Chargers vs. Patriots (and Yankees vs. Red Sox) Game Diary

So when my dawg Nick told me he was going to be in Germany for the Chargers vs. Patriots Sunday night tilt, I initially said, "so what, just go find an American sports bar, there should be one - especially in Germany, because they love American football." Then he reminded me it would be around 2-3 in the morning when the game started, and he had to be up for work at like 7 in the morning. After we lamented his unfortunate happenstance, at least in terms of being able to watch the game, he asked if I could write him a recap of the game and email it to him, figuring I would capture the action better than any regular game recap. Well, that sounded like a challenge.

I could have written a recap, but that didn't really interest me all that much. What did interest me was writing a live diary. I think it came out pretty well. I didn't write out the times, and I probably rambled a little too much/wrote too much, but other than that I think it came off well. While I checked it for spelling and grammar, what follows is what I wrote at the time. Keep in mind that my wife Summer and I keep two televisions in the living room on Sunday - the normal, 32" HDTV that is always there, and a smaller, 18-20" TV/VCR combo that we bring down from upstairs specifically for NFL Sundays. The Pats game was on in HD, with the Yankees vs. Sox on the smaller tv. After watching the Rockies get in the black with a 13-0 blanking of Florida, and a great afternoon of football, we were ready for some northeastern dominance.

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The Patriots received the kick and Ellis Hobbs ran it back to the New England 30. Brady came out in the shotgun and promptly marched the Pats down the field, the only misstep when he accidentally threw the ball into the ground. Following a 30-yard gain to wideout Wes Welker, Brady lofted a beautiful ball into the back of the end zone, where it was hauled in by a wide open Benjamin Watson.

On San Diego’s first play from scrimmage, Roosevelt Colvin intercepted a Phillip Rivers pass, which left the ball at the San Diego 25.

Unfortunately, the Pats were unable to capitalize. After being penalized five yards for delay of game on first down, Kevin Faulk and Wes Welker both dropped passes, setting up a 41-yard field goal try. Lining up from the left hash marks, Stephen Gostkowski pushed the ball wide right. Still 7-0.

On the next series, the Chargers Right Tackle was injured, and Al Michaels informed the audience that their backup right tackle was also injured, which meant they had to play their third string. On third and 12 the Chargers got a ten yard completion to Antonio Gates, but it wasn’t enough and they had to punt. Wes Welker fielded the punt from the 12 and ran it out to the 25, cutting and moving inside the hash marks on his route.

On the next Patriots drive, they did not face one third down play. Marching down the field, they got first downs on catches from Welker, Moss and a run by Maroney. Then on second down from the Pats 30-something, Randy Moss lined up in the right slot, and sprinted downfield. When he turned around the ball was within his reach, he pulled it in on the goal line, and walked in for a touchdown. 14-0 New England. Must have been because we were stealing signs. Or maybe it’s because San Diego’s secondary blows.

The Chargers got the ball back, and were able to pick up two rushing first downs behind LDT. After the second first down, Adalius Thomas was down after the whistle with an injury. The Chargers had the ball in NE territory for the first time. On the next play, they pitched to LDT – loss of yards. On second and 11, Rivers chucked one across the field to Vincent Jackson, good for 15 yards on the out, and the Chargers had their first aerial first down. Alas, the happiness was short lived. Colvin came around the right side, beating the extra tight end in to block, stripped it from Rivers, and Vince Wilfork recovered for the Pats at the NE 44.

The first play of this next drive was a tight play fake to Maroney, with a 10 yard pass to Donte Stallworth, his first touch, which brought the ball into San Diego territory. After a short walk into the other side of the field, they were ready to start the second quarter.

