Chargers: Team the Indianapolis Colts fear most

As a head coach last season, Tony Dungy could never say he feared one team more than another because of coaching decorum.

But now that Dungy is an analyst for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, he can be a straight-talker.

When asked recently which team the undefeated Indianapolis Colts fear most in the AFC, Dungy’s answer was straight to the point: the San Diego Chargers.

After all, these are the same Chargers who snapped Dungy and the Colts’ nine-game winning streak in the wild card round of last year’s playoffs in San Diego.

The previous season, the Chargers knocked the Colts out of the AFC semifinals at Indianapolis in a game-winning drive led by second-stringers such as Billy Volek, Michael Turner and Legedu Naanee.

Going further back, the Chargers snapped the Colts 13-0 record (sound familiar?) with a 2005 win at Indianapolis led by the likes of blitzing linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips.

Certainly, Peyton Manning of the Colts and former San Diego QB Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints are the talk of the NFL this season by leading their respective teams to 13-0 records.

But Manning and his Colts know that Philip Rivers and the Chargers could very well be lurking in their playoff picture.

Ask Tony Dungy: He’ll tell you that is not a comforting thought for Indianapolis.

Chargers: Status quo good enough?

The Chargers are making it clear that status quo is good enough for them.

It was good enough to give them the No. 1 seed in the 2006 AFC playoffs; good enough to get them to the 2007 AFC Championship game.

But will it be good enough to get them to an eventual Super Bowl? We’ll see.

The team did the expected Thursday by cutting fullback Lorenzo Neal and free safety Marlon McCree. It was not so expected when offensive tackle Shane Olivea, who started much of last season, was also released.

The Chargers are banking that their current roster, plus the addition of linebacker Derek Smith from the San Francisco 49ers, will be enough to lead them to the promise land in 2008.

They’re certainly going to lose cornerback Drayton Florence and running back Michael Turner to free agency. Back-up quarterback Billy Volek can also hit the open market … and the Chargers may be best to let him go and elevate Charlie Whitehurst to the No. 2 QB slot.

The Chargers are down to just four picks in the 2008 NFL draft. Apparently, what they already have is believed to be enough by General Manager A.J. Smith.

Time will tell …

Chargers: Volek to the rescue?

If Philip Rivers can’t play at some point Sunday, the Chargers will turn to a man who holds the NFL record since 1970 for most passing yards (2,789) in his first 10 career starts.

Billy Volek?

He once completed 39 passes, second most in Tennessee Titans’ history, during a game against the Chargers on Oct. 3, 2004.

Naturally, the Chargers hope Rivers (strained right medial collateral ligament) can play the entire game Sunday at New England as they attempt to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years.

But should Volek need to be the answer, well, at least he’s been the answer at times before.

Just last Sunday, Volek scored the winning TD on a 1-yard sneak to cap an eight-play, 78-yard drive during an improbable 28-24 win at Indianapolis.

Was this really the same Volek who couldn’t hit an open receiver five yards away during his brief stints in the regular season?

Perhaps the difference was playing in a situation where the Chargers needed him to produce to win, rather than not make mistakes while they were ahead on the scoreboard.

“I haven't had a chance to go out there to play to win,” Volek said after the Indianapolis game. “When I've played it's been, 'OK, don't lose the game.' To go out there and be with those guys, it's a confidence booster and it reminds me how fun this game is.”

During a two-game stint of the 2004 season, Volek passed for 426 yards against Kansas City and 492 yards vs. Oakland, becoming the fourth QB in NFL history to record back-to-back 400-yard passing games and only the second man to record 900 or more passing yards in back-to-back contests.

Volek hasn’t played much since that 2004 season, when he replaced Steve McNair (bruised sternum) at QB for the Titans.

Even so, the eight-year veteran out of Fresno State proved he had something left in the gas tank when the Chargers needed him most against the (then) defending Super Bowl champions from Indianapolis.

Come Sunday, the Chargers may need another miracle from their second-string quarterback.

Chargers better when bruised and battered?

Billy Volek at quarterback? Michael Turner at running back? Andrew Pinnock at blocking back?

It sounds like the end of an exhibition game for the Chargers ... not the beginning of a run for the AFC Championship.

Who would have believed the Chargers would score their winning touchdown on a drive with much of their second string on the field in Sunday’s 28-24 upset of the Indianapolis Colts?

Throw in a key catch on the winning drive by Legedu Naanee – and the fact tight end Antonio Gates was more than hobbled - and it makes the upset even more monumental.

So, would the Chargers be better off with their second-string offense in the AFC Championship game Sunday, Jan. 20 at New England?

Don’t even think about it.

The win at Indy proved the Chargers have a superior offensive line from tackle to tackle with Marcus McNeill, Kris Dielman, Nick Hardwick, Mike Goff and Jeromey Clary.

Their power blocking certainly proved to be a difference on the winning eight-play, 78-yard drive against the Colts capped off by Volek’s 1-yard touchdown run.

If nothing else, the Colts will remember their last game in the RCA Dome as a loss to San Diego in the same building where the Chargers spoiled what had been a perfect 13-0 season in 2005 for Indianapolis.

But while the Chargers have had Indy’s number in three straight games, New England also seems to have San Diego’s number.

Who can forget the Chargers’ heartbreaking 24-21 loss to the Patriots in last year’s AFC Divisional playoffs at home ... or the horrible 38-14 loss at New England earlier this year?

Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson better heal in a hurry from their knee injuries.

Otherwise, this may be known as the year that second-string "skill" players carried San Diego to its second-ever Super Bowl appearance ... or another lopsided loss to New England.