[Bette]

San Diego's offensive stars LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers may not be at full strength for the AFC Championship Game.
But the Chargers who need to be healthy for today's game against New England's perfect Patriots will be linebacker Shawne Merriman and cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Quentin Jammer.
If San Diego is to extend its season one more game, the upset must be manufactured on defense. The two teams that posed the greatest defensive problems for the Brady Bunch were the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles, whom the Patriots played on consecutive weekends late in the season.
To hang with the Patriots, you need two corners who can hold up in man coverage against Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth. Not every down – you need to mix in some zones – but on the occasions when the corners wind up alone with Moss and Stallworth, they must be competitive.
Chargers' corners must be perfect | Rick Gosselin Columns | Sports News | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas

[bears9]

The Chargers pass D did pretty well. But if they could've done a better job stopping the run it could've been a different outcome.