(Sports Network) - Paper champions.

Whether the San Diego Chargers are aware of it or not, or whether they like it or not, they enter the 2008 NFL season with that designation securely affixed to everything they strive to accomplish.

Though they've exceeded .500 for four straight seasons and reached the playoffs three times, topped the reigning Super Bowl champions in January and gave the eventual AFC representatives a mighty scare a week later, the Chargers nonetheless enter this year's 16-game obstacle course with little to show and much to prove.

That's pretty much how it goes when 46 victories - along with three AFC West Division crowns - translate to just two playoffs wins, zero conference title game appearances and, by definition, zero trips to what the dear, departed XFL used to call "the big game at the end."

Nevertheless, perhaps by rote, the preseason references this time around still sound familiar.

"No offense to New England, Dallas or Indianapolis, but the Chargers probably have the best roster in the league," gushes ESPN.com.

"It will be a shame if this team doesn't hoist a Lombardi Trophy sometime during this era. The talent on this roster is immense. Simply put, the Chargers have a lot of the game's best players," raves NFLTouchdown.com.

"With 20 of last year's 22 starters returning, and both new projected starters being promoted from within, there's little reason to think that the Chargers won't roll to their third straight AFC West title in 2008," proclaims Covers.com.

Perhaps to counter the optimism, Chargers president Alex Spanos insists the focus remains specific - in this case, on Week 1 and the Carolina Panthers - who'll visit Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.

"I don't put stock into any of that because it really doesn't mean anything. You don't really know from season to season. Every year is different and every year stands on its own," he said. "You've just got to go out every week, play and see what happens and then move on to the next game. You hope you make the playoffs at the end and then it's a new season."

In the meantime, for the Panthers, it'll be the return of quarterback Jake Delhomme after his 2007 season was curtailed after just 86 pass attempts.

He'll be hamstrung by the absence of premier wide receiver target Steve Smith, who's out for the first two games of the season after his involvement with teammate Ken Lucas in an on-field fracas during training camp. Veteran Muhsin Muhammad, the team's all-time leader in receptions and yards, is back after a three-year hiatus with the Chicago Bears.

The Panthers were 2-2 in the preseason, while the Chargers were 3-1.

SERIES HISTORY

The Panthers have a 2-1 lead in their all-time series with San Diego, but were 17-6 home losers when the clubs last met, in Week 7 of the 2004 season. Carolina was a 26-7 winner in its only previous trip to San Diego, in 1997, and also defeated the Chargers, 30-22, in Charlotte in 2004.

Carolina's John Fox is 0-1 in his career against the Chargers, and is also 0-1 head-to-head with San Diego's Norv Turner. Turner's Raiders were 27-24 winners over the Panthers during the 2004 season. Turner is 6-0 in his career against Carolina, including 5-0 while head coach of the Washington Redskins from 1994 through 2000.

WHEN THE PANTHERS HAVE THE BALL

The aforementioned Delhomme returns to start Week 1 for a franchise-record fifth straight year. The 10-year veteran is the club's all-time leader in starts (63), attempts (1,934), completions (1,156), passing yards (13,955) and touchdowns (97). Delhomme, who guided the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII and earned a Pro Bowl berth that year, is the only quarterback in team history to pass for 3,000 yards in three consecutive seasons (2003-05). His weapons in the backfield include holdover DeAngelo Williams and Oregon rookie Jonathan Stewart, the 13th pick in this spring's draft. Stewart established a Ducks record with 1,722 rushing yards and 2,481 all-purpose yards last season. Rookie tackle Jeff Otah was the 19th pick in the draft after an All-Big East effort at Pittsburgh. And finally, tight end Jeff King had 46 catches for 406 yards last season, becoming the first Carolina tight end since 2001 to reach 40 catches and 400 yards.

For the Chargers, gritty linebacker Shawne Merriman - who's decided to play the season on two injured knee ligaments - leads the ball-stopping charge for a unit that helped San Diego to a league-best plus-24 turnover ratio in 2007. The Bolts are 11-1 in games in which Merriman registers two or more sacks. He was tied for second in the AFC last season with 12 1/2. Elsewhere on the pass rush, end Luis Castillo has 8 1/2 of his 13 career sacks at home. In the backfield, cornerback Antonio Cromartie led the NFL with 10 interceptions in 2007. Always opportunistic, San Diego allowed an average of 320.3 total yards last season, a statistical anomaly considering they averaged only 315.3 on offense and still managed to win 11 games.

WHEN THE CHARGERS HAVE THE BALL

LaDainian Tomlinson ran up a league-best 1,474 and 15 touchdowns during the 2007 regular season, but took his fair share of criticism after being limited to just four plays in the playoff to New England by a sprained knee, especially when quarterback Phillip Rivers limped through the postseason with a significantly more damaged knee ligament. Nonetheless, Tomlinson remains the premier back in the league and the Chargers are 8-1 against NFC opponents when he reaches 100 yards. Rivers has a 15-1 career record at home and is 4-0 at home against NFC foes. Tight end Antonio Gates had seven catches for 61 yards in his last game against Carolina, and the team is 8-0 in games where Gates scores two or more touchdowns. Chris Chambers, who was acquired from the Dolphins during the 2007 season, went for six catches and 93 yards against the Panthers the last time he faced them. Lastly, the Chargers are 7-1 in games where wideout Vincent Jackson scores a touchdown.

The Panthers look this season to return to the swarming, punishing defense they displayed en route to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season and the playoffs after 2005. They were second and third in the league in yards allowed in those two seasons, but plummeted to 15th in scoring defense and 16th in yards allowed in 2007. Defensive end Julius Peppers is first in team history with 56 sacks and 19 forced fumbles, while teammate Jon Beason excelled in Peppers' absence due to injury last season en route to a team-best 160 tackles. Linebacker Na'il Diggs and tackle Damione Lewis shared the team lead with 3 1/2 sacks, while cornerback Richard Marshall was best with three interceptions.

FANTASY FOCUS

Tomlinson is, in any league, a no-brainer selection. Gates is also among the best tight ends for those leagues which break out that position. And defensively, the Chargers are the most productive when it comes to game- changing plays. For the Panthers, Delhomme is iffy returning from injury, his backs will share the load enough to make neither one a standout choice and his best receiving threat won't be a factor until Week 3.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

At the risk of drinking the San Diego Kool-Aid, most of what's been said about the Chargers is true. They have excellent personnel. They have a capable coach who held things together after a difficult start last season. And they have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to the criticism of Tomlinson and the claims that they still can't win the big one. For Week 1 at least, that ought to be enough against a Carolina team making a difficult West Coast trip to start off a season.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Chargers 24, Panthers 10