Bolt Notes: Week 11 Wrap Up, Preview, and NFL Picks!

Here is a free lesson in why you should not bet money on sports (unless you are wealthy and want to donate money to your friends or your local Indian Casino). Are you ready? Here it is....Because there are too many things beyond your control in sports! You can't control injuries to key players (Kyle Orton). You can't control unexpected motivation that may help a player play like the player he used to be (L.T. after finding out his wife was pregnant). You can't control coaches doing bazaar things in crucial situation (See Bill Belichick). I could go on and on, but you get the picture. That being said, I still like to try and pick the winners, I just don't bet on them.

As for my picks last week....not so good. A very poor 8-7 week brings my season total to 89-55. This embarrassing total makes me more determined than ever to get this weeks picks right! Well, except for the Thursday night game that I already lost. Remember to read to the end and see if you agree with my picks this week.

Wrap Up: Eagles @ Chargers

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised that the Chargers continued their winning streak against the Eagles last week (4 games). Whenever a strong passing team comes into San Diego, I worry because the Bolts don't always pressure the quarterback well, which causes the receivers to have plenty of time to find an open spot. It turned out that the pressure was there at time and most of the big plays that Philly is known for were taken away. That doesn't mean that the Eagles couldn't pass the ball. They passed for 450 yards on the day! What it meant was that the Eagles were forced to sustain long drives if they wanted to score touchdowns. In fact, early in the game, the Eagles drove the ball down the field, deep into the redzone, and only came out with field goals. The Chargers claim that was their plan. The old bend, but don't break defense. The Bamboo Defense, if you will.

While Philly was kicking field goals, the Chargers were busy scoring touchdowns! An old friend, LaDainian Tomlinson, showed up in a big way for this game. He ran for a season high 96 yards and two touchdowns, including one from 21 yards out. The line was actually making holes, and L.T. was busting through! It was fun to watch.

Philip Rivers completed 80% of his passes as he continues to have an MVP type season. He was only able to hit his top receiver, Vincent Jackson, once for 10 yards, but that didn't matter. Antonio Gates is in top form and was open all day. Malcolm Floyd was stretching the field, and Legadu Nanee showed that he is much more than a third string receiver.

This win was the finishing touch on erasing a 3 1/2 game deficit and they are now tied for the AFC West lead with the Denver Broncos who lost to lowly Washington.

Preview: Chargers @ Broncos

Oh yes, did I mention that the Chargers and Broncos are tied for first place? Of course I did. That is all people in both cities are talking about! In fact, the last game the Chargers lost was to the Broncos on Monday night, five weeks ago. The last game the Broncos won was that same game. These appear to be two teams heading in opposite directions.

Now, Broncos fan will tell you that their first two losses are no big deal. They lost to Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Both teams are formidable, and losing to them is no reason to panic (that was also what the Chargers said when they lost to both of those teams). Then the unthinkable happened. The Broncos went to Washington and lost to the Redskins! The Redskins who are going through major problems. The Redskins who have all but said that their head coach will not return next year. The Redskins who hadn't scored more than 17 points all season! Those Redskins.

Again, Broncos fan will tell you that the loss to Washington doesn't mean anything because they had their starting quarterback injured during the game and had to play the second half with Chris Simms at QB. Simms hadn't played much at all in the last three years and was rusty. Okay, I buy that. I do believe that if Orton was healthy, he and the Broncos would have won the game. However, that doesn't explain why the Denver defense is getting run over by second rate running backs like Lydell Betts! In the Broncos last three losses, their defense is giving up over 160 yards per game on the ground! That sounds like problems to me.

Let's not forget the whole injured quarterback issue. With Orton in the lineup, and healthy, the Broncos beat the Chargers five weeks ago and their offense was able to control the clock and allow their defense to stay rested and aggressive. This week, look for Orton to be on the sideline, or playing injured. That should make it easier for the Chargers to stack the box and try to take away the Broncos run game and force the Broncos to beat them through the air.

Another possible issue for the Broncos is that they have a very young coach who has never had to face this kind of adversity before. He came into the league with some new, fresh ideas and shocked several good teams. However, lately it seems that the league is figuring him out and has made the necessary adjustments. Now, McDaniels has to show that he can make adjustments of his own to counteract what his opponents are doing. He hasn't shown that ability yet. Fortunately for him, most people would tell you that if he was ever going to be able to out-coach an experienced NFL head coach, this would be the week.

