Chargers power up as year winds down
Everybody knows the winters are nice in San Diego, but the Chargers have redefined that. They have won an NFL-record 18 consecutive games in December, and they are on the verge of another record.
If they beat Oakland on Sunday, the Chargers will surpass the mark of the 1970-74 Miami Dolphins, who collected 18 November victories in a row, the most consecutive games won in a calendar month since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
The San Diego Union-Tribune points out that under Coach Norv Turner, the Chargers have routinely moved up in turnover differential as the season goes on. In Turner’s first three seasons as coach, his teams were plus-10 in turnovers in the season’s first two months and plus-26 in the last two months. This season, the paper notes, the team went from no takeaways in its last four October games to seven in its three November games.
The longest winning streaks in a calendar month since 1970 (*active):
TEAM, YEARS, MONTH, STREAK
Miami, 1970-74, November, 18
San Diego*, 2006-, December, 18
Miami, 1971-74, October, 14
Denver, 1983-86, October, 14
Source: NFL?
Whistle stop The Pittsburgh Steelers are accustomed to seeing their fans twirling those yellow “Terrible Towels” in the stands. They’re also pretty familiar with the similar ones officials carry in their back pockets.
The Steelers, who are heading into what promises to be their most physical game of the season, at Baltimore, have averaged a league-high 10.0 penalties for 105.0 yards over their last three games. That’s a significant spike from their season average of 6.5 for 59.4 yards.
Most/fewest penalties over the last three games:
MOST
Pittsburgh ?10.0
Detroit ?9.7
Arizona ?9.0
Tennessee, Oakland? 8.7
Philadelphia ?8.0
FEWEST
Atlanta ?2.7
Green Bay, Minnesota ?3.7
Indianapolis? 4.0
Jacksonville, Houston, Baltimore, Cincinnati.? 4.3
Miami, New Orleans, Cleveland ?4.7
Source: TeamRankings.com?
Familiar foes The New England Patriots and New York Jets -- in a three-way tie with Atlanta for the league’s best record at 9-2 -- will face each other in Foxborough on “Monday Night Football.”
The last time divisional opponents were tied for the NFL’s best record this late in the season was Dec. 9, 2001, when San Francisco and St. Louis (also both 9-2) squared off. The Rams won, 27-14.
Big-play Bowe
Not only does Kansas City’s Dwayne Bowe lead the league with 14 touchdown catches, but he also has grabbed at least one touchdown pass in seven consecutive games.
If he has a touchdown reception against Denver on Sunday, Bowe will tie Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and T.J. Houshmandzadeh for the second-longest streak of games with a touchdown reception in a single season since 1970.
Bowe would have to keep the streak going through the rest of the season to tie Rice’s record.
The most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a single season since 1970 (*active):
PLAYER, TEAM, YEAR, G
Jerry Rice, 49ers, 1987, 12
Jerry Rice, 49ers, 1989, 8
Terrell Owens, 49ers, 1998, 8
T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Bengals, 2007, 8
Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs, 2010, 7*
Source: NFL?
sam.farmer@latimes.com
twitter.com/latimesfarmer
