News » I’ll be completely honest. When I did my series o

n predicting the Chargers’ 2018 season record way back in August Russell Okung Color Rush Jersey , I really felt like this year was going to be special. At the same time, I was..."I’ll be completely honest. When I did my series on predicting the Chargers’ 2018 season record way back in August, I really felt like this year was going to be special. At the same time, I was always teetering on the fence of being “real” and allowing the usual pessimism to seep into my work.As I went week by week, I tried to be transparent about my thought-process while I decided if the Chargers were going to win or lose that week’s match-up.I predicted them starting the year strong (I picked the wrong Chiefs game for them to win), and found myself in the month of December with five games left and the Chargers win column sitting packed to the brim.I had them losing to the Steelers, Chiefs, and Ravens in order to bring their record to 12-4 by the end of it all after I had them starting 10-1 through the first 12 weeks. This wasn’t wasn’t because I truly believed they would lose to the Steelers and Ravens, but that they were the most likely losses at a time where I felt I needed to force a couple more games into the loss column.Now that we are finally here with the regular season winding down, it’s absolutely amazing to see the team in an actual position to make my lofty prediction a reality. Even crazier to think that they could actually finish with an even better record than my 12-4 prediction.Unfortunately, the final two games of the season are still likely to be as tough as they come. Baltimore has the top defense in the NFL, allowing a league-low 290.2 total yards and 18.1 points per game to their opponents.On the other side of the ball Junior Seau Color Rush Jersey , they employ Lamar Jackson, one of the most dynamic athletes in the entire league who has shown a propensity for winning games since he took over the starting gig in week 11, going 4-1 in his last five starts.While Baltimore’s offense as a whole hasn’t shown an exciting amount of production under Jackson, it’s their ability to get done what they need to in order to win games that’s kept them in the playoff hunt.Saturday night should be an all-out slug-fest between two teams that still have a lot left to play for and I couldn’t be more excited. With all that being said, let’s take a look at the three things I’ll be watching for the most once the Bolts take the field this weekend.1.) How will the Chargers attempt to defend the Ravens eclectic run game?The Ravens currently rank second in the league with 141.9 rushing yards per game and fourth in the NFL with 17 total rushing touchdowns on the year. In stark contrast, they also rank 18th in yards per attempt with a 4.3 average.Baltimore also happens to lead the league in rushing attempts with a whopping 465. This tells me that the Ravens survive on being efficient with their rushing through their immense volume. In fact, Jackson averages 17 carries a game from his quarterback spot, alone.The Ravens do a phenomenal job of keeping themselves ahead of the chains and consistently gettingthemselves into third-and-short situations that are easily converted behind their formidable offensive line.If I were to put money on the team’s game plan, I would say this is a big game for Derwin James staying up and around the line of scrimmage. Keeping the most athletic players up front is a must. The secondary is going to have to win their 1-on-1 matchups to allow the biggest threat to be neutralized. If Jackson is able to win through the air then he deserves to win this game.2.) How will Melvin Gordon look in his first game since week 12?In the Chargers week 12 contest against the Arizona Cardinals, Gordon forced the coaching staff to let him play in a game he felt was a statement game after the team’s loss to the Denver Broncos the prior week.The worst case scenario came to fruition as Gordon sustained a Grade 2 MCL sprain in the third quarter that has kept him out the last three weeks. Against all the odds, the Chargers went 3-0 during that span.However, three weeks is a long time to miss and Desmond King Color Rush Jersey , with the Ravens run defense as stout as it is, can we expect the same old Flash? In my opinion, I do think the deck is stacked against him, but the guy was on pace for six-straight games with over 150 yards from scrimmage prior to his injury. In his five previous games played, including the AZ game, Gordon failed to rush for 5.0 yards per carry just