As for the Chargers, things are looking up. They are riding a four game winning streak and have shown signs of life on defense. The pressure on the quarterback problem that they had in the first half of the year has been answered with 17 sacks over the last four games. Hard hits, quarterback pressure, and a much stronger defense against the run make the Chargers a different defense than they were the last time these teams matched up.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Chargers have improved as well. Rivers is still lighting up the sky with great passes, but now, the offensive line is giving him more time and they are actually giving some holes for running backs to run through! It's been a long time since I could report that. In my opinion, the main reasons that so many people think that LT is washed up is that he has been hurt and his line has been horrible. If he is truly healthy and the line is working better together, then look out for the rest of the season!

I think the only fear that I have, as a Chargers fan, going into this game against Denver, is overconfidence. The Bolts have shown that they can swagger a little too much and think that they can just throw their helmets on the field and win. That would not be beneficial in this case as the Broncos are still dangerous even with their major issues.

WEEK 11 NFL PICKS!


DOLHINS @ panthers (Didn't remember Ricky)

redskins @ COWBOYS (Cowboys at home)

browns @ DETROIT (Lions aren't as bad as Browns)

niners @ PACKERS (Tough call)

STEELERS @ chiefs (No contest)

seahawks @ VIKINGS (Favre and Peterson)

falcons @ GIANTS (Giants desperate, Turner hurt)

SAINTS @ bucs (Bush out, but shouldn't matter)

bills @ JAGUARS (Bills are a mess)

COLTS @ ravens (Colts own Ravens)

CARDINALS @ rams (Cards are better)

BENGALS @ raiders (Bengals on a roll)

jets @ PATRIOTS (Pats looking for revenge and respect)

EAGLES @ bears (McNabb over Cutler although both stink in redzone)

TITANS @ texans (Titans could come down to earth, but they have improved)

CHARGERS 38 @ broncos 13

Bolt Notes: Wrap Up, Preview, and Week 4 NFL Picks!

Well, last week went a little better for my picks. I was a decent 10-6 to move my overall record to 30-18. Not great, but not a complete embarrassment either. So, on to week 4!

Chargers vs Dolphins WRAP UP!

Miami came into San Diego last Sunday with the knowledge that they had beaten the Chargers seven straight times. It didn't matter what coast they played on, Miami had the Chargers number. They also had some other reasons to be optimistic.
- LaDainian Tomlinson would be on the side line for just the second regular season game ever, due to injury.
- Shawne Merriman was also banged up and has yet to regain his all pro form.
- Jamaal Williams was out for the year.
- The Chargers were the leagues worst defense against the run and had not shown that they could stop the wild cat offense last year.

All that being said, it did not look great for the Bolts against the Fins.

That is why they play the game!

The game started much like the Dolphins thought it would. Miami marched the ball right down the field like the Germans marched through France (until they ran into Americans). Then, for some reason, the Dolphins imploded at the goal line. They simply missed the hand off and promptly kicked the ball through the end zone for a Chargers touch back!

The first quarter ended with no score and the second didn't provide much more offense. Both teams moved the ball some, but could not break the plane as the half ended with the score 3-3.

A couple of things happened in the second half to help decide this game. First, the Chargers defense showed up and started stopping the run. Next, they slammed Chad Pennington to the ground and knocked him out of the game, and the season. Chad's replacement, Chad, was left dangling by the Dolphins coaches. It seems like Florida has lots of problems with dangling Chads. In this case, the Dolphins brain trust decided that the run was not working and they should rely on the pass. Ball game.

Chad Henne showed no ability to move the team and made several rookie mistakes. The biggest mistake was when he read a blitz by the Chargers and immediately threw to his "hot read" and decided that Chargers safety Eric Weddle was it. That turned into a "pick 6" and the game was essentially over.

The Bolts also finally scored in the red zone when Philip Rivers lumbered in from the five on third and goal in the third quarter. That was a nice play but it does not do much to help Chargers fans who are worried about their red zone offense.

PREVIEW OF CHARGERS @ STEELERS!

Okay, if there were ever a time to beat the Steelers, it would be this week. The World Champions are without two of their most important players. Troy Polamalu and running back Willie Parker are both expected to miss this game. Also, the Steelers offensive line has struggled to keep Big Ben safe while looking to throw. Actually, the Steelers problems sound a lot like the Chargers problems. Both teams have star players hurt. Both teams seem to be transitioning from running teams to passing teams. Both teams has major trouble scoring from within the red zone. This may as well be an intersquad game!

