It's October, so it's time for the San Diego Chargers to start playing football.
San Diego (1-2) hosts the Arizona Cardinals (2-1) on Sunday, and the calendar says the Chargers will start to win.
So losses at Kansas City 21-14 in Week 1 and at Seattle 27-20 in Week 3 – the Chargers were favored to win both games – are the norm. Or the Norv?
The Chargers are 6-8 in September since coach Norv Turner arrived in 2007, but 32-16 overall in the regular season from 2007-09. They have won three straight AFC West Division titles.
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is off to a fast start, though. He leads the NFL with 1,087 yards passing and has seven touchdown passes as the Chargers have the No. 1 offense at 461.3 yards per game. Rivers, despite four interceptions, has thrown a touchdown pass in an NFL-best 16 straight games.
Rivers’ top two targets are tight end Antonio Gates, who is 12th in the NFL in yards with 242, and Malcom Floyd, who is 13th (240 yards, 2 TDs). Gates, who has caught a touchdown pass in an NFL-record seven straight games, has four touchdown catches.
The Chargers, who have an NFL-high five fumbles lost, will likely try to win this game on the ground as rookie running back Ryan Mathews returns after missing last week’s game with an ankle injury. Since the Cardinals are 31st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed (146.3 per game), look for Mathews and Mike Tolbert to see plenty of handoffs from Rivers.
The Cardinals are 2-1 following their 24-23 victory over Oakland in Week 3’ The Raiders’ Sebastian Janikowski missed a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
The Cardinals’ running game received a boost when Beanie Wells returned from a knee injury last week and gained 75 yards on 14 carries. Tim Hightower, who replaced Wells in the first two games, has 209 yards this season and two touchdowns. Hightower had 115 yards in the Cardinals’ 41-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.
The Cardinals will match up against a defense that is ranked No. 4 overall and No. 9 against the run.
After winning the job in the preseason, Derek Anderson hasn’t exactly kept the Cardinals’ formerly high-powered offense going. He has three touchdowns and three interceptions with a 67.6 passer rating while completing 52 percent of his passes.
Cardinals wide receivers Steve Breaston and Early Doucet will miss the game. Breaston had arthroscopic surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee and could miss several weeks. Doucet has a sports hernia and is expected to return Oct. 24.
Larry Fitzgerald, who leads the NFL with 477 receptions since 2005, will be Anderson’s go-to guy, although he will likely be double-teamed. Undrafted rookies Stephen Williams and Max Komar, who have combined for six receptions in 2010, could be more available to Anderson.
The Chargers won the last meeting 27-20 in 2006.