Charger vs. Tennessee Titans

Nashville- After a 9 game win streak San Diego heads into hostile territory to take on the Titans.  This will be a defensive test for our Chargers trying to stop Titan running back Chris Johnson, who has 11 TD's and 1,730 rushing yards on the season.  Tennessee QB Vince Young is maturing and becoming the leader of this team.   The Titans are now, making teams respect the throw, which is setting up explosive runs for Chris Johnson.  Tennessee is playing outstanding on defense and will be a handful for LT and Phillip Rivers.  San Diego needs to put up some points early on offense and establish a good rhythm on defense if they want to win this game.   San Diego will receive an early Christmas gift, center Nick Hardwick returns to action from an ankle injury suffered in week one.  He is listed as questionable, but I expect him to play.  The Bolt's are a little banged up on defense as well.  Defensive Tackle Jacques Cesaire and linebacker Kevin Burnett are also questionable.  I expect this game to be close, with the Bolts pulling away at the end.  Now I want to take the time and give thanks to our Chargers for such an outstanding season so far.  There is still work to be done, so tune in and watch the Bolts take down the Tennessee Titans in what should be a hell of a game.  This game will be aired in San Diego at 4:30 p.m and will be on channel 8 locally.  NFL network will be carrying the game if you live out of town.  Final Score prediction Chargers: 28 Titans:24

Restaurant Review-Sandbar Sports Grill

The season is coming to an end and with it, the opportunity to go out and check out a new sports bar.  I’m looking for a place that screams San Diego and what is more San Diego than the beach.  This week I will be reviewing Sandbar Sports Grill which is located in Mission Beach at 718 Ventura Place.

TV Set Up & Game Selection:

The Sandbar has two different areas to watch the game: downstairs in the shade or upstairs in the sun.  The restaurant has ten TVs in the downstairs area and eight in the upstairs area.  Upon entering The Sandbar you will find that there are a lot of good seats with the exception of a couple of places.  The upstairs has the TVs set up so that they are all in front of you above and behind the bar.  If you can find a good seat, you will not be disappointed at having the games laid out in front of you.

Food & Prices:

The menu is limited as but has many innovative and delicious sounding burgers, such as the Diego Burger, which has cheddar cheese, bacon, and sliced avocado.  The food is decently priced as most entrees do not exceed $10.  However, the food is subpar as the burgers have a bad taste that makes me wish for a typical burger off the grill.  With so few choices and poor tasting food it makes sense to eat before you show up to the bar.

Service:

The servers are really down to earth and come by and greet you with a smile.  The servers can be usually found since it is such a small place and I was impressed by the strong emphasis on customer service.  Unfortunately, the day I was there my server forgot the food for some of the people at the table and even though we were given a discount it left a bad impression.    Overall, the service was good if you forget about that huge gaffe.

Environment:

The environment is very casual and a lot of the people that were there are regulars.  The focus seems to be a hangout place rather than a sports bar.  Overall I enjoyed being there although the sun beats down pretty hard when you are upstairs.  Plus, you have to deal with the glare from the sun that keeps one shifting in there seat while glancing at a different TV.

Overall I came into the review with high hopes but left really disappointed.  I’m not saying that the Sandbar is a terrible place but it really is a bar, and not a sports bar.  If you are looking for a casual bar, by the beach, than this is the place to go.

Chargers best Bengals and Clinch AFC West Division

San Diego- On a day where the Chargers were pushed to the limit by the Bengals they did what they usually do in December and that is win another big game.  Cincinnati came out the gates and played with a lot of emotion, they gave  the Chargers all they could handle, but fell short in the end.  Bengal receiver Chad Ochocinco cried for his fallen teammate Chris Henry after scoring a second quarter touchdown, which made the score 10-7, Bengals.  San Diego immediately answered back with a beautiful throw from Phillip Rivers to wide receiver Vincent Jackson giving the Bolts a 14-10 lead.  Cinci kicker Shayne Graham added a field goal before the half to make it 14-13 in favor of our Chargers.  This game was close all the way until the end with the Bengals tying it up in the fourth 24-24.   San Diego's defense was fired up when the crowd of 68,000 were cheering for their team causing the Bungles a few costly penalties.   Chargers QB Phillip Rivers orchestrated the two minute offense in less than one minute.  He drove the Chargers 46 yards in six plays to set up the game winning field goal.  Charger kicker Nate Kaeding hit the most important field goal of his life.  He drilled a 52-yarder through the uprights to give the Bolts the lead with three seconds left in the game, for a 27-24 victory.  San Diego needed the Denver Broncos to lose in order to clinch the division.  Denver obliged by losing to the sorry Raiders.  Thanks Denver and Oakland it's better to give the AFC West title than to receive one for yourselves. Congratulations to your new AFC West Champion Chargers.

Lou's Week 15 Pro Picks

Seattle over Tampa Bay
If Tampa Bay's QB-for-now Josh Freeman plays half as bad as he has the past two games, he'll be riding the bench like QB Josh Johnson before him.  Josh Johnson was pretty horrible the first six games, but Coach Morris could always turn to that other rookie in the depth chart, Rudy Carpenter.  Who?  Exactly.  The Bucs are set for disaster this game, this year and for years to come.  Seattle wins this at home.

Cleveland over Kansas City
I was one of the few to call the Brownies over the Steelers last week and I'm going to let it ride this week.  With a long BYE, Cleveland has ample time prepare for the struggling Matt Cassel and friends.  Cassel is almost guaranteed to turn the ball over at least once and I would be surprised if KC even puts up 14 points.  The Chiefs haven't scored over two TDs in the past three match-ups.  Conversely, the Browns are averaging more points this month than they have all season.  Cleveland wins their 2nd straight on the road.

Washington over NY Giants
After basically losing the division to Phili last week, the demoralized Giants are poised to lose another tough contest Monday night.  NY's QB Eli Manning is getting sacked more as the season wears on and with O-linemen Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie battling injuries, the next three games won't get any easier for Eli.  Washington's QB Jason Campbell and back-up RB Quinton Ganther have had strong play as of late and defensive stars CB DeAngelo Hall and DT Albert Haynesworth returned to practice Thursday.  Giant's starting CB Corey Webster will likely sit out and the Redskins stuffed RB Brandon Jacobs for less than 50 rush yards in Week 1.  The 'Skins upset at home.

New England over Buffalo
Arizona over Detroit
Tennessee over Miami
Houston over St. Louis
NY Jets over Atlanta
Baltimore over Chicago
Philadelphia over San Fransisco
San Diego over Cincinnati
Denver over Oakland
Green Bay over Pittsburgh
Minnesota over Carolina
Indianapolis over Jacksonville
New Orleans over Dallas