Zach Mills’ Opinion:

This week I will be taking over for Alex Connell. Since I am the new competitor, I let the veteran, Jacob Lintner, pick this game. Naturally he picked a Patriots game, of which he is a diehard fan, . So because of his EXTREME BIAS, he picked a lopsided game of which his team is favored. But regardless of their underdog status, I believe the San Diego Chargers have a great chance of beating the  kids you hated in high school/all day frat party known as the New England Patriots.

How the Chargers Will Win:

•  Stopping Rob Gronkowski- Regardless of what rubbish Lintner is feeding you about how Tom Brady has more than just one weapon, Rob Gronkowski is who you really need to worry about. Gronkowski has almost 200 more passing yards than the next highest receiver on the Patriots roster. He also has seven more touchdowns and ten more plays for 20+ yards. It is no easy feet bringing down someone with such a massive beer gut, but if the Chargers want to win they need to limit his catches and bring him down quickly. They especially need to stop him in the red zone where he is especially dangerous. And especially tackle.
• Protecting Philip Rivers-  The Chargers have allowed Rivers to be sacked 23 times this year, which is pretty bad because he is the life of this team.The O-Line has to step up so Rivers can make the throws he needs to. If they do this they can run up the score on Bill Belichick and his team of frat stars.
• Chris Davis- Chris Davis needs to bring his kick return magic from last years Iron Bowl, to this game to give the Chargers a dangerous X factor.
• Learn from the Packers- To score points against this quality Patriots secondary, Philip Rivers needs to not just rely on his number one receiver but spread the ball around like Aaron Rodgers did on sunday. Fortunately Rivers already does that very well.
• Defense- With one look at the Chargers defense, you can tell they aren’t a shutdown defense like the Seahawks last year. But they’re also far from the Raiders. The Chargers need to take another play out of the Packers playbook and adopt a bend but don’t break defense. The Chargers need to hold the Patriots about 24 points to have a shot of winning. Also they need to make key stops like the Packers and that late sack to help win the game.

The Chargers look, on paper at least, as good or just shy of New England.In all honesty this will be a tough game for the Chargers with the odds stacked heavily against them. It is very possible for them to win this game, but not likely. Because of these rigged odds I automatically win by default. Go Chargers!

Jacob Lintner’s Opinion:

We’ve made a bit of a change for this week. Now, I’m writing against Zach Mills’ opinion in this week’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers. These two teams are coming from two completely different paths from last week. The Chargers scored the game-winning touchdown in Baltimore with 38 seconds left to defeat the Ravens behind the strength of Philip Rivers’ right arm. The Patriots, on the other hand, are coming off of their third loss of the season, suffered at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. Still, New England holds the top spot in the AFC, and they seem to remain the team to beat in that conference, while the Chargers are still fighting for a Wild Card spot.

The Patriots have a vastly superior offense and defense, but the Chargers are pretty decent. This being said, this will not be close. Of course, you cannot ever completely discount the Chargers, but New England will be making a happy trip back east after this game is over, especially because of Tom Brady’s impeccable ability as a quarterback. He has recorded 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Rivers, on the other hand, has just 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In the end, Brady and Rivers will both play like the first-ballot Hall of Famer and the fifth best quarterback in the league, respectively. This being said, the Patriots’ offense will outperform the Chargers’ in every category, including LeGarrette Blount and Jonas Gray leading the New England rushing attack against the hobbling and injured Chargers’ running game.

Now for the defensive side of things. The New England defense, as I have insisted all year, is much better than many people give them credit for. They are one of the top defenses in the AFC, and, while not all of the statistical categories may agree with this statement, it is true. This is not to say that the Chargers’ defensive unit isn’t good. They are. The truth behind this is in the opposition’s average passer rating. The Chargers, while they have held their opponents to far fewer yards per game, have recorded only 18 sacks this season, and they have allowed opposing quarterbacks to record an average passer rating of 91.4. New England has recorded 28 sacks thus far, and they have held their opponents (including contemporary greats like Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning) to a mere 84.6 average passer rating. This is the one true measure of a team’s passing defense, and the Patriots are winning by a large margin in this category. Like the offensive running attacks, both of the rushing defenses are quite close in ability.

In conclusion, the New England Patriots are the better team in this matchup, and they should definitely win this game even though it is in San Diego. Sadly for fans in Southern California, the Chargers will be severely lacking in spark against this dominant Patriots squad.