@ New York Giants

It has come to the moment of reckoning for the Chargers and the Giants. Both of these teams are in desperate need of a victory this week and only one of them will be able to add another tally to their win column and unfortunately one will have to add a tick to their loss file. With all of the build up for this game on the side of the New York Giants with their head coach Tom Coughlin calling this “a one game season” for the G-men, there is sure to be a sense of urgency from both sides. The Chargers of course need this game to keep pace with the Denver Broncos who are still two games ahead of them in the win column and have a Monday night showdown with the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers on the docket this week. This is the ideal opportunity for the Bolts to make up some ground against a depleted Giants secondary riding the arm of Philip Rivers and their high flying aerial attack. Buckle your seatbelts because this one reeks of something special.

The Chargers couldn’t ask for better weather in New York for early November with sunny skies and mid 60’s it feels just like home for the Bolts. A flurry of miscues early for the home team is the story of the game in the early going as a nice drive by the Giants stalls out around the San Diego twenty and a botched field goal attempt results in a turnover on downs and a huge victory for the Chargers defense. Even after being gashed by the run for the most part in the early going the Chargers escape without surrendering any points to the Giants. After and exchange of punts the Bolts come out on the better end of the deal after an ugly kick from Jeff Feagles is walked off and spotted in Giants territory where the Bolts will take over. Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson just have an unspoken rapport with one another as the connection gets the Bolts inside the New York thirty yard line. Another brilliant throw from Rivers under pressure finds Antonio Gates and sets the Chargers up with a 1st and goal heading into the 2nd quarter of action.

The Chargers take advantage of the quality field position as a Philip Rivers pass finds Vincent Jackson in the end zone for a 7-0 Bolts lead on the first play of the 2nd quarter. New York takes possession and the Bolts defense is laying the lumber today with Eric Weddle and Kevin Ellison in particular flying to the ball. The two of them lay a substantial lick on Giants tight end Kevin Boss on a reception over the middle and Boss gets up a bit shaken. The pass rush is getting after Manning but they haven’t been successful in getting him to the ground as he has been escaping the pocket and forcing the Bolts secondary to cover receivers for eight to ten seconds downfield. Another methodical drive by the Giants has the Bolts defense on the field for way too long as the punishing runs of Brandon Jacobs begin to take their toll as the time of possession continues to tilt in New York’s favor. A Steve Smith slant route finishes in a touchdown for the Giants and the score is leveled at 7-7. On the Chargers ensuing possession the Giants defense is starting to get some pressure on Philip Rivers and cause a fumble recovered by the Bolts and a Mike Scifres punt pins the Giants inside their own ten yard line. An incredible stat that Scifres has yet to have a touchback this season was brought to light by the broadcast crew and the Giants seem content to take the game into the half all square at 7-7.

San Diego has been harassing Eli Manning rather well today but they just can’t seem to finish the deal and get him to the turf. A point of emphasis for the coaches at halftime needs to be finishing as the Bolts have been in position to make the plays today on defense they just have been unable to finish the job. The Chargers begin the second half with the ball and the offensive line is really struggling to open any holes for LaDainian Tomlinson to run through as he has defenders in his lap as soon as he is handed the ball. A deep ball from Philip Rivers is intercepted by Michael Johnson and is in essence a punt for the Bolts as the Giants will take over at their own 36. The defense is getting some great penetration into the New York backfield here early in the 3rd quarter as they force a Giants three and out. Drops are becoming an issue for the Chargers as Antonio Gates let a potential big gainer slip through his hands earlier in the half and Malcom Floyd does the same on a pass near midfield. Yet another drop by Gates forces the Bolts to send Scifres onto the field and he pins the Giants deep again. Tomlinson is sent in motion and split out wide and Philip Rivers delivers the ball to him out in space where he has some room to maneuver. This play design from Norv Turner is a fantastic way to get the ball into the hands of Tomlinson instead of repetitively running him into the pile for no gain. A pass interference call in the end zone sets up the Bolts on the 1 yard line and a Rivers to Kris Wilson pass is good for seven and the Bolts pull ahead 14-7. The Giants are mounting a drive into the Chargers red zone as the 3rd quarter comes to a close.

The 4th quarter begins with some controversy as an apparent catch and fumble by Steve Smith is ruled down by contact and on Norv Turner’s challenge the catch is overruled and called an incompletion. The Giants are forced to settle for three and narrow the gap to 14-10. On the following drive the Chargers only manage to go backward and Mike Scifres is called on to return the ball back to New York on a three and out. New York capitalizes on the short field and takes their first lead of the game on a touchdown toss to Kevin Boss to change the tides at 17-14 Giants. San Diego needs to come out and keep the Giants honest by finding ways to get the ball into the hands of LaDainian Tomlinson. After getting across midfield, Norv Turner tries some unnecessary trickery and its sniffed out by the Giants defenders to force yet another Mike Scifres punt. Some pressure by the Chargers defense culminated by a Shawne Merriman sack leads to a punt from the Giants to put the ball back into the hands of Philip Rivers who immediately returns the ball to the Giants with an awful throw picked off by Terrell Thomas. After being setup at the San Diego 4 yard line the Giants go in reverse and end up with three points to push their lead to 20-14 with two minutes remaining and one timeout in pocket for the Chargers. The two minute drill for the Bolts will begin after an intermediate gain to Antonio Gates moves them out near their own 30 yard line.

The final drive deserves a paragraph of its own as the mastery of the clock by Philip Rivers and the San Diego offense was just absolutely phenomenal with two minutes to work with and a mandatory touchdown as their end goal. From great decision making on the quick throws to Antonio Gates or Darren Sproles for modest gains to the fantastic exclamation point delivery to Vincent Jackson in the corner of the end zone for the game winning score, Rivers was nothing short of flawless on the final march to the end zone for the Bolts. Some emotion from the always stoic Norv Turner let the guys know what a huge victory this is for this Chargers team to prove that they can come east, face adversity, and defeat a high caliber team like the Giants. After another slow start with a 2-3 record out of the gates, the Chargers have seemingly righted the ship and gotten back on course reeling off three straight wins and the schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. The Eagles are on tap in week 10 when the Bolts return home to the left coast and will be yet another stern test for this still improving team.

Tags: Antonio Gates, Brandon Jacobs, Darren Sproles, Denver Broncos, Eli Manning, Eric Weddle, Jeff Feagles, Kevin Boss, Kevin Ellison, LaDainian Tomlinson, Mike Scifres, New York Giants, Norv Turner, Philip Rivers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman, Steve Smith, Terrell Thomas, Tom Coughlin, Vincent Jackson