It Sounds Like Its The Chargers Versus Tom Brady On Sunday

Theres no questioning the greatness that is Tom Brady. 11-1 in the playoffs? 2-time Super Bowl MVP? The guy plain wins in the post-season. A formidable opponent, for sure. But the defensive players on the Chargers are making it sound like he is the only guy on that offense.

Now I fully expect the Chargers to win the game, especially considering they have had a bye week and are playing at home in San Diego.

Free Safety Marlon McCree, the leader of the Chargers' secondary, had this to say:

"I think Tom is the person who makes their ship sail. As long as he's there, they're a Super Bowl caliber team. I've beaten the Patriots when I was with Carolina. San Diego beat the Patriots last year when they were on a (21-game home) winning streak. The thing that we haven't done is we haven't played Tom Brady in the postseason. He's a whole other animal. I told them that whatever we've done in the past is irrelevant because none of us have played them in the postseason. He's only got one loss in the postseason. He's another animal and we have to prepare for him."

Shawne Merriman expressed great respect for Brady as well:

"I don't know if I'm correct or not, but Brady is 12-1 in the playoffs? That's incredible. To come and play a team like that, a team that knows how to win, they're not too hyper about this situation because they've been down this road before. Obviously they have some different players then they had during the times they won, but the organization didn't change. It's still there. It's going to be a test for us to come out and play them hard for 60 minutes. That's what this game is going to be about. We can't play them three quarters and expect that the game is over in the fourth quarter because he can come back. We can't come out slow that first quarter and expect to play three quarters after that because the game might be over by then. We've got to come out and play 60 minutes of football."

I can understand the confidence the team has with being able to contain the Pats' offense, and yes Brady steers that offense. But there are other guys on that team. Tom Brady didn't take New England to the playoffs on his own.

But the Chargers led the NFL in sacks and getting pressure on Brady is going to be key in stopping that offense. Shawne Merriman will certainly be eager to collect his first career postseason sack, as well as his first sack on the almighty Tom Brady himself.