The Chargers opened the season on September 11, 2006, with a 27-0 victory over the division rival Oakland Raiders. This second game of a Monday Night Football doubleheader marked the first time the Chargers had shutout the Raiders since a 44-0 win in 1961. LaDainian Tomlinson led the Chargers with 31 carries for 131 yards, while Philip Rivers, in his debut as an NFL starting quarterback, completed 8 of 11 pass attempts for 108 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions. The Chargers' defense stifled the Raiders' running game, holding Raiders RB Lamont Jordan to 20 yards on 10 carries, and recorded 9 quarterback sacks against Raiders QBs Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter. Three of those sacks belonged to second-year LB Shawne Merriman. With the win, the Chargers extended their winning streak against Oakland to six games, while head coach Marty Schottenheimer improved his head coaching record against the Raiders to 26-7. Schottenheimer also earned his 187th career victory, passing Chuck Knox to become the seventh-winning-est head coach in NFL history. That shutout also marked the second time ever that Oakland had been shut out in their own stadium, the second being the Denver Broncos and the third being the St. Louis Rams as the Chargers picked up their 6th straight win over the Raiders and started their season 1-0.

how many years had merriman played?
A: 2

After winning on the road, the Bengals returned home for Game 2 against the Steelers. The Bengals scored first in the first quarter when Randy Bullock kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-0. They would make it 10-0 later on in the quarter when Andy Dalton found A.J. Green on an 8-yard pass. In the second quarter, the Bengals scored again when Dalton found Green again on a 15-yard pass to make it 17-0. The Steelers got their only points of the first half when Chris Boswell kicked a 30-yard field goal to make it 17-3 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Steelers were able to come within a touchdown when Ben Roethlisberger found Le'Veon Bell on a 35-yard pass to make it 17-10. However, the Bengals moved back ahead by double digits when Bullock kicked a 41-yard field goal to make it 20-10. In the fourth quarter, it was all Steelers when Boswell kicked a 37-yard field goal to make the score 20-13. This would be followed up by tying the game at 20-20 when Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown on a 6-yard pass. Finally, the Steelers were able to seal the victory with seconds left when Boswell kicked the game-winning 38-yard field goal to make the final score 23-20. With their 6th straight loss to the Steelers, the Bengals fell to 5-7.

Who kicked the shortest field goal?
A: Chris Boswell

Springfield has had professional baseball in the past, and according to its current mayor, remains intent on pursuing it in the future. The Springfield Giants of the Single and Double-A Eastern League (baseball) played between 1957 and 1965. The team was quite successful, winning consecutive championships in 1959, 1960 and 1961, by startling coincidence the same seasons in which the Springfield Indians won three straight Calder Cup championships in hockey. The Giants played at Pynchon Park by the Connecticut River until relocating after the 1965 season. Pynchon Parks grandstands were destroyed by fire the year after in 1966. Before that time, the Springfield Cubs played in the minor league New England League from 1946 until 1949, after which the league folded; they then played in the International League until 1953. For many years before the Giants, Springfield was also a member of the Eastern League, between 1893 and 1943. In general, the team was named the Springfield Ponies, but it also carried the nicknames of "Maroons" (1895), "Green Sox" (1917), "Hampdens" (192021), "Rifles (1932, 194243) and "Nationals" (193941). The team located closest are the Valley Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League who play their games in nearby Holyoke, but house their team offices at 100 Congress Street in Springfield.

How many years did the Springfield Giants play?
A:
8