Top 3 Individual Matchups
1 – Drayton Florence vs. Vincent Jackson –The two former teammates know one another very well, so there won't be many surprises in this matchup. Jackson has been extremely productive with eight touchdowns in 12 games this season.
2 – Leodis McKelvin vs. Malcom Floyd –The demoted cornerback is back in the starting lineup with Aaron Williams down this week (knee). Eager to redeem himself, McKelvin has a tall task literally in the 6'5" 225-pound Malcom Floyd, who posted his third 100-yard receiving game in his last four outings.
3 – Stevie Johnson vs. Quentin Jammer –Johnson's production is back up the last two weeks where he's gone 13 catches for 127 and a pair of touchdowns. He'll need to be similarly productive against the Chargers top coverage defender to help keep Buffalo's offense in step with San Diego's.
Top 2 Bills Advantages
Good advantage – Run game –C.J. Spiller is starting to emerge with expanded playing time and delivered a pair of long touchdown runs last week, with one called back on a questionable penalty. Facing a Chargers run front that's allowing better than 130 yards on the ground (131.7), Spiller should be able to provide some big plays.
Best advantage – Red zone –Buffalo despite the five-game losing streak still rank seventh in the league in red zone touchdown percentage (58%). Going against a red zone defense that allows touchdowns better than 60 percent of the time and ranks 25th in the league, the Bills should find the end zone more than once when they crack San Diego's 20-yard line.
Bills Number 1 Must
Win third downs –Buffalo's offense shouldn't have much trouble converting third downs Sunday as the Chargers have one of the worst third down defenses in football allowing conversions more than 46 percent of the time (46.6%).
The key will be the Bills defense clamping down on San Diego's strong offensive unit in those situations. The Chargers convert 47 percent of the time, good for fourth best in the league, but Buffalo had good success against Tennessee last week allowing just a pair of third down conversions the entire game. They'll need to duplicate that effort for the Bills to have a chance.
Scouting Eye
Rivers back rollingHe still leads the league in interceptions with 17, and had a rough go of it on offense through the middle of the season. Philip Rivers was a victim of injuries around him with Antonio Gates, Malcom Floyd and Pro Bowl offensive linemen Kris Dielman and Marcus McNeill both going on injured reserve. His play suffered as pass protection was subpar and his arsenal of passing weapons was in a state of flux.
Now with everyone back healthy and some capable replacements getting comfortable up front, Rivers looks to be back on track after a 294-yard passing performance that included three touchdowns against the Jaguars.
Run supportSan Diego's resurgence on offense hasn't been all about the passing game. Their ground game has been in high gear the past few weeks. In fact in the past two weeks alone the Chargers have rushed for 324 yards, which included back-to-back 100-yard rushing days for Ryan Mathews.
Mathews and fellow back Mike Tolbert are also capable receiving threats as evidenced by their combined 84 receptions good for second most in the NFL by a running back tandem. Only Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas of New Orleans have more (104).
3rd down demonsThe Chargers offense has been particularly effective on third downs this season. Converting at a clip of 47 percent, San Diego ranks fourth in the league at moving the sticks. When the Chargers stay out of third and long they're virtually unstoppable by third down conversion standards. On 3rd-and-1 to 3rd-and-5 this season San Diego has converted almost 79 percent of the time (78.8%) as they've gone 29-34.
Gaither replacerUp until last week the Chargers were desperately trying to fill the hole left by Pro Bowl left tackle Marcus McNeill. After picking up Jared Gaither off waivers from Kansas City the Chargers started Gaither at left tackle. After not giving up a sack in his debut with San Diego on Monday night the Chargers are hoping they've found at least a temporary answer at the position.
Strong finishersMore than once in the last handful of seasons the San Diego Chargers have had to make a late season run to qualify for the postseason. 2011 has been no different as a six-game losing streak, which was just snapped this past Monday has them at 5-7, but just two games back of division leaders Denver and Oakland at 7-5.
Working in San Diego's favor is their fantastic winning percentage in December. Since Philip Rivers has been the full-time starter for the Chargers he has compiled a record of 21-2 in December. Furthermore he's 10-1 all-time as a starter in December at home.
Part of the reason for the success is since 2006 the Chargers lead the league in points per game in December (see below).
Buffalo Chips
Stat of the WeekThe San Diego Chargers have averaged 30.2 points per game in December since 2006.
Quote of the Week"As long as there are two teams out there and we're one of them we're going to play hard and prepare hard and finish the season on a high note. We've got four games to do that and we've got a good opportunity to go across the country and win a football game."
--OLB Chris Kelsay
Milestones in reachRyan Fitzpatrick (52) needs four touchdown passes to move past Drew Bledsoe (55) for fourth most in team history.
Stevie Johnson needs a touchdown reception to extend his current scoring streak to three consecutive games.
David Nelson needs two receptions to record the first 50-catch season of his career.
Brian Moorman needs one game played to match Mark Pike and Thurman Thomas (173) for the seventh-most games played in team annals.
Final noteBuffalo is tied for second in the league in takeaway points scored with 96. Only Detroit (98) has more.* *
