San Diego Chargers (2-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2)
Many experts would have thought Sunday night’s game between San Diego and Pittsburgh was a potential AFC Championship Game preview, but for the Steelers it’s almost a must-win to get back to the playoffs.
Pittsburgh is a 6.5-point favorite on WagerWeb.com.
Certainly these two teams know each other well, with the Steelers beating San Diego 11-10 in the regular season last year and then 35-24 in the divisional round of the playoffs – both coming at Heinz Field. The Steelers have the NFL’s best home-field record since the 1970 NFL merger.
However, Pittsburgh will be without a key element on Sunday as starting RB Willie Parker is not expected to play. Parker injured his left big toe in Cincinnati on Sunday and did not practice all week. He was a major factor in both wins over the Chargers last year, running for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the playoff win and 115 yards in the regular season victory. Parker is expected to be replaced by Rashard Mendenhall, who was benched by coach Mike Tomlin in Cincinnati except for special teams because he didn’t correctly run plays in practice.
Meanwhile, the Chargers are expecting RB LaDainian Tomlinson back after he sat out the past two weeks with a sprained ankle. He practiced all week, as did starting right guard Louis Vasquez, who has recovered from a sprained ankle and will return this week. Getting LT back is big even though Darren Sproles had a big playoff game against the Steelers last year. While Sproles is capable of breaking big plays, he’s averaging just 2.4 yards a carry this season.
With the running game struggling this year, QB Philip Rivers has taken over, leading the league with 991 passing yards through three games. He could have a big day against a Steeler defense that has blow leads in the past two games and still is without star safety Troy Polamalu.
The San Diego defense could also be missing its best player, with outside linebacker Shawne Merriman questionable. He has a groin injury that has nagged him for a few weeks and was very limited in practice this week. Merriman played sparingly in the first two series of the Chargers’ win over Miami last week before being pulled with tightness in his groin.
Pittsburgh has won six of the past seven meetings overall and has never lost regular-season game at home to Chargers, going 13-0. But since 2002, Chargers are 5-0 in games against previous season’s Super Bowl winner, beating New England (2002 and 2005), Pittsburgh (2006) and Indianapolis (twice in 2007).
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