Sammy Morris got the first touch, running around left tackle for a gain of six on his first carry. He got the next carry, but was less successful, running into the middle of the line. Third and three. Brady under threw Stallworth, who dove but couldn’t pull it in. After the throw, Brady was mauled, and rightfully received a roughing the passer call when #54 on the Chargers unnecessarily slapped him on the helmet. But it must have been because we were stealing signals and knew he would rough Brady. The next play Brady was sacked hard and almost lost the football, but somehow recovered his own fumble. What looked like a large deficit to make up was quickly erased as Moss burned Quentin Jammer on a slant for a 14 yard gain, setting up third and short. Brady burned a time out before the play. When they came back, the patented Brady sneak picked up the final two yards. Some would say Brady came to the line and saw no one lined up over center, and so he audibled the play. I would say it was because the Pats were stealing signals.

And so it was first and ten on the Charger 13. First down, 2 yard run by Morris. Then a six yard pass to Gaffney. Unfortunately, Merriman came around the line and stuffed Morris on a third down run, and the Pats settled for a field goal. 17-0 Pats.

SD ran the kick back to the 30, where Alexander leveled the kick returner Sproles. On first down, there was a flag on the field, but it was pulled back because the ref said “the defender was overpowered.” Very cute. Good news, Adagios Thomas was back on the field. The bad news, the Chargers came out with two plays to LDT to set up third and one. Then more good news – LDT was stuffed on third and one by backup #92 who I have never heard of, and Thomas. The San Diego punter booted into the end zone. He’s clutch like that.

On first down, Brady gets walloped by Merriman on a play action pass. Maroney completely whipped on the block. Watson then dropped a very catchable pass on second and 20. Then Watson did catch a five yard pass over the middle on third down, which he ran it up to the NE 23 to create enough room for a good punt. The ever-clean Chargers were flagged for not one, but two blocks in the back on the punt return, and were penalized for the one that occurred further back in their territory.

Peyton Manning has a new Sears commercial. It’s pretty good.

On the first play, the Chargers moved the ball into NE territory again, but on the next play Ellis Hobbs came up for a vicious, perfectly timed hit that knocked the ball away from the receiver. On second down, Rivers lined up in the gun, and the momentary elation of him bobbling the snap was quickly replaced with dejection when he completed a quick eight yard pass to Gates. Third and one, momentum for the Chargers right? Wrong! Adalius Thomas picked off a Rivers pass and ran it all the way back for a touchdown, looking more like a tight end than a linebacker. Boo-yah, 24-0 Pats with 5:17 left in the second. At this point, Rivers has a 37.0 rating compared to Brady’s 138.3 rating, mainly because Brady has two TD’s and Rivers has two INT’s. I’m thinking of three letters: an L, an O, and then another L.

After the kickoff that was caught and downed by an O-lineman at the SD 27, LDT picked up a quick first down with a run around left end. He has nine carries, for 32 yards. He runs again on the next play with less success. In general, LDT has been successful on first and second, and not that much on third. Hence, the 24 point deficit.

On second down the carry went to Turner, who ran up the middle for a few to set up third down and four. Rivers was pressured heavily, and he threw a dump off to Turner. It looked like Turner would have some daylight but Sanders #36 came up and ankle tackled him. Another punt, which was again clutchly booted into the end zone. The classy receiver for the Chargers, #81, decided the best move would be to chuck the ball into the stands. He’s awesome like that.

With 2:40 left in the half, the Pats start on their own 20, and begin with a five yard run to Maroney. One of the early season questions is why Sammy Morris has been in for Maroney on important plays, like the third down where he was stuffed near the goal line. One can only assume Maroney will be in when it counts at the end of the season, and that they are just trying to balance things out right now. The Pats let it run down to the two-minute warning, seeming to be in no rush to march down the field one more time.

