Fantasy Scouting Report: San Diego Chargers

The Chargers are hot, Bolts From The Blue examines their game for Week 11.

Chargers Defense – Start – Going up against either a hobbled Kyle Orton (who hasn’t practiced all week) or Chris Simms (who will be making his first start without a spleen), the Chargers will be coming with a lot of blitzers and looking for turnovers. With Denver’s starting RT Ryan Harris out for the game, expect lots of sacks and at least one interception for the Bolts.

Philip Rivers – Start – At this point it’s almost becoming a well-known fact that Rivers plays better against the Broncos than any other team in the league. For his career he has a QB rating of 110.7 against Denver, with 13 TD passes against only 4 interceptions. If the Chargers can keep Elvis Dumervil in check (easier said than done), expect a huge day from Rivers. If they can’t, there should still be plenty of statistics to make Rivers’ fantasy owners happy.

Antonio Gates – Start – If you have someone comparable against an easier D, you may want to sit him just because Denver has been so good at defending TEs this season. However, if you don’t you can look at his 5 catch, 70 yard performance from Week 6 against the Broncos and hope Mike Nolan hasn’t made an adjustment.

LaDainian Tomlinson – Sit – I know, I know. He’s supposed to be back, right? Don’t be fooled by a big game against the Eagles. The Eagles spent so much time trying to cover up their holes in the secondary (at one point they only had 1 legitimate CB left) that LT was facing 6 and 7 men in the box. Things will be much different against the Broncos, who trust their CBs to cover the Chargers WRs one-on-one and will blitz the hell out of Jeromy Clary (who struggles to handle Dumervil and is playing injured…if he even plays at all). Without Nick Hardwick back in the lineup, you can expect Tomlinson to get hit in the backfield quite a bit.

Vincent Jackson – Start – Don’t be concerned about his 1 catch for 10 yards performance against the Eagles. There were so many open receivers that Rivers simply didn’t feel like testing Asante Samuel. Against the Broncos, who have the personnel to cover Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee, Rivers will be more willing to “toss it up” and let his star WR fight for the ball. Against Champ Bailey, both Rivers and Jackson have had good success in the past. VJ’s 4 catches for 46 yards and a TD in the first matchup is about what you can expect this week as well, if not more.

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