Bolt Beat
Fansided

Predicting Los Angeles Chargers’ schedule Weeks 1-4

By Travis Wakeman

SAN DIEGO, CA - NOVEMBER 23: Quarterback Philip Rivers #17 of the San Diego Chargers signals at the line of scrimmage in the game against the St. Louis Rams at Qualcomm Stadium on November 23, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - NOVEMBER 23: Quarterback Philip Rivers #17 of the San Diego Chargers signals at the line of scrimmage in the game against the St. Louis Rams at Qualcomm Stadium on November 23, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 24: Todd Gurley #30 and Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams look on before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 24, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 24: Todd Gurley #30 and Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams look on before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 24, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Week 3 at Los Angeles Rams

This is considered a road game for the Chargers, but it really isn’t as it will be the “battle for LA”. The NFL is likely salivating over this matchup, not only because it puts the two teams from one of the league’s biggest market against each other, but also because both of these teams are good.

The Rams have loaded up this offseason, looking to capitalize on their surprise run last year with an even deeper one this year. Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Ndamukong Suh have all been added to the defense while Brandin Cooks joins what was already an explosive offense.

The Chargers were poor in defending the run last season and this will be a true test to see how much they’ve improved in that area as they will face one of the league’s elite runners in Todd Gurley. The Rams love to feed Gurley the ball as he averaged almost 19 carries per game last year.

If the Chargers can’t slow him down, expect the Rams to feed him the ball at will.

So how will the Chargers attack the Rams when they have the ball? