Aztecs face 'must win' this week

It’s amazing when your “must win” situation comes against a team from the ridiculously-called Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).

But that’s what San Diego State faces when it hosts Portland State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in front of a big crowd coming to see the postgame KGB Sky Show; not the football game.

If the Aztecs lose this one, it will be worse than the loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last year.

Lose this one and it may as well all but be the end of Aztecs football. Few people seem to care now; it’s hard to imagine anybody (outside of the players and coaches) will care if they can’t come through this week.

Portland State is only 1-2, with losses coming to not-so-powerhouses McNeese State and UC Davis. At least the Aztecs (0-2) have lost to Pac-10 teams.

When it comes to coaching, Portland State clearly has a superior staff to SDSU’s.

The Vikings are under the direction of former NFL coach Jerry Glanville. Offensive coordinator Mouse Davis is the originator of the run-and-shoot offense.

We all know the Aztecs seem to come into games very unprepared. Portland State will show numerous looks offensively and defensively.

That could spell trouble for SDSU.

The Aztecs are touting this game as the chance for a third straight victory at home. I guess that means you can spin the numbers any way you want to and throw out the fact that the team is 3-11 under current head coach Chuck Long.

They better win this week … or else.

Prediction: SDSU 24, Portland State 20

Can Padres pitchers match up in playoffs?

Since it looks like a strong possibility that the Padres will make the National League playoffs, the team might soon have to figure out its postseason pitching rotation.

Of course, the rotation would start with Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux and Chris Young.

After that, it’s a big question mark since current numbers 4 and 5 starters Brett Tomko and Jack Cassel are not eligible for the playoffs because they were not on the Padres’ roster Sept. 1.

In all likelihood, that would make Justin Germano (who has been dropped out of the rotation), the number 4 starter.

The other three all have question marks to consider:

Peavy is 0-2 with a 12.10 ERA in two postseason starts.

Maddux is 5-3 with a 3.47 ERA in the division series, but he’s just 4-8 with a 3.80 ERA in the league championship series.

Young has been the only winning pitcher for the Padres during the last two years of the playoffs, yet he has not won this season since July.

Looking at the Padres’ possible chances playoffs, these numbers are only food for thought.

Chargers don't exactly look 'Super'

Good thing coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots didn’t have a spy cam on the Chargers’ defense Sunday night.

Otherwise, maybe Tom Brady would have passed for 251 yards instead of an already career-high 151 yards in the first quarter.

Maybe Randy Moss would have caught three touchdown passes instead of two.

And maybe the Patriots would’ve beaten the Chargers 48-14 instead of 38-14.

This game obviously wasn’t about revenge for the Chargers. It was about the Patriots proving they could win fair-and-square, rather than by cheating.

The Chargers?

They don’t exactly look like a powerhouse thus far at 1-1.

"They haven’t looked good at all this season," NBC-TV color commentator John Madden correctly said.

For those who thought it was all the fault of Marty Schottenheimer and his Charger offensive coaches in last season’s playoff loss to New England, maybe it’s time to take a second look.

Or have you not noticed that Norv Turner’s Chargers are the only NFL team yet to score a point in the first half this season?

So far, the Chargers don’t exactly look "super" in 2007.

Let the next 14 regular-season games and playoff games ... if there are any ... tell the story.

Chargers hope their battery doesn't die Sunday

When the Chargers formerly had their team headquarters at Qualcomm Stadium, the media lounge was named after famous local radio personality Rick “Red” Hill.

While at the Chargers’ Murphy Canyon complex this week, Red had the battery go dead in his vehicle.

The Chargers can only hope they don’t follow Red’s lead when they play on national television Sunday night at New England.

This is a revenge game for the Chargers; another of 16 games for the Patriots.

If you don’t believe the Chargers are looking to atone for their 24-21 playoff loss to New England in January, then you’ve been listening too much to what the players are saying this week. (Obviously, they’re not going to give the Patriots any bulletin board material with their verbiage.)

In a round-about way, New England has its own reason for extra motivation Sunday. The Patriots will try to prove they can beat a team without spying on the opponents’ coaching signals.

Bill Belichick has 500,000 reasons (his $500,000 NFL fine) to prove his team can win by winning; not cheating.

New England has won its last five home openers. The Chargers did not exactly look impressive in their season-opening 14-3 win over Chicago last week in San Diego.

This one looks like the Patriots all over again.

Prediction: New England 23, San Diego 17

Aztecs face another tough weekend

Do you want to make some money this weekend?

Take Arizona State and give the 28-point spread to San Diego State for Saturday night’s game in Tempe, Ariz.

Why?

There are 469 reasons, as in the 469 passing yards Washington State rolled up in a 45-17 win over the Aztecs last weekend.

And that was Washington State, a weaker link in the Pac-10. Arizona State figures to be a factor in the tough Pac-10 this year, which figures to be bad news for SDSU.

The Sun Devils have the nation’s No. 23-ranked passer in Rudy Carpenter.

After facing coach Chuck Long and his Aztecs, don’t be surprised if Carpenter ranks among the top 10 nationally.

Prediction: Arizona State 44, SDSU 10

Chargers need to get offensive

How about those Chargers?

Hire a former offensive coordinator as head coach and you get a great defensive performance.

The Dallas Cowboys hire the Chargers former defensive coordinator and receive a great offensive performance.

Could it be Norv Turner’s Chargers against Wade Phillips’ Cowboys in the Super Bowl?

Don’t bet on it, but don’t count out the possibility.

The Chargers may have a "revenge" game Sunday night at New England, but they better take it up a couple of notches. A repeat of their overall performance in a 14-3 win over the Chicago Bears won’t cut it against New England because of the difference in competition.

No matter what happens, it won’t take away the sting of January’s playoff loss in San Diego to the Patriots.

Are Chargers Super?

You hear it on the radio. You hear it on television. You hear it all over town.

People are saying what the Chargers do during the regular season doesn’t matter. What matters is what they do in the playoffs.

Hold on a second!

There is no guarantee this very talented team will make the playoffs in 2007.

The last time the Chargers were coming off an AFC West championship season, they went 9-7 in 2005 and didn’t even make the playoffs. So much for January.

Granted, this team is certainly right there with New England and Indianapolis as far as being a favorite to win the Super Bowl.

But the change at the top could cause some concern.

Marty Schottenheimer turned bad teams around, won in the regular season and couldn’t win a playoff game to save his life.

Norv Turner comes in with a head coaching track record of not even making the playoffs.

We’ll see.

General Manager A.J. Smith has definitely turned this team around with his maneuvering. But we’ll see this season whether the 35-13 regular season record over the past three years was because of him or Schottenheimer.

The Chargers may have shot themselves in the foot by letting go their big playmaker on defense, linebacker Donnie Edwards. Now with Kansas City, Edwards is not too fond of Smith.

“We had something great going there,” he told the Kansas City Star. “But egos destroyed it. Well, not egos. Ego.”

The season will determine if Smith’s ego got in the way of the 2007 season … or whether the Chargers can go all the way because of him.

When the Chargers open the season Sunday at home against Chicago, they will face a Bears team that went all the way to the last Super Bowl.

“It’s very special,” LaDainian Tomlinson said. “It’s a big game starting off the bat to play a team like Chicago.”

Prediction: Chargers 23, Bears 20

Here are predicted standings for the NFL season:

AFC West
Denver
San Diego
Oakland
Kansas City

AFC East
New England
New York
Miami
Buffalo

AFC North
Cincinnati
Baltimore
Pittsburgh
Cleveland

AFC South
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Tennessee
Houston

NFC West
Seattle
Arizona
St. Louis
San Francisco

NFC East
Dallas
Philadelphia
Washington
New York

NFC North
Chicago
Detroit
Green Bay
Minnesota

NFC South
Carolina
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Atlanta

AFC Champion: New England
NFC Champion: Carolina
Super Bowl Champion: New England