After the two minute warning, Maroney took a hand off that was supposed to angle right. LAMA, sensing daylight, cut it back to the left and ran out to the 37 for a big first down. Since LAMA was tackled inbounds, the Pats take a time out, and have one left. First down Brady ran a little over the middle pass to Faulk for nine. 1:13 left. Brady then let it down to :54 before snapping it, and unloaded a deep ball to Stallworth. He almost pulled it in despite being tackled before the ball got there. Pass interference for an arm bar, down to the 30. Madden calls it questionable, but it’s down to the 30 nonetheless. They run the same play, a deep ball down the left side to Stallworth, but Brady overthrows it a touch, and it’s second and 10 from the 30 with :43 left. A shotgun draw to Faulk nets four, and it’s third and six. Brady then makes his first mistake. Rushed in the pocket, he throws behind an open Moss, who tips the ball and it is picked off by San Diego. They get it with seven seconds left, and a run by LDT later, it’s halftime. A disappointing end to an awesome first half. On the other television, Schilling and Clemens are dueling, in what is a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth.

The second half started with a Charger return to the 30. Two yard pass, two yard run and a ten yard pass netted the Chargers a first down. On the next play, Rivers went deep to Vincent Jackson, which was defensed by Asante Samuel, who looked like he couldn’t decide whether to pick it off or knock it away. Colvin then dropped LDT at the line on a run to the left, to set up a long third down. Just before the pass to Jackson, Andrea Kremer said the Chargers defenders came into the locker room at halftime yelling “we have them where we want them.” Rushing three on third down, Gates hauls in a long pass for a first down down the middle beating Randall Gay in coverage. Tomlinson rushes for eight down to the NE 23, and the Chargers are officially in field goal range for the first time tonight. Second down brings a counter to LDT, which Thomas snuffs out and drops LDT for a big four yard loss to force third down. San Diego lines up in a bunch formation with three receivers on the right. The Pats get good pressure but at the last second Rivers jumps, throws, and connects for a first down inside the red zone. NE collapses the pocket on first down, so Rivers scrambles for six down to the 12. LDT gets nothing on second down. Again, Rivers goes over the middle to Gates on third down, and Eugene Wilson drags him down inside the five, barely holding on.

LDT gets little on first and goal with a run to the left. Rivers lines up shotgun on second and goal, and Colvin shoots up the middle to force a quick throw, which is off target to Gates. Third down. Shotgun again, and pressure forces a quick throw to LDT, who nearly breaks away from Seau, but he forces him down at the one. SD lines up to go for it on fourth before calling a timeout. They have had the ball for the whole period, with just 6:47 left in the third when time out is called. Seau really just got LDT by the ankles to save the touchdown.

Sox and Yanks still are tied at 1-1 in the seventh, with a runner on third in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Joba Chamberlain on the mound and Ellsbury at the plate.

Back to the Pats game, the Chargers run the same play they always run on fourth down, which is a play action pass to Lorenzo Neal for a touchdown in the right flat. 24-7, and a thoroughly deflated call. That was the most important play of the game so far, as the Chargers would have been in big trouble had they not converted. And then Ellsbury grounds out to end the inning, and it’s still 1-1.

Welker runs and end around on first down that nets six. I don’t think they did that in the Jets game, so that might be his first run of the year. On second down, Sammy Morris bulls up the middle, piling up 10 to 15 yards and getting the first, moving it out to the San Diego 45. Morris gets the call again, pushing across midfield on a run to the right. Brady was 17-23, 2 TD’s and an INT in the first half. Shaun Phillips, SD’s outside LB comes off injured, though he did walk off. Morris gets the call for the third straight time on second and three, and picks up a first down. There is a skirmish, as Madden calls it, after the play, but no flags are thrown. Summer looks at Jamal Williams and says “he’s so fat you can’t even see his whole number, his jersey gets eaten up by his rolls.” I couldn’t make this stuff up.

AT&T has a new “abbreviations” commercial, where grandma is chastised for making too many texts. When mom asks who she could possibly be texting, she replies “IDK, my BFF Rose.” Classic! That Rose, she’s always been a bad influence on grandma. On ESPN, Schilling has made it into the seventh, and fats Giambi watches a foul go over his head and out of play.

