Back on track!

Philadelphia, Pa

In the middle game of this three game road trip the Lakers seemed to get back on their game. In another cold city, the team started out just that, giving up an early ten point lead to the 76ers. The Lakers did settle down after a rough first seven minutes and began to hit their mark efficiently. Los Angeles was able to shoot 58% on the night en route to a 114-102 victory in Kobe Bryant's home town. Vladimir Radmanovic led the Lakers in the early going scoring all 11 of his points in the first quarter. The Lakers did out rebound their opponents again 41-37, however, lost the second chance scoring. Philly scored 17 points to the Lakers 8 in that category. 

Los Angeles is now facing the 3-13 Washington Wizards in the nations capitol on Friday. Look for this to be a game in which the Lakers can establish their defensive prowess early and hopefully keep their foot on the Wizards proverbial neck late to make this a winning road trip. After having a sour taste is his mouth from Tuesdays loss to the Pacers, Kobe got to replace it with a 'steak' delivered to him and the team as they boarded the plane to Washington, D.C. It was also nice to hear the reigning MVP's hometown crowd cheering him on and chanting MVP. He made it easy for them piling on 32 points on 12-20 shooting, closing the game with 8 points in the fourth quarter after Los Angeles let a 17 point lead dwindle to 7. 

San Diego, Ca

Qualcomm stadium was the host to a Chargers win, err blowout this past Thursday night. What? A win? I'm just as shocked and probably more stoked than all of you out there reading this now. In a must win, duh. San Diego showed some real grittiness and came to play. Much to the glee of the hometwon crowd, the Bolts scored early and often. After a nice drive down the field Nate Kaeding got it going with a 20 yard field goal. On the ensuing possesion, the first of the game for Oakland, Shawn Phillips was able to get to Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell for the sack and forced the football free. Jyles Tucker recovered and three plays later, L.T. ran it in for a three yard score to put the Chargers ahead 10-0. The score put L.T. within one of Marcus Allen (123) for second all time, only Emmit Smith (161) has more rushing TD's. The Chargers never looked back, cruising to a 34-7 victory, their 11th straight over Oakland. That is the longest current streak in the NFL over one opponent. Both Pittsburgh and New England have ten win streaks going, and both play their weak foes once more this season. 

Winning came easy to San Diego during this prime time matchup with the Raiders. A large part of that was their ability to create turnovers. The Bolts had three INT's and recovered an early fumble in the contest. The defense continued to be impressive under Ron Rivera, recording 3.5 sacks as well. The biggest coming when Phillips took down Russell causing an errant pass that was picked off by Stephen Cooper, one of two on the night for Cooper. JaMarcus was then carted off the field with an ankle injury. He did not return to the game for the second half. 

Many of the Chargers also set career highs. WR Vincent Jackson caught 5 passes for 148 yards, Darren Sproles had two receiving TD's, Stephen Coopers two INT's were a best as were Shawn Phillips 2.5 sacks. The Chargers now travel to Arrowhead stadium next week to play the Kansas City Chiefs. That will be a daunting task, besides the Chiefs poor record (2-10), because Arrowhead is known as one of the loudest stadiums in the league. 

A test the Bolts offense will have to overcome if they'd like to keep their playoff chances alive. Chargers fans are hoping for the Chiefs to win this week against the division leading Denver Broncos.