Phillip Rivers OUT!

By Scott Burgess

The San Diego Chargers star QB Phillip Rivers has confirmed that he will not play in the AFC Championship Final, on Sunday, Jan, 20th against the N.E. Patriots.

He went down on the final play in the 3rd quarter after completing a screen pass to RB Darren Sproles. It turned out that he injured his medial collateral ligament, in laymen terms he sprained his right knee. This is not a good time to be getting injured going into the biggest game for the Chargers.

It will be up to backup QB Billy Volek to getter done. He has NOT started a game since 2005, he threw two regular season passes in 2006 and he threw ten passes in 2007. Although he did play the whole 4th quarter against the Colts and got the winning TD, by QB sneak, it's not a good time to get your first start against a team like the Patriots.

The Chargers have many other players with injuries, most notably is RB LaDianian Tomlinson. He hurt his left knee in the 2nd quarter against the Colts and he didn't return for the rest of the game. He claims it's just a hyperextension and he's expecting to play. Taking Tomlinson's place last week was RB Michael Turner and RB Darren Sproles, who when combined equal the skills of Tomlinson. RB Turner had 17 ATT for 71 YDS, RB Sproles had 1 ATT for 1 YD but had 1 REC for 56 YDS along with 1 TD. This was done against a Colts team that's ranked 15th against the RUSH, compared to the Patriots RUSH defense that's ranked 9th in the league.

The Chargers TE Antonio Gates is also questionable, due to a toe injury. He saw limited play time against the Colts and was in significant pain right after the game. He will not practice at all this week and is listed as a game time decision.

Bottom Line: The Chargers chances of getting to Super Bowl XLII are OVER. Playing injured players against the Patriots killer defense is only going to injure them worse or they will be humiliated.