Back in action, Brady watches Moss gets way too open and then hits him on an inside slant for a 15 yard gain on first down. Moss now has seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Morris again gets the carry and pushes it inside the Chargers 25. Al and John won’t shut up about Jamal Williams. Unfortunately for the Chargers, Williams is really fat and needed a breather on the sideline. Moss, as Madden says, “runs by everything” for a 25-yard touchdown catch. Summer exclaims, “could it be any easier?” while Madden wonders “what exactly the defensive back was doing”. So much for the Chargers momentum – 31-7 Pats.

Meanwhile, the Yanks almost homered, as the ball hits the top top top of the Green Monster. It was Giambi, who was still up. The Yanks now have second and third with one out in the eighth. Oops, I guess it was the eighth before too. Anyways, Schilling saws off Damon’s bat, and he grounds out to second. No run scores. Second and third, two out. Nice job Schill, if the Sox are going to lose, at least it won’t be because of Damon.

Michael Turner takes the kick out to the SD 30, but there was holding on the Chargers. They were clearly holding because the Pats had been stealing signals. San Diego starts with an out route to for an eight yard gain, but a false start pushes them back on second down. Al and John have officially run out of topics, as they’re now talking about eating crab vs. hot dogs and Belichick’s ever present sweatshirt. Rivers seems confused on second down, and throws a dump off nowhere near a receiver who wasn’t even looking for the ball. On third down, Rivers goes deep, a flag is thrown, and even though the ball was tipped and intercepted by Sanders, Hobbs was flagged for pass interference. Hochuli says he “pulled his hand down”. Madden calls it not that bad, and says he would let that stuff go. So two pass interference calls, and Madden disagreed with both. Nevertheless, San Diego has it in Pats territory, but LDT is stuffed on first down by Ty Warren.

The first double whammy of the night happens – Malcolm Floyd nets a 20+ yard catch on second down and Jeter hits a three run homer after a 57 minute at-bat. Some might wonder why Schilling was still in in the eighth inning of a cold weather game. I attribute it to the Pats stealing signals. 4-1 Yanks.

Meanwhile, Rivers throws an incomplete in the end zone on first, but then hits Turner on a swing pass. Turner breaks a couple of tackles and gets a first down to the Pats ten as the time expires on the third quarter. 31-7 Pats after three. If the Chargers want to win this game, they’re going to have to move faster. If they score another touchdown it will be 31-14, but there will be less than fifteen minutes left, and the only times the Pats haven’t scored was on the missed FG and the tipped ball for an INT. They haven’t actually “stopped” the Pats or forced a punt. NBC comes back from commercial with a stat that says under Brady the Pats are 59-1 when leading after three. Summer is impressed.

The fourth quarter starts with a scramble by Rivers, who throws to Gates at the last second at the goal line, but it is defensed by Hobbs. Nice play Ellis! The momentum is short lived, as Gates catches the next pass, an out pattern where the linebacker drops off coverage, leaving the safety to handle it, but Sanders couldn’t catch up in time. Gates extends the ball over the goal line as he runs out of bounds for the TD. 31-14. Gates ran a nice route, but I’m convinced that the only passes Philip Rivers can complete are an out route or a dump off across the middle. Seriously, they have completed approximately 89 out routes tonight. That touchdown to Gates was a good route, he ran it in such a way that there was no way to jump the route, and hence he was wide open for the TD.

Oh no. Ellis was stripped on the kick return. He lost momentum and stopped at the 28, then cut back up the right sideline when #81 on the Chargers stripped it from behind, and it bounced right into the arms of an oncoming Charger. On first down for SD, ever-able-Mike Vrabel drops Rivers for a big loss. Second and 20 from the NE 42. Hochuli walked into both huddles to tell them to knock off the chippiness. That’s why he’s awesome. On second down, Rosey Colvin runs right by Football Outsiders favorite Marcus McNeil, sacks Rivers and forces a fumble. SD recovers, but now it’s 3^rd and 30. Rivers rolls left and throws an abortive screen pass to LDT that was completely snuffed out by the Pats. LDT doesn’t even catch it, and the Bolts are forced to punt. Al and John congratulate the Pats for “bringing the hoses and putting out the fires.”

