Week 6: New England at San Diego

This is a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game, but it won’t have close to the same feel. New England has lost QB Tom Brady and the Chargers seem to have lost their way.

New England first. The Patriots found a way to win at San Francisco Sunday, 30-21, on the day the 49ers retired Steve Young’s jersey. QB Matt Cassel, who at least has now played enough that we sort of remember how to spell his name, threw a 66-yard TD bomb to Randy Moss in that one.

New England is a much different offense without Brady, though. Last season the Patriots averaged an NFL-record 36.8 points per contest. So far this season, they are down 17 points a game from that high. The Patriots run a four-back committee in the backfield, which means neither Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan, Laurence Maroney or Kevin Faulk has been anything but frustrating for fantasy-leaguers. The Patriots have won 12 consecutive road games (the record is 18 by San Francisco in the late 1980s) and will go for No.13 against the up-and-down Chargers this week.

New England never left the West Coast following the win over the 49ers. It seemed a bit silly to add two more coast-to-coast plane flights to their itinerary, so instead they are staying in San Jose and practicing for the Chargers.

San Diego had an awful time last week, losing 17-10 to Miami (and yes, the Patriots can feel their pain). Philip Rivers managed to throw for only 159 yards in that one and LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for just 35 and was stopped on a crucial fourth-and-goal at the 1 in the fourth quarter. LT, bothered by a right big toe injury, believes he’ll just keep playing on the injured foot because it would need far more than one week to heal.

The Chargers also were 2-3 in 2007 and eventually advanced to that championship game, riding a late eight-game winning streak. But Norv Turner says — and you can imagine his scowl when he says it — that this team better not wait to try and mimic the magic or the season is going to slip away. A local San Diego newspaper labeled where the Chargers are right now as “dysfunction junction.”

San Diego keeps starting slowly in games this season — the Chargers were down 17-3 at halftime to Miami. It will be important to the Chargers to stick with New England early or else they’ll find themselves in a 2-4 predicament. San Diego needs this one more than the Patriots do, and ultimately that will make the difference.

San Diego by 3