What the Chargers do have to worry about is that Pittsburgh, even without Polamalu, has been very good against the run. The Chargers, on the other hand, have struggle to stop the run and there is no reason to think that Moore, or Mendenhall will not be able to run the ball, at least in the first half.

LaDainian Tomlinson appears to be ready to return and anxious to show the Steelers that he may have made the difference in the playoffs last year. Unfortunately, he will still be behind a make shift offensive line and a poor fullbacks so holes may be hard to come by.

Another issue the Chargers have to deal with is getting another monkey off of their backs. Last week, the Dolphin seven game winning streak monkey was knocked to the ground, and this week they have a gorilla on their back when you consider that the Chargers have never beaten the Steelers in Pittsburgh during the regular season! The Bolts are 0-11 in Pittsburgh in the regular season and 2-1 during the playoffs in the Iron City. That is about as dominant as you can get during games that are on the regular schedule.

The way I see it is that the only hope the Chargers have is to air out the Steelers defense and test their back up safety. Rivers is the best deep ball passer in the league and has huge, talented receives to throw to. If his line can keep him on his feet, he should have more success through the air this week. Also, the addition of Tomlinson should force defenses to respect the run in the red zone and open things up in the air for touchdowns. Look for Gates to be open much of the day.

WEEK 4 PICKS! (winners are in all caps)

lions @ BEARS (2 wins in a row? No way)
BENGALS @ browns (I am thinking of moving to Ohio and trying out for QB)
raiders @ TEXANS (Good thing for the Texans that they are playing the lowly raiders. Perhaps the Raiders should be calling Cleveland for a new QB)
seahawks@ COLTS (No Hasselback and too much Manning)
TITANS @ jaguars (Hard hitting, but the Titans are better than their record)
bucs @ REDSKINS (bucs could be this year's lions)
BILLS @ dolphins (quarterback problems leaves only the wild cat - not enough) ravens @ PATRIOTS (Brady at home)
jets @ SAINTS (Brees at home)
COWBOYS @ broncos (start of the broncos return to reality)
rams @ NINERS (San Francisco is looking to beat up on someone after tough loss)
packers @ VIKINGS (Home team wins each time they play this year)

CHARGERS 31 @ steelers 17(Rivers goes nuts through the air and Tomlinson has good enough day to help Rivers passing game. If not now....never.)

Bolt Notes: Wrap Up and Preview Plus Week 3 Picks!

Well, after week 1 I felt pretty good about myself and my ability to predict NFL games (without the spread). Now, I've gone from a strong 13-3 to a meager 20-12. Ouch! Oh well, that is what I get for picking some long shots and picking with my heart instead of my brain. That being said, I will continue to pick my Bolts no matter how many guys get put on IR and I will most likely always pick against the Broncos just because I really want them to lose every week of the year. Enough of that, now let's recap the Chargers game against the Ravens, preview the Bolts/Fins game and take another shot at making picks for all the games this week.

WEEK 2 - Ravens @ Chargers

I went into this game expecting the Chargers to lose. No Hardwick. No Williams. No Tomlinson. Injured guys all over the place! That did not give me much confidence going up against a very tough Ravens team. You would think that expecting to lose (yet picking the Bolts to win), would make losing this game easier to handle. Ah......no. It didn't help at all. If the Chargers had gotten blown out then I could have walked away saying, "it's the injuries." Unfortunately, the Chargers not only didn't get blown out, they had a real chance to win that game, late in the fourth quarter! Now that makes it hard to swallow.

The only thing keeping the Chargers in the game at all was the near heroic effort of quarterback Philip Rivers. Rivers threw for over 400 yards against the Ravens very respected defense, while having the likes Linebacker Ray Lewis frequently knocking him to the ground after, and occasionally before, his release.

Another highlight for the Chargers was the outstanding play of 5' 6" Darren Sproles. Sproles with over 100 yards receiving as well as more than 100 yards in kick off returns. The only aspect of the game that didn't work well for the Chargers was the run game. At least, from what the stats say it didn't work. At one time in the first half, the Chargers were averaging over 5 yards per carry! So, in his infinite wisdom, Head Coach Norv Turner decided to abandon the run and let it fly. This play worked quite well until the last offensive play of the game for the Bolts when on a fourth and two call, Turner decided that he would fool the Ravens and run the ball with Sproles. If you didn't see the play, let's just say that the Ravens have Ray Lewis on their defense and he is very difficult to fool. Game over.
The most frustrating part of the Chargers effort may have been from the red zone. Five times the Chargers marched down the field and got very deep into Ravens territory. With these five trips, the Bolts managed to kick four field goals and had a turnover on downs. One of these drives, Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson at the one foot line for a first down. After a review of the catch, there was confusion about he clock which lead to a five yard delay of game penalty. That was one of three delay calls on the day for San Diego. Such is the price you pay with young inexperienced players being thrust into the action due to injury.