Pedroia strikes out looking. 4-1 Yanks, bottom of the 8^th, 1 out, nobody on.

We see a commercial for the new Wahlberg movie; Summer says he’s being typecast as a cop. I say he isn’t. I win the argument. Lowell homers, 4-2 Yanks. Is that Joba’s first HR allowed? I hope so!

On the first two plays, it’s the attack of the long-haired guys, as Brady, backed up inside his own 10, gets off a quick eight yard pass to Stallworth, followed by a first down run by Maroney. Out to the 21, Maroney runs again for six, and the clock killing is officially underway. Welker catches a ball over the middle on a “did he catch that” kind of play at his feet, and it’s 1^st and 10 once again. Hey, that rhymes! Maroney behind the left guard for 15 yards and is out to midfield.

During an injury, Andrea Kremer reports that the Jets are now considering asking the league to investigate a SECOND camera that the Pats were using to pick up audio on mic’ed up defensive players. This is illegal in and of itself, and there were apparently no legally mic’ed up players for the Pats vs. Jets game last week. True or not, it seems this story just will not go away.

The Pats are flagged for holding, negating a good Maroney run, but the Pats come back with a good intermediate pass to Welker to set up third and three. Brady converts to Watson for a five yard gain, but Watson won’t go down and busts loose for another ten. I think it’s safe to assume that he was able to break those tackles because the Pats are stealing signals.

Meanwhile, JD Drew struck out looking a couple of minutes ago to end the eighth. In a related story, grass continues to grow. SD jumps offside on first down.

Maroney takes another carry, and we’re down under 6:30 left. San Diego needs a stop. Unfortunately, they’re not getting it just yet, as Maroney runs around left tackle for another 10+ yard gain, taking it inside the Charger 15. Welker catches a quick pass on the left end, and makes a semi-successful juke inside the Charger 10 for a three yard gain to set up second and seven. There’s 5: 11 remaining, and a break in the action. It was not identified what the break was for, but presumably it was for a Chargers timeout?

Sox game is in the top of the ninth, two outs, Gagne pitching to Melky Cabrera who flies out to Ellsbury in left. It’s time for Rivera in the bottom of the ninth. Do the Sox have another big Rivera rally in them? It probably doesn’t matter, but it would be fun to see.

LDT has 18 carries for 43 yards at this point. Earlier this week he claimed that if the Chargers played the Pats ten times, they’d win nine. Considering that the Pats are about to win their second straight game against the Chargers that is most definitely not true. On third and three Maroney chugs ahead for what looked to be a first down, but it was spotted just shy. Fourth and one at the goal line, with 3:33 left. Do the Pats elect to kick the field goal? No, why bother! Sammy Morris takes the ball, rushing behind left guard, jumps a fallen lineman and dances into the end zone. The only drama on the play occurred when Morris contemplated whether or not he should try to jump into the crowd, as numerous camera men were in his path. He cut through them as easily he cut through the San Diego defense, and leapt into the waiting fans arms. 38-14 Pats. Hey, wasn’t that the score of last week’s game?

While LDT is babbling about needing great vision in a television commercial, Varitek is leading off the bottom of the ninth against Mariano, working a full count. He’s 0-3 for the game, something that doesn’t surprise Summer in the least. She’s pretty smart. Rivera tries to get Varitek to chase a fastball high and outside, always a good strategy against the Captain. Unfortunately for Rivera, Tek-9 doesn’t bit, and trots down to first with his walk. The Chargers run the kick back and then NBC cuts to another commercial. Hinske is up now, and he hits a slow roller to first. One out, Varitek moves up to second. Hinske is playing tonight because Youkilis was hit on the hand/wrist yesterday, and though X-rays came back negative, I guess the Sox felt he could use the day of rest. Up comes Coco Crisp, who is 2-10 lifetime against Rivera. That doesn’t inspire confidence, and Covelli watches the first pitch go by for strike one.

