The quarterback match-up
One of the NFL’s youngest starting quarterbacks meets the oldest this Sunday when the Chargers’ Drew Brees meets the New York Jets’ Vinny Testaverde.
Brees (age 26) is in his fifth NFL season, while his counterpart, Testaverde (age 41) is in his 19th NFL season. Testaverde will turn 42 on Nov. 13. The 1986 Heisman Trophy winner, Testaverde was the first overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft. He is the NFL’s sixth all-time leading passer with 44,939 career yards, ranking just ahead of former San Diego Charger and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts (43,040).
Brees is league’s sixth-leading passer
Brees is the NFL’s sixth-leading passer with a quarterback rating of 92.1. His totals include 153 of 242 passing for 1,829 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Brees passed for 324 yards in last Sunday’s win over Kansas City, his first 300-yard game of the season and the sixth of his career (regular season). It marked his fifth-best passing day as a pro. He crossed the 300-yard threshold on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gates in the fourth quarter.
Brees is looking to challenge Mark Hermann’s team record (.657) for single-season completion percentage. Drew’s completion percentage is .632. Last year, he set the second-highest completion percentage mark in team history (.655), completing 262 of 400 pass attempts.
LT and Curtis Martin take center stage
LaDainian Tomlinson and Curtis Martin, two of the NFL’s best running backs of the 21st century and arguably two of the best of all time, will share center stage this Sunday. They have been to a combined six Pro Bowls, with Tomlinson being selected following the 2002 and ’04 seasons, and Martin following the 1995, ’98, 2001 and ’04 seasons. Martin was the NFL’s rushing champion in 2004 (1,697 yards) and he is the league’s fourth all-time leading rusher with 13,827 yards. His streak of 10-straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons to begin his career is tied with Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders as the longest in league history.
Since 2001, when Tomlinson came into the NFL, he and Martin rank among the NFL’s elite rushers in a variety of categories.
Tomlinson a multiple threat
With a touchdown pass in last Sunday’s win over Kansas City, Tomlinson now has four career touchdown passes, seven career touchdown catches and 64 career rushing touchdowns.
He is only the fourth player in NFL history with at least four touchdown passes, five touchdown catches and 50 rushing touchdowns. The others are all enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including Marcus Allen (6, 21, 123), Paul Hornung (5, 12, 50) and Walter Payton (8, 15, 110).
Tomlinson closes in on passing record for running backs
With three touchdown passes this season, Tomlinson is just one shy of tying the NFL single-season record for touchdown passes by a running back (four). That mark is shared by former New England Patriot Andy Johnson (1981) and former Philadelphia Eagle Keith Byars (1990). Four other running backs have also thrown three touchdown passes in a season in addition to Tomlinson. They are Green Bay’s Willard Harrell (1975), Cleveland’s Greg Pruitt (1977), the Los Angeles Raiders’ Marcus Allen (1983) and Chicago’s Walter Payton (1983).
Tomlinson becomes second-fastest to 70 touchdowns
Tomlinson has scored 71 career touchdowns (rushing and receiving). He ranks second in team annals to Hall of Fame wide receiver Lance Alworth, who is the franchise’s all-time leader with 83 scores.
In reaching the 70-touchdown plateau in his 69th career game, Tomlinson tied Hall of Famer Jim Brown as the second-fastest player to reach the total. He just missed the all-time NFL record, which is held by former Philadelphia Eagle and Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren, who scored his 70th career touchdown in just his 68th career NFL game.
McCardell passes Rison for 22nd on all-time list
Keenan McCardell had 73 yards receiving last Sunday against Kansas City to raise his career total to 10,207 and move past former Chief Andre “Bad Moon” Rison and into 22nd place on the NFL’s all-time yardage list. Next up for McCardell is former Chargers great and Hall of Famer Lance Alworth, who ranks 21st with 10,266 yards, 59 ahead of McCardell. Below is the NFL’s all-time receiving yards list and in parenthesis is the number of yards McCardell needs to reach those who rank ahead of him.
McCardell climbs his way toward 800-catch milestone
McCardell may be the oldest player on the Chargers roster at 35, but this ageless wonder continues to defy “Father Time” as he steadily makes his way toward the 800-catch plateau for his career. McCardell is tied for the team lead with six touchdown catches and he ranks second with 444 yards and 31 catches.
McCardell now has 786 career catches, tied with St. Louis Rams’ wide receiver Isaac Bruce for 13th on the NFL’s all-time list. Next up is another Ram, former Los Angeles Ram Henry Ellard, who ranks 12th with 814 career catches, 28 ahead of McCardell.
McCardell needs one multi-touchdown game to set career high
McCardell has two multi-touchdown games this season and nine for his career. With one more multi-touchdown game, he will set a new season career high. McCardell also had (2) two-touchdown games for Tampa Bay in 2002, two for Jacksonville in 1998 and two for Cleveland in 1993.
Gates breaks out
Antonio Gates had a long-awaited breakout performance with 10 catches for 145 yards, both career highs, last Sunday against Kansas City. He also tied his career high with three touchdown catches. His first two scores came in the first half as San Diego bolted out to a 21-3 lead at the break. His third touchdown was a 35-yarder in the fourth quarter that gave the Bolts a 28-13 lead in a game they held on to win 28-20.
Gates leads all NFL tight ends with 43 catches and 575 yards. He is tied for the NFL lead among tight ends with six touchdowns.
“Lights Out”
Shawne Merriman, the Chargers’ top choice in the 2005 NFL Draft, is making quite a name for himself. Nicknamed “Lights Out,” Merriman is tied with Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware for the NFL rookie sacks lead with four. The Cowboys selected Ware with the 11th pick in the draft right before the Bolts chose Merriman in the 12th slot. Merriman moved into the starting lineup before the Chargers Oct. 23 game at Philadelphia and in the last two games has combined for three sacks, 10 tackles and a forced fumble.
Chargers-Jets series history
The Chargers and Jets will meet for the 31st time on Sunday. It’s the Bolts first visit to The Meadowlands since a 21-6 win in 1994. They have played three times since then, all in San Diego, and the Jets have won all three, including last year’s 20-17 win in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs. The Bolts have played a total of 12 games in New York against the Jets and are 6-5-1 in those games. Following is a look at the all time series results.
