Gameday Graphic for Game on 1/3/2010
The Redskins wrap up the 2009 season on Sunday, Jan. 3 with a West Coast trip to San Diego to take on the Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff is 4:15 p.m. ET.
Qualcomm Stadium is a natural grass field. The stadium seats 71,294.
It's the Redskins' first visit to San Diego since Sept. 9, 2001.
The Redskins are 1-6 in road games this season. They won their last road game, a 34-13 win over the Oakland Raiders, after opening the season with six straight road losses.
The San Diego game is Washington's fourth and final contest against AFC West foes. The Redskins are 2-1 against the AFC West, with victories over the Raiders and Denver Broncos and a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Redskins-Chargers game will be televised to a regional audience on FOX. Ron Pitts calls the play-by-play and John Lynch serves as color analyst. Nischelle Turner reports from the sidelines.
On radio, the game will be broadcast locally on the Redskins Radio Network. Larry Michael calls the play-by-play with former Redskins and Hall of Famers Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff adding color commentary. Former Redskin Rick 'Doc' Walker reports from the sidelines.
Jorge Andres and Mario Alfaro call the game in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 730.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
| OFFENSE | ||
| Pos. | Redskins | Chargers |
| WR | 89 Santana Moss | 80 Malcolm Floyd |
| LT | 76 Levi Jones | 73 Marcus McNeill |
| LG | 66 Derrick Dockery | 68 Kris Dielman |
| C | 61 Casey Rabach | 61 Nick Hardwick |
| RG | 63 Will Montgomery | 65 Louis Vasquez |
| RT | 74 Stephon Heyer | 62 B. Dombrowski |
| TE | 86 Fred Davis | 85 Antonio Gates |
| WR | 12 Malcolm Kelly | 83 Vincent Jackson |
| QB | 17 Jason Campbell | 17 Philip Rivers |
| FB | 45 Mike Sellers | 22 Jacob Hester |
| RB | 35 Quinton Ganther | 21 L. Tomlinson |
| DEFENSE | ||
| Pos. | Redskins | Chargers |
| DE | 99 Andre Carter | 74 Jacques Cesaire |
| DT | 96 Cornelius Griffin | 98 Ian Scott |
| DT | 92 Albert Haynesworth | 93 Luis Castillo |
| DE/LB | 93 Phillip Daniels | 95 Shaun Phillips |
| LB/DE | 98 Brian Orakpo | 54 Stephen Cooper |
| LB | 59 London Fletcher | 59 Brandon Siler |
| LB | 52 Rocky McIntosh | 56 Shawne Merriman |
| LCB | 23 DeAngelo Hall | 23 Quentin Jammer |
| RCB | 22 Carlos Rogers | 31 Antonio Cromartie |
| SS | 30 LaRon Landry | 25 Kevin Ellison |
| FS | 41 Kareem Moore | 32 Eric Weddle |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||
| Pos. | Redskins | Chargers |
| P | 3 Hunter Smith | 5 Mike Scifres |
| K | 4 Graham Gano | 10 Nate Kaeding |
| H | 3 Hunter Smith | 5 Mike Scifres |
| LS | 67 Ethan Albright | 50 Dave Binn |
| KOR | 11 Devin Thomas | 43 Darren Sproles |
| PR | 89 Santana Moss | 43 Darren Sproles |
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's Redskins-Chargers game is the ninth matchup between the two franchises. The Redskins hold a 6-2 edge in the series, but they have lost the last two games.
The last matchup was on Nov. 27 2005, at FedExField. The Chargers won 23-17 in overtime after the Redskins surrendered a 17-7 fourth quarter lead.
Santana Moss caught a 22-yard touchdown pass and Rock Cartwright had a 13-yard touchdown run for the Redskins.
The Chargers were led by running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who had 184 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
His 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter tied the game.
In overtime, it took the Chargers two plays to win. First, quarterback Drew Brees threw a 24-yard pass to tight end Antonio Gates. Then Tomlinson broke loose on a 41-yard touchdown run.
In San Diego, the Redskins are 2-1 all-time against the Chargers. They lost to the Chargers 30-3 on Sept. 9, 2001, in their last game in San Diego.
TALE OF THE TAPE
| REDSKINS 2009 RANKINGS | ||
| Offense | Rank | Yards/Game |
| Total Offense | 23 | 311.3 |
| Rushing Offense | 27 | 96.3 |
| Passing Offense | 16 | 215.0 |
| Defense | Rank | Yards/Game |
| Total Defense | 11 | 316.7 |
| Rushing Defense | 20 | 116.6 |
| Passing Defense | 5 | 200.1 |
| CHARGERS 2009 RANKINGS | ||
| Offense | Rank | Yards/Game |
| Total Offense | 11 | 359.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 29 | 91.5 |
| Passing Offense | 5 | 268.3 |
| Defense | Rank | Yards/Game |
| Total Defense | 15 | 326.1 |
| Rushing Defense | 23 | 121.2 |
| Passing Defense | 10 | 204.9 |
FAMILIAR FACES ON THE CHARGERS
Head coach Norv Turnerwas the Redskins' head coach from 1994-2000. He compiled a record of 49-59-1 and his 1999 squad won the NFC East, the only time Turner made the postseason with the Redskins.
