GREEN BAY PACKERS at SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: San Diego -1 & 37.5
Opening Line & Total: Chargers -2 & 37

Two Super Bowl hopefuls kick off their preseason at Qualcomm Stadium on Thursday night when the Chargers host the Packers.

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Green Bay is 8-4 in preseason play over the past three seasons, while San Diego is a mere 5-7 in this same time frame. The Packers are clearly the better team, going 15-1 last season led by QB Aaron Rodgers. He set an NFL record with a 122.5 QB rating, throwing for 4,643 yards, 45 TD and just 6 INT. San Diego was 8-8 last year, suffering through a six-game losing skid from Week 7 to Week 12. Although Philip Rivers tossed a career-high 20 interceptions, but was much better in the second half of the season, posting a 96.8 rating (16 TD, 6 INT). Thursday's game will be officiated by Shannon Eastin, who will be the first-ever female referee in an NFL game. Her officiating crew might try to make a name for itself by blowing more whistles than necessary. But considering the Packers were the least-penalized team in the league last season, this certainly works into their favor.

Green Bay has dominated this series in the regular season, winning nine of 10 meetings, including six in a row. But the clubs are both 1-1-1 against each other in preseason play, with the Chargers winning the last meeting in 2006, by a 17-3 score.

Once Rodgers completes his two or three series, Graham Harrell and Tennessee-Chattanooga rookie B.J. Coleman will take over. Harrell, the NCAA record holder with 134 career TD passes, has mostly been a practice squad player for two years. This season, he moves up to No. 2 on the depth chart with last year's backup, Matt Flynn, now in Seattle. Harrell was decent in the 2011 preseason, completing 33-of-57 passes (58%) for 287 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. This was a big improvement from the 2010 preseason when he was just 16-for-31 (52%) for 166 yards. Coleman threw a school record 52 TD passes in his career at UTC, but facing an NFL third-string defense is a big step up from the Southern Conference. Brandon Saine figures to get the bulk of carries in this game.

Rivers is also expected to play 2-to-3 series, but the Chargers have much more experienced quarterbacks, with seventh-year pro Charlie Whitehurst and Kevin O'Connell entering his fourth season. But neither of these two QBs, nor LSU rookie QB Jarrett Lee, played with San Diego last year, so they are learning a whole new offense. Whitehurst played nine games (four starts) in the regular season over the past two years with Seattle, completing 84-of-155 passes (54%) for 805 yards, 3 TD and 4 INT. O'Connell was with the Jets for the past two years, but hasn't thrown a pass in the regular season since 2008 when he completed 4-of-6 passes for 23 yards with the Patriots. The Chargers have plenty of new faces to work into their offense this season with RBs Ronnie Brown and Jackie Battle, and WRs Robert Meachem, Eddie Royal and Roscoe Parrish.