All is Swell in Chargerland

Chargers fans are so giddy these days that they can't find anything to complain about.
So that's what we're here for.

• Antonio Gates is a great tight end but if his rear end gets any larger, we'll have to start calling him Oprah.
• We know kickers aren't really football players and they aren't supposed to look like football players, but Nate Kaeding really, really looks like a dweeb -- even for a kicker. We can't help but wonder how often Kaeding has to show I.D. to prove he really is a football player when he's entering the stadium. You know that guy who was in your freshman P.E. class, the guy people made fun of, yet felt sorry for at the same time? That guy looks cooler than Nate Kaeding.
  
• We know it's sacrilegious to say anything negative about LaDainian Tomlinson, but what the hell, somebody has to ... kind of lost amid the Chargers lovefest in recent weeks has been the fact that L.T. is averaging only 3.7 yards a carry and hasn't had a 100-yard rushing game since Week 1 against the Raiders. The good news is: only five more weeks until the next game against the Raiders, so L.T. will get at least two 100-yard rushing games this season.
• We know the Chargers defense is the greatest ever, but it's interesting to note that not one Charger is currently ranked in the top 30 in tackles in the AFC.
• Shawne Merriman must like the Bay Area, or maybe it's just the inferior opponents up there. In the Chargers' two games up north this season at Oakland and San Francisco, Merriman had six tackles in each game. But in the team's other three games against Tennessee, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, "Lights Out" was pretty much a non-factor with two or fewer tackles in each of those three games.
• Philip Rivers was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Sunday's win over the 49ers. Great. That can only mean one thing: We smell a three-interception game coming.