Chargers versus Steelers: Divisional Round

What to say? I just watched the Charger Power Report and after seeing clips of the #1 Defense in the NFL, the most obvious of questions presents itself: how on earth can we win this game?

The Defensive Player of the Year, James Harrison, moves with such speed and hits with such ferocity that there is legitimate worry that the Steeler D could do all of the scoring on their own and win this game. We'd be remiss if we did not mention the talents of their other stellar defenders such as, James Farrior, Lamar Woodley, Larry Foote, Brett Keisel and the "Man Who Does Everything"--Troy Polamalu. This is the sort of defense that WE ALL want to watch play in January...except when they go against YOUR team! They are the epitome of what Defensive Football is supposed to be....so how do we win? It's quite simple really...

Last week against the Colts we mentioned that a key to the game was winning the turnover battle...we were wrong on that one, as we managed to turn the ball over more yet somehow pull out a win. That won't be the case today. It's a guaranteed loss if we turn the ball over in the Red Zone and don't convert points. It's a guaranteed loss if we turn over in our territory and give the Steelers a short field to work on....Here are the keys.

1. Control the Ball. There must be a commitment to the run and commitment to a short efficient passing game. Control the ball and minimize risk. PR should NEVER be hopping around in the pocket looking down field....it spells fumble/tipped pass/INT.
2. Our defense is not the same as it was back in early November. Perhaps the most important key to the game. Get after Ben...scramble his brains. Stop the RUN. Steeler football in January is predicated on the running game. If you want to be Champions start by stopping the run. We may very well need a Defensive TD in this game...
   
3. Special Teams. It's asking a lot but we need a repeat from Mike Scifers. We'll be punting A LOT today. If we can make Pitt use a long field all day it bodes well for us. Conversely, our Punt/Kick return teams must give us a short field to work with. Scoring points will be at a premium in cold, wet, windy, sloppy conditions. We may very well need a Special Team score to win this game.

Simple and we have history on our side, undefeated during the Playoffs in the 'burgh. Now the above requests (Defensive/Special Teams TDs) are akin to a Serial Killer asking for early parole: extremely unrealistic! We had to ask though when we tried to consider how many points our O will score against the #1 ranked Defense, on the road, and in extraordinarily crappy conditions. Our consideration led us to a max. of 13 points and that doesn't seem like enough... an ST/D TD gets us to 20 which should be enough (or the game could go Carolina/Arizona style from last night...which of course we'd love). We could very well see another 11-10 game.

What do we have to hang our hats on in lieu of Special Teams/Defensive TDs? Intangibles...

Intangibles such as camaraderie, forged through the difficult blast furnace that was the 2008 regular season and of course the most notable of all intangibles....