Arguably the AFC's two most disappointing teams meet Sunday in San Diego when the 5-5 Chargers host the 4-6 Baltimore Ravens, with San Diego-8.5 (38.5) on WagerWeb.com.
Last year, San Diego was an NFL-best 14-2 and Baltimore 13-3, both playoff teams. This year either would be fortunate to make the postseason, although the Chargers are co-leaders in the lousy AFC West.
Had he been told months ago that these teams would have combined for 11 losses before Thanksgiving, "I'd have laughed, considering where we were last year,"Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason said.
Baltimore, for example, has lost four games in a row, and the four teams it has beaten this season are a combined 11-30. The Ravens are an AFC-worst minus-9 in turnovers and have the league's 23rd-ranked offense.
Much of that offensive blame is targeted at the quarterbacks. Steve McNair has made six starts and has thrown just two touchdown passes, and mostly been injured. Kyle Boller has started the other four games and has thrown for four TDs, yet his quarterback rating (71.9) is worse than McNair's (73.9). Boller will start Sunday after throwing for 279 yards last week against Cleveland.
One bright spot has been offseason acquisition Willis McGahee. He has a TD in five straight games and is second in the AFC with 851 rushing yards.
Baltimore's defense is still among the league leaders in overall ranking- 6th- but is allowing 21.1 points this season compared to 12.6 last year. And the Ravens will now be without defensive end Trevor Pryce, the team's sack leader in 2006, for the rest of the season.
Then there's San Diego. Many Charger fans would point to coach Norv Turner replacing Marty Schottenheimer as the main problem, but it's much deeper than that.Culprit No. 1 is QB Philip Rivers, who in 2006 threw for 3,388 yards with 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions. But 10 games into 2007, he has 11 picks, a QB rating of 76.5 and an NFL-high 17
turnovers.
"We knew coming in that we weren't going 14-2 again,"Rivers said. "The goal obviously was to not be 5-5. The goal was to give us a shot in January and that goal is still obtainable."
Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is averaging more than 4 yards a carry, but is only getting 19 carries a game this season.
The Chargers' defense, meanwhile, led the NFL with 61 sacks last year but has only 19 this year and is ranked 25th overall, allowing an average of 353.7 yards per game.
"We're (all) a little disappointed,"said San Diego safety Marlon McCree. "I know I'm a little angry, some other guys are. We've got to channel that anger and that disappointment and dig ourselves out of this hole. We've just got to keep fighting."
The lowdown: The Ravens have matched the longest losing streak in the team's 12-year history. In that skid, the Ravens have held the lead for five minutes, seven seconds (out of 240 minutes played). .
Tomlinson needs 26 yards rushing to become 23rd player in NFL history with 10,000 yards on the ground.
Warrick Dunn of the Atlanta Falcons hit the milestone Thursday night in a loss to the Colts. . The Chargers are allowing 4.5 yards per carry on defense, not good news against McGahee. Thus, look for this game to be close and the Ravens to cover but still lose.
Betting trends
The Ravens are 1-9 ATS.
The Ravens are 0-5 ATS away.
The Ravens are 0-3 ATS as the underdog.
The Ravens are 0-2 ATS as an away underdog.
The Chargers are 5-5 ATS.
The Chargers are 4-1 ATS at home.
The Chargers are 3-3 ATS as the favorite.
The Chargers are 3-1 ATS as a home favorite.
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