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- I'm going to start out with the most obvious concern: the dynamic backfield. While Tomlinson may be banged up, he has the instincts of one of the premier backs in the league. When you have success rushing against the Baltimore Ravens, it's almost never a case of our defense being out-manned physically; you have to patiently take your two to three yard beatings until we make an overly aggressive mistake. In last season's demolishing by the New York Giants (the game where they ran for 207 yards) even the gigantic Brandon Jacobs gained the majority of his yards not by running through people, but by bouncing a broken play to the outside.

Tomlinson is that same style runner, a between the tackles guy who is savvy enough to make you pay if you do something stupid. Sproles is just a nightmare. Literally. I have awoke to find myself lying in a puddle of sweat (Author's Note: Not necessarily fear induced, I'm just a bigger guy) thinking of Darren Sproles prancing untouched into the end zone while Ray Lewis doubles over puking beer and wheezing about Sproles being "a freak" and "the fastest kid alive".

- Philip Rivers doesn't curse. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything except the possibility that God, since He has clearly forsaken Kurt Warner as His favorite quarterback, may have adopted Rivers.

I have never like him (talking about Philip Rivers now, not God), mostly because he reminds me of a less talented (or maybe just less successful) Ben Roethlisberger, except Big Ben does a whole lot less whining (Author's Note: Whining is made more difficult when you are a mouth-breather). Then he played with a severely injured knee against the Patriots on a national stage and it almost made up for acting like a dick by yelling at Indy fans.

Regardless of my level of distaste (which, at the end of the day only dictates how angry I get at Jarret Johnson when he picks up his roughing the passer penalty), Rivers is a tough opponent because he can pick apart a secondary with enough time, and, at 6'5", 228 pounds, he's tougher to bring down than a giant Mexican doughnut.

- Every year we have to hear experts talk about how difficult it is for east-coast teams to make the trip out west. Because I trust John Harbaugh in all things, there must be some truth to their normally inane babbling because he is having the team leave on Friday instead of Saturday so they can go through their general Saturday routine at the hotel. While you'd much rather have the Chargers come to Baltimore in December, at least the elements shouldn't give an advantage to either team. Unless it rains, then I like our running game, and our chances, better.

The hidden home field advantage at a place like Qualcomm Stadium? In-N-Out Burger. When the New Orleans Saints traveled to Oakland this preseason, not only did every tech-savvy player on their team tweet about getting the Double-Double burger, their team website AND major newspaper wrote columns about it. With special teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo hailing from California; we can only pray he is still in good enough shape to fly down the field like he did last week.

- Speaking of which, I have a riddle for you: what was dressed all in purple and sucked? I'll give you a hint: it sure as hell wasn't my prom date despite the fact that I did my part by paying for dinner. Give up? It was the Ravens special teams from last week! The only good part of the performance was our coverage team, which is serendipitous because Darren Sproles is one of the best return men in the league. On Monday, when their offense was unable to do much of anything against THE RAIDERS SECONDARY, Sproles won them that game by constantly providing great field position when field position was the focus of the first three quarters.

I hate the feeling I know I'm going to get whenever he fields a punt. I personally think it's unfair that he gets to return punts and kicks. If you're going to be good at special teams you should have to be mediocre at everything else (Devin Hester, Reggie Bush, Joshua Cribbs, etc.). I know it gives us an advantage to institute this rule now, but I've spoken. I mean, I've typed.

- The Chargers can't possibly be as bad in real life as they were against Oakland. The only other option is simply that the Raiders are a decent football team and we all know that isn't true.

Their defense will play better than when they gave up points to a team whose quarterback couldn't hit the broadside of a barn unless the barn was somehow up by four points and it was fourth and fifteen. Or if the barn was a big white guy named Zach.

Their offense will play better than when they allowed two sacks to a guy who hates the team he is stuck on and couldn't move the ball against THE SECONDARY OF THE OAKLAND RAIDERS. Also, if the statistical trend continues, Tomlinson will not fumble again for another two decades.