Speaking of injuries...nine Chargers have missed practice this week. Names like Merriman, Cooper, Phillips, Siler, Tomlinson, Hardwick, Dielman, Vasquez and others have been dealing with injuries and now the flu! Not the way to get ready to play a team that has beaten you the last seven meetings.

Yes, the Miami Dolphins have had the Chargers numbers over the years. Seven straight victories over the Bolts, as well as Joey Porter trying to take advantage of a backup center, make it difficult for even the most biased Chargers homer to feel too confident about this Sunday's match-up.

That being said, I still feel the Chargers will be able to take care of business. The way I see it, the schedule is greatly in favor of the Chargers this week. The Dolphins are coming off of a brutal loss on Monday night to the Colts. Along with the short week, they have to fly across country to play in San Diego. Personally, I don't think the NFL should force teams to travel 3000 miles on a short week, but since the Dolphins have to do it, I'm glad that they face my favorite team.

The main concern I have from the Dolphins is that they are very capable of running the football and they have several gadget plays. The Chargers defense is 30th against the run and has been totally fooled on play far less confusing than some of the Dolphins plays. This ground attack of the Dolphins dominated the play clock against the Colts on Monday. The Fins held the ball on offense for more than 45 minutes! That is an incredible amount of time with the ball. However, that stat aside, the Dolphins strength also illuminated their weakness as well.

Think about it. The Colts had the ball for just over 14 minutes in the entire game and Peyton Manning still threw for over 300 yards and won the game. Now whether you think Rivers compares favorably with Manning or not. The fact is that the Chargers should be able to continue their big play offense and score very quickly.

Side note: Good job Chargers fans for selling out the game on Sunday in time to have it air on television. I feared that the game would not sell out after last week's loss. Whether it was Chargers fans, or Dolphins fans bought the tickets will be discovered on Sunday, but in the long run, it just doesn't matter.

Enjoy the game!

NFL Picks For Week 3

redskins @ LIONS (Just a funny feeling)
PACKERS @ rams (Rams are bad)
niners @ VIKINGS (Niners playing well, but too much A.D.)
FALCONS @ patriots (Pats have not impressed. They'll probably bounce back and make me look stupid)
TITANS @ jets (Hey Mark!!! DUCK!!! Titans are due)
chiefs @ EAGLES (Chiefs are bad)
GIANTS @ bucs (Bucs are bad)
RAVENS @ browns (Browns are bad)
jaguars @ TEXANS (Jags are bad)
BEARS @ seahawks (Injury to Hasselback)
SAINTS @ bills (Too much offense)
STEELERS @ bengals (Could be close without Polamalu)
broncos @ RAIDERS (Close game. Broncos on the road and not as good as their record. Russell stinks though.)
colts @ CARDINALS (Bob Sanders out and Cards receivers getting healthy)
panthers @ COWBOYS (Panthers are bad)
dolphins @ CHARGERS (Because I don't want the Charges to start 1-2)

Bolt Notes: Week 1 Wrap up and Week 2 Preview and Picks

Alright, the first week is in the books and I found out that it is better to be lucky than good. Due to some last minutes heroics by my Bolts and the Patriots, I ended up having a pretty strong week on my picks. I went 13 - 3 picking the games straight up. I'm too big of a wuss to pick against the spread.

As for the Chargers / Raiders game on Monday night, it was very hard to watch, as a Chargers fan. I never really felt like the Chargers would lose, but I certainly had concerns at times and in the long run, the Chargers lost quite a bit.

The game started out with Oakland on fire! They marched the ball up and down the field with a powerful running game and a dominant offensive line. The silver and black defense also dominated the line of scrimmage and kept the high powered Chargers offense off stride and ineffective most of the night.

Fortunately for the Chargers, the Raiders do not have a very consistent quarterback. Throughout out the entire game, Jamarcus Russell had receivers open and could not get them the ball. He looked very poor until the Bolts blew deep coverage on a third and long and the Raiders hooked up for a 56 yard touch down and a very late lead. If Russell had been more accurate, the game would have been a blowout for the Raiders, even though the Chargers figured out at half time how to stop the Raiders running game.

