Rest of schedule makes London trip manageable for Chargers

By Tom Robinson  |   Friday, July 04, 2008  |  Comments( 14 )

San Diego Chargers
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The San Diego Chargers will arrive at the midpoint of the 2008 National Football League season in a place where no West Coast team has ever been – playing a regular-season game in Europe.

The Chargers have many reasons to believe that leaving the Pacific coast and crossing the Atlantic Ocean does not have to be a combination that disrupts the team’s championship hopes. Those reasons extend well beyond the fact that the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants are the team that won the first NFL regular-season game played outside North America. Long before they shocked the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, the Giants improved to 6-2 last October with a 13-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium in London.

London fans of American football are getting excited again as they await their second chance to see an NFL game.

The rest of the Chargers schedule is comfortable enough that the team can also get excited about a unique opportunity. The first sale of tickets in London in May saw 40,000 seats sold in 90 minutes for San Diego’s Oct. 26 game against the New Orleans Saints. A general admission ticket sale in June moved another 15,000 tickets in 30 minutes, according to The Associated Press.

Without scheduling help, this could be a damaging trip for a legitimate title contender. The Chargers are home when they need to be and even in Buffalo when they would want to be.

The NFL did the obvious by giving the Chargers, who went 11-5 and reached the AFC Championship game last season, the week off after their trip to London. The league also accommodated a request by the Chargers to put them on the East Coast the week before they go to Europe. San Diego plays at Buffalo on Oct. 19, then it heads to London.

Another potential scheduling crunch – games four days apart because of a Thursday night television appearance – is eased by the fact that the Chargers play both those games in San Diego. After facing Atlanta on Nov. 30, San Diego hosts Oakland on Dec. 4.

The trip to London is even considered a home game for New Orleans, meaning the Chargers still play in San Diego eight times, along with seven road games and the neutral field game in London.
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