Week 1 NFL Free Pick Article
The opening week of the NFL season is loaded with attractive match ups, the most note worthy being the showdown in San Diego between the club that owned last season’s best overall regular season record, the Chargers, and the NFC champion Chicago Bears. The game will take place on Sunday afternoon, and the Chargers, sporting their attractively redesigned uniforms, will be favored by six points. Both teams will surely come well prepared after each was disappointed in the playoffs in 2006.
Chicago is a much different team than the one who lost to the Colts in January. Cedric Benson will be carrying the full load in the running game after the trade of Thomas Jones in the off season, while former CB/KR Devin Hester and rookie TE Greg Olsen will add some new wrinkles to the offense. Olsen will be a game time decision for the Bears as he battles a knee injury. Turnovers and an uncharacteristic showing in the Super Bowl are motivating the Bears this year to show that they can silence the critics and go all the way.
San Diego returns all the familiar faces from a year ago, with the exception of a few rookies. The difference for the Chargers will be the new coaching staff under incoming head coach Norv Turner. Little difference should be seen in the results though, for an offense that averaged 30.8 points per contest last season as LaDainian Tomlinson set the single season rushing touchdown record with 28, and the overall record with 31 scores (three receiving).
This is a match up of a 13-3 team and a 14-2 team from 2006, so a quality struggle should be in order. San Diego playing at home with all the key cogs of their offense returning and L.T. fresh after a preseason of rest will be huge advantages. The Chargers defense will bring a ton of pressure for Bears QB Rex Grossman to handle, especially from OLB Shawne Merriman, which will almost certainly spell trouble for Chicago. The Bears defense will pressure San Diego QB Philip Rivers and look for turnovers as usual, but will undoubtedly have trouble keeping a lid on L.T.’s extraordinary abilities. Cedric Benson seems to still be on training wheels as the newly minted full time feature back, and should have a decent game while struggling to establish the type of attack that will keep the Chargers guessing enough to open up the D. Chicago’s only hope in the Chargers’ back yard will be to slow down Tomlinson and keep Rex Grossman from having too many turnovers.
Achieving one of those tasks on its own should
be close to impossible, but trying to do both will almost certainly
be.
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