SAN DIEGO - They are the San Diego Chargers and they have no chance to win today.
The Chargers were Victim No. 2 and they are in line to be Victim No. 18. They are mere tackling dummies on the Patriots' Path to Perfection. The Patriots beat them in San Diego in the playoffs last year, annihilated them in Foxborough in September (24-0 at the half en route to 38-14), and are poised to pummel them again today.
This is how football America views today's AFC Championship game at frosty Gillette Stadium. The Patriots are two-touchdown favorites. Most NFL fans wanted the Patriots to be tested by the Colts, but the Bolts crashed the party.
"It's obvious that this wasn't the matchup that America wanted to see," acknowledged NFL rushing leader LaDainian Tomlinson. "This is the matchup . . . the two best teams are playing."
But the Chargers are not at their best. San Diego's top three skill-position players are wounded. The Chargers were without Tomlinson (knee) and starting quarterback Philip Rivers (knee) at the end of last week's dramatic win in Indianapolis. All-World tight end Antonio Gates (toe) played at the RCA Dome but couldn't do much. At practice this past week, the Chargers worked without linebacker Shawne Merriman (illness) and tackle Jamal Williams (ankle).
They are also emotionally damaged. The Chargers were supposed to crush the Patriots at
Today's head coaching clash is a mismatch of Red Auerbach-vs.-Isiah Thomas proportion. The Patriots are led by the smartest football man since George Halas. Bill Belichick is wading into Lombardi territory, always a favorite to outmaneuver his counterpart. The Chargers are coached by Norv Turner. Nice Guy Norv had only one playoff victory in nine seasons before taking over the Chargers this year. Now he has taken them where Marty Schottenheimer could not.
Maybe Norv will be smart enough to let Tomlinson touch the rock today (Marty forgot to call Tomlinson's number after halftime last year). But then again, LaDainian might be on the sideline training for the Tour de France before halftime.
Oh, let's not forget the weather factor. This game is being played in Frostbite Falls on the banks of Route 1. And the visitors are the San Diego Chargers. Think the young men from La Jolla are going to like it when their blood freezes to their face after they take a shot to the mouth?
We tried out these topics on the Chargers after practice this past week. They said all the right things. They even demonstrated a little, dare we say, swagger?
"It's going to be a good game," said linebacker Shaun Phillips. "That cold thing is overrated. We don't even have that many guys from the West Coast. A lot of us played in the East. I played at Purdue. You don't think it got cold there?"
Phillips defended teammate Igor Olshansky, who said, "New England better watch out. They're more worried than we are, I promise you."
"Igor's a fun guy," said Phillips. "I'll tell you what - there won't be too many guys wanting to get into his face. He's a bad [expletive]."
Olshansky is 6 feet 6 inches, weighs 309 pounds, and appears to have swallowed an arc trainer machine.
Belichick certainly did his part to pump up the visitors. Only Coach Hoodie could be 17-0 and invent a stat which shows that the other guys have a better record since Thanksgiving. Bill also said that the Chargers have a better record than the Patriots in this year's playoffs. And they have a better record than the Patriots in 2008.
Sounding a little like Belichick, cornerback Drayton Florence said, "We haven't lost to them in '08, so it's even right now."
All of those statements are true. And ridiculous.
The Chargers can play the disrespect card. Patriots linebacker Junior Seau recalled being the underdog in Pittsburgh when he was with the Chargers in the 1994 AFC Championship game.
"It's very demeaning when you go so far and the world is telling you that you have no chance," said Seau. "You can definitely use that to your advantage and go from there. With everything that's been said to our opponents, it's something that they can use, and they will.
"I remember '94 when everything was against us. The yellow towels were flying around. It was definitely a time when we thought we were against the world."
"It was like this for us last week when we were playing Indy," said Chargers fullback Lorenzo Neal. "No one thought Dallas was going to lose to the Giants and they lost at home. If you go in thinking that you don't have a chance, then you're defeated before you start. So we're going in there to win."
Safety Clinton Hart added, "It would be big for us, big for the city. It's time. It's time that we get one. Who better than us? We want to be the ones to go to Arizona and we have to go through New England to do that. That's the only way we can get there. We can't take the shortcut.
"We've watched teams that have done well against them - Eagles, Baltimore - and saw what they were doing. We'll take a few things."
The Patriots were threatened several times down the stretch. They could have lost games against the Eagles, Ravens, and Giants. But they did not. They never lose. They are on a mission to go 19-0 and take their place as the greatest team in the history of professional football. They are on schedule to beat the Chargers today, then advance to the Super Bowl in Arizona for a crowning moment against the Packers or Giants.
"You really appreciate the opportunity, to be honest with you, because this could be perhaps the greatest football team to ever play," said Tomlinson. "We know how good they are."
Everyone knows how good they are. Especially the San Diego Chargers.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.
