San Diego Chargers Defeat Jacksonville Jaguars, 38-13

That was the San Diego Chargers team I was expecting to see. Philip Rivers looked like himself (75.9% completion rate!), Ryan Mathews looked great before his injury (and looked healthy standing on the sideline in the second half), Mike Tolbert looked like a suitable replacement at RB, Antonio Gates looked like an all-world TE and the WRs looked good enough.

In addition to that, the Chargers defense (Brandon Siler and Antoine Cason in particular) looked fantasic and kept the Jaguars from scoring any meaningful touchdowns. They were also able to knock David Garrard out of the game with a bunch of interceptions and a consistent pass-rush.

The team that showed up at Qualcomm this afternoon is the "Super Bowl contender" team that we were hoping we'd see each week. If this team can show up in this form for the rest of the season, plus a healthy Ryan Mathews, that should have no problem winning the division and making the playoffs again.

More analysis on the game, including 5 Good Things and 5 Bad Things, tomorrow.