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It’s NFL Kickoff Weekend 2007 and the season begins in grand fashion on Sunday, Sept. 9 as Norv Turner makes his head-coaching debut in San Diego before a national-television audience when the Chargers host the defending NFC Champion Chicago Bears at Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:15 p.m. PDT.

 

Turner inherits a team that has won two of the last three AFC West titles and 35 games in the last three years (third-most in the NFL). The Chargers return 19 starters in 2007, including all 11 on offense. The offense is centered around the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2006, running back LaDainian Tomlinson. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Tomlinson turned the NFL on its ear in 2006, scoring a League record 31 touchdowns and capturing his first-ever rushing title with 1,815 yards. Tomlinson and quarterback Philip Rivers will line up behind an offensive line that returns all five starters, including Pro Bowlers Nick Hardwick and Marcus McNeill, plus three-time Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates, the Bolts leading receiver in ’06 with 71 catches, 924 yards and nine scores. Under Turner, the Chargers will run the same offense that he originally implemented as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2001.

 

On defense, veteran defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell will operate virtually the same 3-4 defense that the Chargers have run since 2004. Last season, San Diego ranked 10th in the league in total defense and seventh against the run. Cottrell’s defense will be anchored by a pair of two-time Pro Bowlers, nose tackle Jamal Williams and outside linebacker Shawne Merriman. Last season, Williams racked up a career-high 84 tackles and Merriman a career-high 17 sacks to claim the NFL’s sack title. Fellow OLB Shaun Phillips set a career high with 11.5 sacks as San Diego’s defense recorded a league-leading 61 sacks as a team.

 

Also returning are all three of the team’s special teams performers: kicker Nate Kaeding, punter Mike Scifres and long snapper David Binn. A Pro Bowler in 2006, Kaeding hit 26-of-29 field goals and comes into 2007 with a streak of 129 conscutive made PATs. A Pro-Bowl firstalternate a year ago, Scifres led the league by landing 35 punts inside the 20 and his two touchbacks were a league low. One of the most accurate snappers in league history, Binn earned his first-ever Pro Bowl nod in ’06, following a season that saw him break the team’s all-time service record.