Chargers scouting report: Tennessee Titans

By: MIKE SULLIVAN - Staff Writer | Tuesday, January 1, 2008 9:56 PM PST ∞

Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium

Series: Chargers lead 22-16-1. The Chargers beat the Titans 23-17 in overtime earlier this season for their fifth consecutive victory in the series. The Chargers are 4-0 against Tennessee since the franchise relocated from Houston following the 1996 season.

Player to watch: DE Kyle Vanden Bosch

The seventh-year pro has been one of the top pass rushers in the NFL since joining the Titans in 2005. He has 31 sacks in three years in Tennessee, including 12 this season, sixth most in the NFL. He also has 115 tackles and four forced fumbles and is headed to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career. The Chargers had trouble blocking him when the teams met Dec. 9 in Nashville, as Vanden Bosch recorded three sacks and had 11 tackles. Vanden Bosch is far from being just a pass rusher, though. Since the franchise began keeping track of tackles in 1980, when the team was the Houston Oilers, Vanden Bosch is the only defensive lineman to record 100 tackles in a season three times. The only other lineman in franchise history to have even two 100-tackle seasons was five-time Pro Bowler Ray Childress, who did so in 1985 and 1986. Vanden Bosch entered the NFL in 2001 as a second-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals after playing college football at Nebraska. He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee as a rookie and then tore the ACL in his left knee in 2003 and had just five

sacks with the Cardinals before signing with the Titans as a free agent before the 2005 season. He had a career-best 12 1/2 sacks in his first season with the Titans and six in 2006.

Offense

QB Vince Young is nursing a quadriceps injury, and his status will be updated later in the week. Young passed for 2,546 yards this season but threw just nine touchdowns while having 17 passes intercepted. He has a 17-11 career record as a starting quarterback. If Young can't play, veteran Kerry Collins will draw the start. Second-year RB LenDale White emerged as the main back this season after a disappointing rookie campaign. White rushed for 1,110 yards and had five 100-yard games. He had 113 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers. WRs Justin Gage (750 yards, two touchdowns) and Roydell Williams (719 yards, four TDs) each caught 55 passes but combined for just six TDs. TE Bo Scaife caught 46 balls for 421 yards. The line is led by six-time Pro Bowl C Kevin Mawae, a physical 14-year veteran. Rancho Bernardo High graduate Eugene Amano is a backup offensive lineman.

Defense

Vanden Bosch isn't the only standout on the defensive line. There are few NFL players tougher and more menacing than Pro Bowl DT Albert Haynesworth, who will see a lot of double teams on Sunday. Haynesworth had 69 tackles and six sacks despite missing three games with an injury. DE Antwan Odom had a career-high eight sacks this season. OLB Keith Bulluck had a team-high five interceptions and had 109 tackles for his sixth consecutive season of 100 or more tackles. OLB David Thornton had a team-leading 140 tackles and intercepted two passes. CB Nick Harper intercepted three passes as did rookie FS Michael Griffin, the team's first-round pick out of Texas.

Noteworthy

Sunday's game against the Chargers will be the Titans' 10th playoff game since relocating to Tennessee. They are 5-4 in the first nine. ... When the franchise was in Houston, it went 3-0 against the Chargers in the playoffs, including two victories in the AFL championship game (1960 and 1961). In 1979, the Oilers defeated the Don Coryell-coached Chargers 17-14 in a divisional playoff game even though QB Dan Pastorini, RB Earl Campbell and WR Ken Burrough were out with injuries. ... Eighteen Tennessee players have playoff experience. P Craig Hentrich (42.0 average) leads the way. He will play in his 21st playoff game Sunday, tying him with Indianapolis K Adam Vinatieri for most playoff appearances by an active player. ... Tennessee K Rob Bironas is headed to the Pro Bowl after making 35-of-39 field-goal attempts this season. However, he did miss a chip-shot 29-yard field goal against the Chargers last month.