Sep

5

Week 1 Pre-Game Report - Panthers at Chargers

Posted by Charger_Girl

September 5, 2008 |

Shawne Merriman has participated in practices all week and says that his knee feels the same as it did last December, during the Chargers’ playoff run.   Antonio Gates and Jamal Williams have practiced all week as well and are slated to start Sunday.  Nick Hardwick and Marcus McNeill are the only players who have not practiced and may be inactive.

For the Panthers, WR D.J. Hackett is the only player on the injury report, and he, too, practiced fully.  Carolina will be without starting WR Steve Smith, suspended for 2 games after breaking CB Ken Lucas’ nose during an altercation in training camp.

San Diego’s  team captains announced:  for the offense, Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson, for the defense Shawne Merriman and Jamal Williams, and Kassim Osgood for the special teams.

Panthers’ coach John Fox is a San Diegan, so this game will be a coming home of sorts.  Having attended both high school in San Diego and San Diego State, not to mention serving as the Chargers’ secondary coach in 1992-1993, he admits that the Q has some good memories for him.  Let’s hope that Sunday is not another!!

Now on to the game:  the last meeting of these teams was Week 7 in 2004, with the Chargers scoring 17 2nd-half points to beat the Panthers.  Carolina leads the all-time series 2-1; however, they have not played the awesome Bolts of the past 2 seasons (and, hopefully, for years to come!)

The Chargers will be looking to see not only how Rivers’ knee holds up, but also whether he can continue his impressive passer rating of over 100 during four of the Bolts’ final six games last year.  Additionally, they (and I) are hoping that Vincent Jackson, who caught over 18 passes for 300 yds and scored 2 TDs in the Chargers’ 3 playoff games will continue his rampage.

I am going to the game, so the postgame report will be delayed a bit, but I will (hopefully) have some firsthand pictures to add to future entries.

GO CHARGERS!!!

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(Sources: chargers.com, nfl.com)


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