After the Colts-Saints tussle, this is what I would call the second most anticipated match of opening weekend. You can bet neither of these teams expect to start the season 0-1, after putting up a combined 27-5 regular season record a year ago. The Chargers have a new coaching staff led by Norv Turner, with Ted Cottrell as the defensive co-ordinator. Consider those switches status quo (or better?) for the offense, while the defense, also having lost LB Donnie Edwards, sags a bit. The Bears try to avoid the all too common Super Bowl hangover, with a couple key pieces - Cedric Benson and Rex Grossman - still needing to prove themselves worthy to the Bears faithful. This won't be any easy first test to kickoff the '07 campaign. Give the edge to the Chargers offensive machine. That LT guy... he's pretty good.
Predicted Score: Chargers 27, Bears 20
Fantasy Focus Chicago: The easiest thing is to start with the QB, and Rex Grossman is a walking turnover. You just can't play him against the Chargers, who will infest the Bears backfield with blitzes from their talented outside linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips. Cedric Benson might be effective enough to snag 75 yards and a TD, and unless he's your 3rd RB and you've got two other studs, you've got to play him. I expect to see Rex go deep a few times and Bernard Berrian will get behind the Chargers secondary. Don't sleep on Berrian this week.
Start: Cedric Benson, Bernard Berrian
Consider: Muhsin Muhammad, Team Defense
Sit: Rex Grossman, Mark Bradley, Greg Olsen, Desmond Clark
San Diego: Call me Captain Obvious: LaDainian Tomlinson starts every week. Now, one would typically temper enthusiasm of any RB against one of the league's toughest run defenses, but LT could be in for a monster day considering both the Bears losses on the interior line and his propensity to get extra-destructive versus better defenses. Check his gamelog against the Broncos last year. If there's anybody obvious that I don't love in this matchup, it's Vincent Jackson. Look elsewhere if you're stacked at WR, but don't get too scared because he's still a viable option. Vincent will find it tough in the SD offense to get the kind of catches you'd expect from a #1 NFL WR, and even a fantasy #2 or #3, but he might see an occasional TD thrown his way.
Start: LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Team Defense
Consider: Philip Rivers, Nate Kaeding, Vincent Jackson
Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game
through Weeks 12 to 17 of the 2006 season after deducting the best
and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per
pass completion, yards per pass attempt and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on
totals through Weeks 12 to 17 with no adjustment.
Defense Stats Comparison
CHI Defense
SD Defense
NFL Average
Points against
22.8
17.8
21.1
Rushing yards
87.5
106.3
123.7
Rushing yards per attempt
3.70
4.22
4.30
Completion %
57.7%
56.5%
60.0%
Passing yards
276.3
163.8
201.8
Passing yards per completion
10.62
9.85
10.67
Passing yards per attempt
6.13
5.57
6.40
INT return
1.3
1.3
1.1
Fumble recoveries
0.8
0.8
0.7
Sacks
2.5
4.5
2.2
Weather
Check the current weather forecast for San Diego from Weather.com.
Team vs. Team History
Chicago Bears vs. San Diego Chargers
Season
Week
Date
Vis
Home
Score
Winner
2003
9
2003-11-02
SD
CHI
7-20
CHI
Note: Only playoff games from the
2004 and 2005 seasons are included in the team vs. team history.
Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.
