This could be an epic battle on Sunday afternoon.  The New England Patriots were an awesome 7-1 on the road, while the Chargers were a dominating 8-0 at home on the season.  Will Marty Schottenheimer open up the offensive playcalling with Philip Rivers struggling lately?  Or will he get ultra conservative in his play calling?  That will be interesting to watch unfold on Sunday as Bill Belichick is a master at confusing young QBs with his defensive gameplanning.

When the Patriots have the ball they will likely test the Chargers run defense which has allowed 100.8 yards rushing (7th in the NFL) with Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney.  The Patriots have to be successful on the ground for two reasons.  1) They want to control the clock   2) They want the Chargers to have to respect the Patriots running game, thus slowing down the Chargers fantastic pass rush to give Tom Brady a fighting chance to find his receivers down the field.  If Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips are living in the Patriots backfield, the Patriots won’t have much of a chance to move the ball.

The Chargers will come out running the ball with LaDainian Tomlinson against the Patriots run defense which only has allowed 94.2 yards rushing per game which was fifth in the NFL this season. Tomlinson did rush for 134 yards and scored 2 TDs in Foxboro last season so the Patriots will be tested big-time.  Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel have a way of stepping up in big games and they will be hitting LT all game long.  If the Patriots can somehow slow LT down and force the Chargers into definate passing downs than the Chargers will be in some trouble.  Antonio Gates will benefit from Rodney Harrison missing this game, so this is one area that the Chargers will have a huge advantage in the game.  The Patriots corners are very tough and Asante Samuel has been an absolute thief on defense so Rivers will have to be very careful when he decides to go downfield with the football.

The Chargers have a slight edge on special teams in this game if it comes down to a kick.

The thing that stands out in this game is the coaches.  Marty Schottenheimer is a fine regular season coach, but he’s only 5-12 in his career in the post season.  Bill Belichick is a genius in the post season as last week’s win over the Jets improved his career post season record to 12-2.

I’m siding with the Patriots in this football game because of the huge edge that the Patriots have in coaching and at the QB position.