Chargers Pre-Season Schedule Announced

Source: Chargers.com

The San Diego Chargers’ 2010 preseason schedule features games against some of the NFL’s marquee teams, including the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and the reigning Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.

The San Diego Chargers’ 2010 preseason schedule features games against some of the NFL’s marquee teams, including the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and the reigning Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.

The Chargers will open the preseason at home against the Bears on the weekend of Aug. 13-15. The exact date and time is to be announced.

San Diego’s high-powered offense will be put to the test by a Bears defense and six-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher. The game also will renew the rivalry between quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler and mark Cutler’s first game against the Chargers since being traded to Chicago in 2009. The Chargers roster features several former Bears, including recently signed cornerback Nathan Vasher, and several of San Diego’s coaches, including Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera, also spent time in the “Windy City” as members of Bears’ coach Lovie Smith’s staff. This will be the Bears’ first visit to San Diego for a preseason game since 1982.

Preseason Week 2 (Aug. 20-22) brings another exciting opponent to San Diego when former Chargers Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips leads Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys into Qualcomm Stadium. These teams met just three and a half months ago at the Cowboys’ new home in Arlington, Texas and the Chargers prevailed in a defensive struggle, 20-17. The Cowboys’ high-powered offense features Romo along with running backs Marion Barber and Felix Jones, and receivers Miles Austin and Roy Williams. Dallas’ roster also lists one of the league’s top outside linebackers in NFL sack-leader DeMarcus Ware. This will mark the second time in three years that the Cowboys will play a preseason game in San Diego. The Chargers beat Dallas, 31-17, in a preseason game in San Diego in 2008.

Again, the exact day and time of the game will be announced at a later date.

The Chargers are on the road in Preseason Week 3 when they are featured in a nationally-televised game on CBS against the reigning Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. It’s a special Friday night telecast on Aug. 27 with kickoff set for 5:00 p.m. PDT. These two teams are extremely familiar with one-another as the Saints are led by former Chargers quarterback Drew Brees and running back Reggie Bush, an alum of Helix High School (La Mesa, Calif.) and the University of Southern California. Saints Head Coach Sean Payton also has San Diego ties, having started his coaching career at San Diego State in 1988.

It is extremely rare for these two teams to meet in the preseason. In fact it will be the first time it’s happened since 1985. The Chargers and Saints had a memorable regular-season meeting in 2008, facing off in an NFL International Series Game in London, a game that wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter with the Saints barely prevailing, 37-32. Rivers and Brees posted nearly identical numbers in that game with Rivers passing for 341 yards and three touchdowns, while Brees threw for 339 yards and three scores of his own.

The Chargers will conclude the NFL Preseason slate against one of their oldest preseason rivals, traveling to San Francisco to meet the 49ers at Candlestick Park the weekend of Sept. 2-5. The Chargers and 49ers have met every year in the preseason since 1987 and a total of 37 times dating back to 1968. The Chargers hold a slight 19-18 edge in the series. The 49ers are one of the NFL’s up-and-coming teams, led by Head Coach and Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary and quarterback Alex Smith, a former Heisman Trophy finalist and prep teammate of Bush’s at La Mesa’s Helix High.

Exact dates and kickoff times for the Chargers preseason games against Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco will be announced in the coming weeks.

Chargers season tickets for the 2010 season are on sale. They can be purchased by calling 877-CHARGERS, visiting www.chargers.com or stopping by the Chargers’ ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium, open Monday through Friday from 8-5 pm.