’t break against an explosive Charger offense. Philip Rivers and Co. will score their share of points, but Vince Young and crew will do likewise as the Titans pull out a close, high-scoring victory to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Titans 37 Chargers 31 Any thoughts/predictions for Friday’s Titans/Chargers battle? Feel free to post them below.
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