Why the Chargers Should Be Scared of Us

- The only thing is: they were that bad last week, and a lot of the ways in which they struggled are ways you can't struggle against the Baltimore Ravens and still expect to win.

For example, the Raiders were able to dominate up front for almost the entire game, both on offense and defense. With our offensive line looking just a hair short of brilliant against the Chiefs, it isn't inconceivable that the 4.6-yard average Oakland managed rushing the ball can't be repeated. With that type of success comes the main factor in a lot of Ravens victories: time of possession. What better way to combat all the offensive weapons in San Diego than to not let them touch the ball?

The Raiders were also successful getting pressure on Rivers and breaking up rushing plays in the backfield by overpowering the Charger offensive line. Injuries to center Nick Hardwick, right guard Louis Vasquez, and left tackle Marcus McNeil will make the job of getting to the quarterback easier for a more talented defense. Now is the chance for Ngata, captain of Baltimore, to prove his quality.

- Along the same logic, Joe Flacco is not Jamarcus Russell. I have honestly never seen a starting quarterback in the NFL look as inaccurate as Russell in any game I've seen him play in. While I think this game will be more about the Ravens ground game, Flacco has shown he can find the open man when he needs to and I expect that to continue despite the strength of the Chargers linebackers.

Russell's inability to hit the open man not only allowed the defense to get away with mistakes, it also kept time from coming off the clock that would eventually contribute to the loss. Expect our QB to work the short to medium length throws and keep that clock moving.

- The one person Russell was able to throw to was tight end Zach Miller, who had a big day finding the hole in the defense time after time (6 for 96 yards). Seeing as Todd Heap seems to be finding his Pro Bowl form, I'd say he is in for a monster day simply out-running the San Diego linebackers. His effectiveness as a weapon is only usable however, if the offensive line is able to stave off the pressure; another great test for our young tackles.

- As I mentioned last week, the Baltimore Ravens are a team that feeds off emotion. All that swagger stuff that the media talks about regarding the Jets is the way we've been acting for years, people just didn't hear about it because we don't have New York in our name. Whenever it was brought up, it wasn't called swagger, it was called being a team full of criminals. That and the fact that Ray Lewis allegedly stabbed a guy.

Our offense is fired up from all this crap surrounding Keyshawn Johnson wanting to voice his displeasure with the Ravens receiving corps but only having a monosyllabic word bank from which to draw his description. I wouldn't want to have to guard Derrick Mason right now.

Our defense is fired up because the media has focused in on how many points the Kansas City Chiefs scored against them, ignoring the fact that seven came off of special teams and seven came right after an interception. No one ever wants to play the Ravens defense after they feel like they've been slighted (Author's Note: Ergo, no one ever wants to play the Ravens Defense).

Despite the fact that I originally had this as an "L" when I was looking over the schedule, I think that the injuries to the offensive line and the way the entire Chargers team looked out of synch make this one a Ravens win. With the strength of schedule we're facing this year, 2-0 would be a great way to start the season.

Top 5 Drinking Games to Play for Ravens vs. Chargers

(1) Take a slow, sad sip every time you wish you were in Southern California

(2) Take a shot for every cut away to a sadly pensive LaDainian Tomlinson if he is not playing. Take a double shot every time it happens if he played but then was taken out.

(3) Chug your beer from the moment Sproles touches the ball on a kick return until the whistles blow. If he scores, finish your beer and bludgeon yourself in the head with the can until it doesn't hurt anymore.

(4) Every time Ed Reed, Todd Heap, Ray Lewis, or T-Sizzle are even remotely involved in a play, scream their name at the top of your lungs and drink your beer. Come on, you know you were going to do it anyways.

(5) Whenever Steven Hauschka misses a field goal, drink in complete silence throughout the entire commercial break while trying not to let anyone see you cry.

This is an entry from the Baltimore-centric blog www.thebaltimorons.com