With a little over a minute to go, the 90 million dollar man, Philip Rivers, calmly drove the Chargers 90 yards with the help of Darren Sproles and Legadu Naanee. So, after being tied, or behind most of the night, the Bolts ended up on top and left Oakland thrilled to get out with a win.

On the other hand, the Bolts may have traded the win for the health of their players. Seven chargers, including six starters went down to injury during the game. Pro Bowl center, Nick Hardwick, future Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson, and Pro Bowl Nose Tackle Jamaal Williams will all miss this week's game against the Ravens. Williams was placed on the IR today which will keep him out for the rest of the year.

Well, a win is a win and it's off to week two!!!

I must admit that I am not exactly over confident for the Chargers against the Ravens. The Ravens did struggle with the lowly Chiefs, but not on defense. There were a couple of fluke touch downs by KC that kept the game close. The Ravens offense ran over 90 plays on the day and totally dominated the Chiefs defense.

The Ravens have a very tough defense, lead by Ray Lewis. Say what you want about Lewis and his personal struggles off the field, in the past. The fact is the guy can play football at the highest level and if you give him a chance, he will find a way to beat you.

On the bright side, as poorly as the Chargers played last week, they still piled up 24 points! Rivers is healthy and so are Sproles, Gates, Jackson, and most of the other offensive weapons of the Bolts. Unfortunately, the Chargers offensive line will have at least one second string player, at center, and may need to spell LuisVasquez at right guard if he isn't ready to go. Losing 40% of your line and your starting tailback doesn't help your offense. I'm afraid that unless Sproles and Bennett can move the ball on the ground, the Ravens will be able to pin their ears back and push around the line to pressure Rivers.

All that being said, I am a die-hard Chargers fan and I always pick my team. Therefore, I say that Rivers will pick apart the Ravens defense and Sproles will give the Chargers great field position all day by running back kicks and punts into Ravens territory. A couple of years ago, the Chargers dismantled the Ravens and made it look easy. No reason they can't do it again. (Did I sound confident?)

Here are all of my picks for this week's games. Winning team is in CAPS.

Season Record: 13-3

PATRIOTS @ jets
SAINTS @ eagles
rams @ REDSKINS
cardinals @ JAGUARS
panthers @ FALCONS
VIKINGS @ lion
bengals @ PACKERS
texans @ TITANS
RAIDERS @ chiefs
bucs @ BILLS
SEAHAWKS @ niners
STEELERS @ bears
BROWNS @ broncos
GIANTS @ cowboys
COLTS @ dolphins

ravens 20 @ CHARGERS 31

Enjoy the games and thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments. I'd love to hear from you

Opening Day and Raider Week?! Are You Kidding Me!!!???

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. In the past, on "the other site", I always predicted the winner of every NFL game and gave the reason I picked a team and my best guess for the final score. That was fun, but very time consuming. This year, I'm going to focus on my favorite team, the San Diego Chargers and break down their game each week. At the end of the post, I will make my picks for the winners of the other games as well, but without analysis. I hope this change is alright with you and please remember that I am a homer and very biased. I will try to be fair in my writing, but it is my blog and I'm a Chargers fan, so don't be surprised if you don't agree with everything I say. Okay? Let's get on with it!

VS

Chargers vs Raiders!!! This is a rivalry that goes back since the beginning of the AFL! They have been playing each other so long that Raider owner Al Davis was actually a Chargers coach before moving on to the Raiders! He had a brilliant football mind and was one of the main reasons that the AFL was such a huge success. He helped the Chargers to their only league championship as well. Thanks Al!

As for the Al Davis back then, and the Al Davis now, there does not seem to be much in common. In the '60's through the 90's, Davis seemed to be on the cutting edge of the NFL. He was a great evaluator of talent and his "just win baby" motto surrounded him with a bunch of low character, high ability players who challenged for the ring every year and actually won three Super Bowls! That is three more than my Chargers have won. Raider fan will remind you everyday that they have won those three Lombardi Trophies as well. That is when I remind Raider fan that the past is the past and the present is all that matters. No one on the Raiders was part of those championships and the culture of winning is long since gone. Only Al was around in those days, and he may not even remember.

Over the course of time, the Raiders do hold the better record against the Bolts. However, since 2003, the Chargers have beaten the Raiders 11 straight times! That is the most dominance any NFL team has had over another ever! For whatever reason, the Chargers have had the Raiders number and it really hasn't even been close. Last year, the Raiders did have the Bolts shut out going into the fourth quarter and looked to be on the verge of an upset. In the fourth quarter, the Chargers unloaded for 25 points and ran away with the victory. Even in the "Black Hole" the cream seems to rise to the top.