Assistant secondary coach Cris Dishman played cornerback for the Redskins in 1997-98.
REDSKINS-CHARGERS NEWS & NOTES
-- Turner Time
Former Redskins head coach Norv Turner--now the San Diego Chargers' head coach--faces off against his former team on Sunday for the second time.
Turner was Oakland's head coach in 2005 when the Raiders beat the Redskins 16-13 at FedExField.
Turner finished his Redskins stint with a 49-59-1 record. His 1999 squad won the NFC East, the only time Turner made the postseason as Redskins head coach.
That year, the Redskins defeated the Detroit Lions 27-13 in the first round of the playoffs, but lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-13 in the second round.
In 2000, Turner was fired by the club 13 games into the season. He was replaced by Terry Robiskie on an interim basis.
Fullback Mike Sellers and left tackle Chris Samuels are the only two players on the Redskins' roster who played for Turner.
"Norv was real quiet," Sellers recollected. "He was a great guy and a great coach. He gave everybody a fair opportunity to do their job. He gave us every opportunity to play, and play well. It was sad when he got fired, but that's the life of an NFL coach, I guess.
"I thought we had a great offense back then--we just didn't have a great defense. He got a lot of criticism, but I respected him as a coach and a lot of the players respected him."
-- 'Tough Men' On the D-Line
The Redskins lead the league in defensive linemen with torn biceps tendons.
Both Phillip Daniels and Andre Carter have suffered the injury this season--and continue to play through it. The nature of their injuries is such that they cannot aggravate the injury further, but they will likely undergo off-season surgery.
Carter suffered his torn biceps in Week 15 vs. the Giants. He played his first game with the injury last Sunday vs. Dallas.
Daniels has played with his torn biceps since Week 5. He recorded his first sack of the season in the Dallas game.
"This game is played by tough men," Jim Zorn said of Carter and Daniels. "I'm amazed sometimes at what they can do. They even practiced [last week]. They could just sit around all week, but they get out there and work. With a torn biceps tendon--a fresh torn biceps tendon in the case of Andre--it's incredible.
"It's hard to say I'm really proud of them for sacrificing because it's just part of their makeup, part of their grit. You could certainly understand if they took a break, but they won't do it. They want to play."
-- Davis Making His Mark
Fred Davis caught touchdown passes in four consecutive games from Weeks 13-16. He became the first Redskins player to have a touchdown catch in four consecutive games in the same season since Chris Cooley accomplished the feat in 2007.
Since taking over for the injured Cooley in Week 7, Davis has registered 35 catches for 418 yards and six touchdowns.
In his previous 17 professional games, he had just 10 catches for 72 yards and no touchdowns.
"I would say he is our most improved player," Jim Zorn said recently. "He really has had some tough games, and competed well both as a blocker and a pass catcher. He has learned his assignments and doesn't make many errors.
"I have been very impressed with his effort from the start of the game to the end of the game. He wants the ball and he wants to do well. It's important to him."
-- Orakpo's Fast Start
Brian Orakpo has 11 sacks this season, tied for the Redskins team lead with Andre Carter. He leads all NFL rookies in sacks.
Orakpo has broken the Redskins rookie sack record of six held by Dean Hamel (1985) and Andre Collins (1990).
Orakpo has become just the 13th NFL rookie over the last 15 years to record a double-digit sack season.
Seven of those players won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, while nine of the 12 went on to earn at least three Pro Bowl selections in their careers.
Orakpo was the Redskins' first-round draft pick (13th overall) in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas.
-- Redskins Team Captains
The Redskins have elected captains for the offense, defense and special teams.
For the offense, it's quarterback Jason Campbell and left tackle Chris Samuels.
For the defense, it's defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin and linebacker London Fletcher.
For special teams, it's running back Rock Cartwright and fullback Mike Sellers.
Sellers is the newcomer of the captains this year. The other five were also voted team captains in 2008.
-- On Fourth Downs
The Redskins' defense remains the league's best when it comes to fourth downs.
Last Sunday night vs. Dallas, they stopped the Cowboys offense on two fourth-down attempts in the third quarter.
Overall this season, the Redskins' defense has stopped 3-of-16 fourth-down attempts, an 18.7 percent clip that is tops in the league.
The Indianapolis Colts are ranked second with a 31.5 percent clip. They have stopped 6-of-17 fourth-down attempts.
-- Strength of Schedule
Washington's strength of schedule for 2009 was ranked 16th in the NFL at .492. Their opponents' 2008 cumulative record was 125-129-2.
The Redskins play a total of seven games against 2008 playoff teams, with four of those games against NFC East foes Philadelphia and New York.
The Miami Dolphins had the NFL's toughest schedule at .594. Their opponents' 2008 cumulative record was 152-104.
The Chicago Bears had the NFL's easiest schedule at .414. Their opponents' 2008 cumulative record was 105-149-2.
-- On the Road Again
The Redskins will travel 16,356 miles in 2009, the 21st most in the NFL. They have the shortest travel schedule in the NFC East.
The Seattle Seahawks travel 29,054 miles, most in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns travel 7,554 miles, least in the NFL.
The total distance traveled by all NFL teams is 578,912 miles. This is 18,128 fewer miles than 2008, when teams traveled a total of 597,040.
