Saturday 29, November - 12:02pm This is a nice article I stumbled over on CBS NFL. San Diego at Baltimore Sunday, Nov. 30, 1 p.m. ET (CBS) Why To Watch: The Chargers got a gift from the football gods last week to survive the Rams, and, to their credit, they took it. Not everyone does. They got the win. But nothing has come easy for them since the first month of the season and having to go east and play an early game in some cold weather against a team that usually takes care of business at home wont be easy. The reality is, one of these two teams very likely wont be in the playoffs, and both could miss them entirely as well. And the loser expedites their chances of being among those left out. Its a critical tiebreaker to help try to clear up a very murky playoff picture in this conference. Who knows; maybe the Chargers can pull out a late road win on an impossible fourth-and-infinite play and get on a roll and end up winning a Super Bowl few would have predicted at the time, kind of like the Hey-Diddle-Diddle Ray Rice screen pass from two seasons ago. The Ravens Looked Like Statues, Here Comes Ryan Mathews? Okay, probably not, but just as that game set the tone for what was to come for both teams, this one carries considerable weight as well. Baltimore needs to improve its AFC conference record down the stretch and cant afford to slip up at home. NFL WEEK 13 Chargers-Ravens preview What To Watch For: Would expect Keenan Allen to be a big part of San Diegos game plan. They cant run the ball much and even trying to against this front might be silly. Baltimores secondary has holes and Philip Rivers excels at finding a weak link and picking on it. Allens athleticism will give the Ravens problems ... Mathews provided a spark to the run game last week, but overall that remains a concern for the Chargers. Can they stay balanced enough against good defenses? ... The Chargers offensive line still scares me and theyd better account for Elvis Dumervil, who they know well from his time in Denver. Hes spelled for mostly-obvious passing downs and has eight sacks and four forced fumbles in 12 career games against the Chargers ... Been a slow stretch for Antonio Gates after a torrid start to the season, at least in terms of getting into the end zone. It was inevitable that he would slow down at this point in his career. He hasnt gone above 61 yards receiving in a game since Week 2, and after a run with a touchdown catch in four straight games (and six total in that span), he has just eight catches for 74 yards in the last three games ... Look for a lot of Owen Daniels down the stretch. Hes healthier than early in the season, the late bye did him good and hes the best slot presence the Ravens have ... Marlon Brown in the red zone has to be a thing for Baltimore. They need some new ideas in that part of the field ... The Ravens hopeful corner Lardarius Webb has overcome his health issues. Hes shown flashes of getting back to peak form and anything close to that would be vital for their wounded secondary ... Justin Forsett is averaging an incredible 5.83 yards per carry, a whopping .72 per carry more than the next best back (Arian Foster). Hes third overall in rushing yards and tied for third in the NFL with seven rushing TDs, despite barely getting many carries inside the 10 early in the season. Amazing story.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 17:11:48 +0000
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