2007 San Diego Chargers Predictions & Season Preview


June 5, 2008 | Posted By Larry Cook

San Diego fans are making their 2007 Chargers predictions and anything less than an appearance in the Super Bowl will be a disappointment. Norv Turner comes in to replace Marty Schottenheimer, who was fired despite leading the team to a 14-2 record. He was blamed for the loss in the playoffs to the Pats, and had a cold relationship with general manager AJ Smith. Now the team has had their coordinators both shipped off to head coaching positions on other teams, but nearly everyone on last year’s monster squad is back.

It’ll be up to Turner to prove that he isn’t best suited as an offensive coordinator, as his last two positions with the Raiders and Redskins have given him a career record of 59-83. Phillip Rivers looked good last season on his way to the Pro Bowl. He completed 62% of his passes while racking up 22 TDs to only 9 picks, but seemed to struggle a little down the stretch. Of course when you have the best running back in the game in LaDainian Tomlinson it takes a lot of pressure off of your QB. He won the NFL’s MVP last season and best of all is just heading into this prime. Michael Turner can spell LT whenever needed and is a bruiser who won’t be a backup in the league much longer. Outside of Antonio Gates’s 71 catches, 9 TDs, and 924 yards last year, the receiving corps is disappointing. This year it will most likely be Vincent Jackson and Craig Davis, a couple of young guys who will need to grow quickly to take pressure off the running game.

The 3-4 defense that San Diego employs is lead by monster nose tackle Jamal Williams. He is a Pro Bowler year in and year out. At the end sports the Chargers are hoping for a little more out of Luis Castillo, who was hampered with injuries, and Igor Olshansky. Linebacker was a position the Chargers were stocked in last season, but this year Donnie Edwards and Randall Godfrey are gone and former backups Matt Wilhelm and Stephen Cooper are going to have to step up. Of course, when you have two sack specialists like Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips terrorizing opponents it’s easy to grow quickly. The secondary is going to be alright at the corner position with Drayton Florence and Quentin Jammer both being solid and at safety there is Marlon McCree and rookie Eric Weddle out of Utah.

Oddsmakers think this is the second best team in the NFL behind the Pats and it’s tough to disagree. However, this is the toughest schedule in the league and there are going to be a lot of attention placed on this team. Turner has to prove that he can coach and win in the NFL, and this team can’t have a run of success like last season. It’s tough not to take the OVER on this team, but the value is with the UNDER, but for a small amount. With the Broncos catching up, the AFC West is going to be tough to win but we think they’ll do it, and San Diego shows the best value out of the favorites for the AFC and Super Bowl, but we are passing personally on those wagers.

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