In my youth, I guess I went into a rebellious faze. I was actually a Raiders fan! I loved watching Stabler, Branch, Belitnikoff, Matusak, Casper etc... Then it happened. The Holy Roller aka The Immaculate Deception. With the Chargers on the brink of their first post season in years, The Snake, while being sacked, threw the ball forward (incomplete pass). The referees called it a fumble. Van Eegan kicked it around and batted it toward the goal line. Dave Casper then kicked it a while and knocked it into the end zone where he fell on the ball and was awarded the game winning touchdown. Call it cheating. Call it improvising. Call it winning at all cost. Call it whatever you want. It turned me off to Raiders football and I made a switch to the home town team, the San Diego Chargers.

Today, it is no longer Fouts and Coryell trying to out fox Stabler and Madden. We have Rivers and Turner up against Russell and Cable. I don't know if Rivers' numbers will surpass Fouts, but the other three are a real downward slide from their predecessors.

Okay, I'll let the cat out of the bag early. I think the Chargers will win and win easy. The high powered Chargers offense and revamped defense should be much to much for the Raiders who have been dealing with coaches fighting each other and star players not showing up from trades that were made. What a mess it is in Oakland! The Chargers have had a few negative stories during the preseason, but nothing compared to the Raiders. Shawne Merriman and his domestic abuse and false imprisonment case does not even compare to Cable breaking his coaches jaw and Seymore not showing up to camp. Merriman is not 100%, but I think he knew that the charges would go away and on the football field, he is no choker.

Now, let's look at what the Raiders defense will have to stop. To start with, we have quarterback Phillip Rivers. All Rivers did last year was throw for 34 touchdowns, over 4000 yards, and led the entire league in passer rating. Also, he has a new 90 million dollar contract that he is out to prove was not a mistake.

LaDainian Tomlinson is on a mission this year. All off-season, Tomlinson has heard how he is washed up. He is too old and does not have it anymore. Well, the fact is that he is healthy this year and wants to prove that he still has it. Fortunately, for him, he gets to prove it against the team he has ran over since he joined the league. With just over 90 in Monday night's game, Tomlinson will reach the 2000 career yards mark against the Raiders. That is more rushing yards than any rusher has against any other team in the NFL.

Need a first down, look for number 85, Antonio Gates. Gates also had an off year last season. He battled a foot injury that kept him from being able to explode off the line and made it difficult to block. This year, he is healthy and said that he learned a lot about the game of football by being limited last year. He claims that he is a better football player now than before. That is a scary thought for opponents.

Okay, you stopped the run, and you are putting a lot of pressure on Rivers. Congratulations! Now you will get a healthy dose of Darren Sproles and the screen pass. Here is another dangerous weapon who is trying to prove that his franchise tag was no mistake. Ask Indy and Denver about Sproles. They will tell you how hard he is to bring down.

Okay, but do the Chargers have a deep threat? Absolutely! Meet Vincent Jackson. Jackson should become an upper tier receiver this year. His 6' 5", 235 lb frame helps him sky over the smaller defenders and make spectacular catches for big yards. Also, Malcolm Floyd averaged over 20 yards per catch last year. Both of them can get down field. Throw in a possession receiver like veteran receiver Chris Chambers and you have quite a receiving corp.

I'm not even going to get into the Chargers defense today. Jamaal Williams, Shawne Merriman, Antonion Cromartie, Quenten Jammer, Shaun Phillips, Stephen Cooper, and the rest of this talented D will introduce themselves on Monday Night Football!

Final score Chargers 34 Raiders 13

Here are my other picks for the NFL games this week. You'll have to take my word on the first game since it has already been played. The winning team will be in blue.

Titans @ Steelers

Dolphins @ Falcons

Vikings @ Browns

Lions @ Saints

Broncos @ Bengals

Jaguars @ Colts

Cowboys @ Bucs

Eagles @ Panthers

Jets @ Texans

Niners @ Cardinals

Chiefs @ Ravens

Redskins @ Giants

Rams @ Seahawks

Bears @ Packers

Bills @ Patriots

Well, there you have it. Agree or not, I'd love to read your comments and predictions for this week!

Side note: On my site tracker, I see people in countries all around the world have stopped in to read. If you are from outside the US, I'd love to know where you are from and how you found me. Please leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks!

Go Bolts!!!