Back at the Pats game, LDT catches a swing pass and promptly runs out of bounds. It’s a good thing he’s such a warrior that only cares about winning! He catches a similar pass on second down to the other side of the field, but before he could run out of bounds, he gets hit this time. Another couple of hits and his uniform might even get dirty. Rivers proves he isn’t trying anymore either, badly throwing behind an open-enough receiver on third down. Time to punt. Welker momentarily fumbles the punt, but covers it at the Pats 26.

With two outs and Varitek on third, Lugo lines a double into the gap, and it’s 4-3. Rivera’s high fastball doesn’t have the juice it used to. Then he hits Ellsbury on the leg, and there are two on with two out for Pedroia.

After the two-minute warning it’s third and five for the Pats, but a false start pushes it to third and ten, though they call it third and nine. That’s some fuzzy math. Morris makes it irrelevant by picking up the first down on the carry, as the Chargers D proves that they’re not trying anymore either. Good to see they played the whole sixty minutes. Matt Gutierrez is in and it’s kneel down time. Final score 38-14, and the Pats have “circled the wagons”, according to Michaels.

Pedroia has worked a good at-bat, and it’s 2-2. Now 3-2, Rivera almost hit him. Rivera misses again on an inside fastball and it’s bases loaded for Papi! Here we go! High drama at the Fens! Torre does his best to kill the momentum by walking his death march out to the mound. Summer looks at Torre and says, “he looks like he needs to…lie down.” Well, alright.

Papi fouls off the first pitch, 0-1. Back on NBC, they show Belichick waving to a very supportive crowd on his walk off the field. Rivera’s second pitch is low and outside, scooped out of the dirt, and it’s 1-1. Cris Collinsworth is claiming the Chargers simply weren’t mature enough to beat the Bears and then fly across the country and beat the Pats. High fastball by Rivera, 2-1. Everyone in Fenway gasps as Papi grounds one to first, but it drifts foul – 2-2. ESPN shows that this would be the fifth lead the Yanks have blown at Fenway THIS YEAR. Alas, Rivera jams Papi and he pops it into shallow center, where a backpedaling Jeter catches the ball in his left hand and does his traditional fist pump with the right. Oh well, at least we made them earn it.

Back on NBC, Randy Moss is the Horse Trailer Player of the Game with his two TD catches. Kremer interviews Brady and asks him how he and the team overcame such a trying week, and Brady did all he could to not laugh at her as he explained that a long time ago the Pats decided “not to believe anything that anyone else said,” saying that all they had was the guys in the locker room and the fans who support them, and that was that. And then he claimed that the Pats need to get BETTER on offense, citing his fumble and interception first, and saying he hopes they continue to improve.

Excerpt from Belichick’s press conference, run live on Sportscenter, who seem to think Belichick is going to reveal something. They’re not getting any smarter at Sportscenter apparently.

Talking Head: Was this your hardest week as a coach?
Belichick: Well, San Diego is a pretty tough team.

TH: Wasn’t it unusual to wave to the fans after the game? When was the last time you did that?
Belichick: Probably the last time we won at home.

Summer’s take – “so far these questions are pretty f’in stupid.” She’s pretty smart.

Someone asked Belichick about Rosey’s play, and the questioner said “you probably want to look at the tape”, and when he did Belichick actually smiled. That was the big result of the live news conference. Cutting back to Sportscenter, Mark Schlereth calls the Pats the best in football. Talked to Dad, he loved the game, and agreed that the Chargers stopped trying with three minutes left, and after his victory yogurt, he’s off to bed. Sportscenter is still breaking down the game, but the bottom line is this – the Pats whooped up on the Chargers tonight. Some defense the Chargers have, netting only two sacks and allowing 407 total yards. Oh and LDT? After two weeks, he has the worst yard per carry in the NFL for running backs with more than 20 carries. He’s averaging a whopping 1.9 yards per carry. Spygate might not yet be over, but this game certainly is.