Chargers Need To Listen to Forrest Gump

Just Keep Running on Bad London Turf

Sunday's weather report in London calls for rain.  Cold rain.  Breezy, cold rain.  The kind of weather that's great for sitting inside sipping tea and watching old movies, but horrible for playing football.  Throw in the fact it's on a soccer field, where grass tends to fly around like divots at Torrey Pines, and things could get nasty.  Why the NFL allowed this game, between two dynamic passing offenses, with a subplot of Drew Brees vs. Philip Rivers, to be played in conditions like that is beyond me.  Don't they listen to Jim Morrison?  This is no time to wallow in the mire.

But, instead of railing about what we cannot control (although I do have a call in to Mother Nature to see what she can do), let's talk about what we can control.  Namely, the football.

The Chargers and Saints will have a hard time throwing, so they'll have to keep it on the ground.  Advantage : San DiegoLaDainian Tomlinson said this week his toe feels as close to 100% as it has since he hurt it in the season opener.  If he truly is back to being the old L.T., or even anything close, he should have the breakout game we've been waiting for.

On bad surfaces, the offense has the edge because the guys running the plays know where they're going.  Defenders have to react to what they see, and that's a lot harder to do when they're slipping all over the place.  L.T. makes defenders look bad on a sunny day in Mission Valley.  He might break somebody's ankles in the muck they'll be slogging through at Wembley.

Or, this could be an ugly, turnover-laden, 6-3 snoozer where nobody ever gets traction.

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