Chargers at Patriots
THE STORY: Tom Brady’s 517-yard, four-touchdown performance on Monday night overshadowed plenty of other quarterbacks, including the San Diego Chargers’ Philip Rivers. Rivers went for 335 yards and a pair of scores in Week 1 as the San Diego offense once again helped the team overcome special teams breakdowns. That area of the game was a big concern for the Chargers in the offseason and will continue to be scrutinized with kicker Nate Kaeding now out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The New England Patriots will face a much stiffer defensive test when they welcome the Chargers to Foxborough, Mass., on Sunday afternoon.
TV: CBS, 4:15 p.m. ET. LINE: Patriots -7 O/U 53.5
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS (1-0): Brady and company dictated the entire game against the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, moving down the field at will with a no-huddle attack and putting the game away when Brady and Wes Welker connected for an NFL record-tying 99-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Lost amidst the easy 38-24 victory were some of the struggles on the other side of the ball, where the defense allowed Chad Henne to pass for a career-high 416 yards. The Patriots made a concerted effort to beef up the pass rush in the offseason and managed four sacks but had some trouble in the secondary.
ABOUT THE CHARGERS (1-0): San Diego allowed just 39 passing yards against the Minnesota Vikings at home last week but still needed to score 17 unanswered points in the second half to pull out the 24-17 triumph. The Chargers allowed a 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the opening play of the game and operated without a kicker after Kaeding was hurt on the opening kickoff. Rivers twice found running back Mike Tolbert for receiving touchdowns and the fourth-year back rushed for another. San Diego dropped a 23-20 decision to the Patriots at home last season, despite scoring 17 fourth-quarter points.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Chargers coach Norv Turner received the game ball from his team last week as he collected his 100th career head coaching victory. Turner is now 100-105 overall.
2. Tight end Antonio Gates needs five receptions to pass Kellen Winslow (541) for second place on San Diego’s all-time list. Gates could pass Charlie Joiner (586) for the top spot sometime this season.
3. New England has won nine consecutive regular-season games and nine straight home openers.