Titans on offense: Vince Young's ailing right quadriceps limited his practice participation this week, but it's hard to imagine him not making his first career playoff start even on one good leg. Running Young wasn't in the Titans' game plan when they faced San Diego Dec. 9 - he had just two carries for 2 yards. Tennessee might want to keep the ball in LenDale White's hands anyway. The Titans were 5-2 when White had at least 23 carries, and one of the losses was to the Chargers in overtime, a game in which White had 113 yards on 30 chances. Tennessee was dealt a tough blow to its already deficient passing game Wednesday when it was learned that tight end Bo Scaife, one of Young's favorite short-range targets, suffered a lacerated liver in last weekend's win over the Colts. Also, top receiver Roydell Williams broke his right ankle in practice and will miss the playoff game. Center Kevin Mawae (calf injury) hopes to return from a two-game absence.
Chargers on defense: During a season-ending six-game win streak, the San Diego defense feasted on some weak offenses in holding four opponents to fewer than 300 total yards and swarming ahead for 22 sacks, including eight against Kansas City Dec. 2. Linebacker Shawne Merriman has seven sacks in his last five games, and his emotional leadership has the entire unit clicking. Merriman still is peeved by what he perceived as a cheap shot by the Titans in the chippy affair in Week 14. If Young shows a reluctance to run (or if it's the lead-footed Kerry Collins under center for the Titans), San Diego could blitz at will. Blazing-fast corner Antonio Cromartie (league-high 10 INTs) certainly has a knack for being in the right place. San Diego picked off 30 passes in all.
Chargers on offense: It's no surprise that once LaDainian Tomlinson rediscovered his mojo in Week 13, the entire offense followed suit. Excluding the season finale against Oakland, in which Tomlinson barely broke a sweat, the league's two-time rushing champ had a closing four-game stretch when he averaged 136.5 yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry. The Titans couldn't stop him, either (146 yards on 26 attempts). It's as if that took all the pressure off Philip Rivers, who stopped hearing boos and started playing like the Pro Bowl quarterback from 2006. He's had a rating above 100 for three straight weeks and hasn't thrown an interception since Tennessee picked him off twice. The midseason acquisition of Chris Chambers (35 catches, 15.9-yard average) really helped San Diego stretch the field and free up more single coverage for Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates. There's not a single weak link on a line that allowed just 24 sacks this season. Lorenzo Neal, the best fullback in the business, is not expected to play with a leg injury.
Titans on defense: If you're looking for a sign of the respect bestowed on Tennessee's mammoth front four, consider opponents averaged only 23.1 rushing attempts per game, third fewest in the league behind the Steelers (22.6) and Patriots (22.5). There's simply no getting around Albert Haynesworth and Tony Brown in the middle, and Antwan Odom and Kyle Vanden Bosch are in constant pursuit on the ends. There's support in Keith Bulluck and David Thornton, but there's not much depth at linebacker. The Titans are one of five NFL teams to have picked off more passes (22) than they allowed into the end zone (21).
Special teams: The Titans could consider kicker Rob Bironas more offense than special teams - he accounted for 133 of the team's 301 total points this year. Bironas set an NFL record with eight field goals in a Week 7 win over Houston, and was 4 of 5 from beyond 50 yards this season . . . Bironas was third in the league with 16 touchbacks. San Diego's Nate Kaeding had just seven touchbacks, but he allowed an average of only 19.8 yards over his 64 kickoffs returned, which ranked best among regular AFC kickers. Kaeding has been practicing with a bruised lower left leg . . . At 5 feet 6 inches, 161 pounds, Darren Sproles is easy to miss, and as San Diego's primary return man, he makes plenty of people miss. Sproles ran back both a kickoff and punt for a TD this season. He's also sure-handed (just one fumble in 61 returns overall) and fearless (only 2 fair catches in 24 fielded punts).
Miscellany: San Diego matched the Patriots for most AFC Pro Bowlers with eight . . . The Chargers haven't won a playoff game since 1995, losing their last four. Tennessee is 5-4 in the postseason since 1999, their last showing a divisional round loss to the Patriots in the 2003 season . . . The Titans haven't beaten the Chargers since 1992, when the Titans were still the Houston Oilers . . . This is just the second playoff berth for San Diego's Norv Turner, who is in his 10th season as an NFL head coach. Turner's Redskins went 1-1 in the 1999 playoffs . . . The last two times the Titans were a wild-card team, they won their playoff opener in dramatic fashion. The first time was the Music City Miracle in the 1999 postseason, the second time on a late field goal in 2003.