once.In all honesty, this might be one of those games where Gordon may only rush for about 50-60 yards but still finds a way to get involved through the passing game. 50-ish rushing yards to go along with 5-6 catches for another 40-50 receiving yards sounds right to me.3.) How will Eric Weddle and Philip Rivers handle their familiarity and will it favor one team over the other?Rivers and Weddle were teammates, and good friends, while the latter was with the Chargers from 2007-2015.On Saturday, the two meet for the first time since 2016 when the Ravens squeaked out a 29-26 victory in Baltimore after a game-winning field goal by Justin Tucker, one of his five made that day, despite Rivers throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns.In a recent press conference Corey Liuget Color Rush Jersey , when asked about the potential chess match between him and Weddle, Rivers was asked if the safety’s experience with Rivers gave him advantage when the quarterback makes changes pre-snap.Rivers didn’t think it would make much of a difference as he believes focusing on what each signal meant could potentially cause Weddle to take his focus off the bigger picture and, in turn. burden his play.At the end of the day, it’s going to be an exciting match-up to see these two old friends go to battle against each other and I expect nothing short of a nostalgia-filled slug-fest at the StubHub Center. This is a great time of year to be thankful for what we have, where we have been, and what the future holds. Although the Chargers have lost their way a bit in recent years, the month of December..."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections San Diego Chargers Daily LinksSan Diego Chargers NewsSan Diego Chargers OffseasonSan Diego Chargers HistorySan Diego Chargers HumorChargers Advent CalendarChargers HistoryAdvent Calendar - Dec. 6: LaDainian Tomlinson owns EVERY major franchise career rushing stat...except oneNew,34commentsByMatthew Stanley@boltfanindenverDec6, 2018,8:17pm PSTShareTweetShareShareAdvent Calendar - Dec. 6: LaDainian Tomlinson owns EVERY major franchise career rushing stat...except oneThis is a great time of year to be thankful for what we have, where we have been, and what the future holds. Although the Chargers have lost their way a bit in recent years Dan Feeney Color Rush Jersey , the month of December still holds such incredible promise! This advent calendar is an attempt to hearken back to these days of December joy. Each day will bring a new advent from the Bolts’ history that makes it wonderful to be a Chargers fan.Dec. 06: LaDainian Tomlinson Owns EVERY major franchise career rushing stat... except oneSticking with the Christmas theme, lets take a look at LT’s franchise rushing records, 12 days of Christmas style. On the first day of Christmas my Half Back gave to methe best Running back in team His-tor-yyyy.On the second day of Christmas my Half Back gave to me138 Rushing touchdowns to loveOn the third day of Christmas my Half Back gave to me(Almost) Three thousand runsOn the fourth day of Christmas my Half Back gave to me88.6 yards per gameOn the fifth day of Christmas my Half Back gave to meTWELVE THOU-SAND YARDS!Ok that’s enough of that. But seriously, how spoiled were we to get to witness LT dominate for so long in a Chargers uniform. Shifty, explosive, strong, precognitive like vision. It’s no wonder that out of the 5 major franchise career rushing records, he owns 4 of them. He accumulated 138 rushing touchdowns while playing for the Chargers. The next closest is Chuck Muncie with 43. He ran the ball 2880 times. 1849 more times than the next closest player, Marion Butts with 1031. He averaged 88.6 yards per game during his career with the Chargers, 21 yards per game more than Ryan Mathews, who was the next closest at 67.7 yards per game. Finally, on those 2880 carries Kyle Emanuel Color Rush Jersey , LT amassed 12,490 yards on the ground which is only 300 yards shy of being as much as Paul Lowe (2nd in team history), Marion Butts (3rd in team history, and Melvin Gordon (6th in team history) COMBINED. Oh and he did it in 77 less games than it took the 3 of them to run that far. The only major franchise career stat that LT doesn’t own is yards per carry. Paul Lowe actually comes in first at 4.9 yards per carry for rushers in team history with a minimum of 500 carries. With the minimum of 500 carries, LT is actually tied for 5th with 4.3 yards per carry. But hey, he only had 199 less carries than the 4 guys ahead of him combined, so I think we can give him a break.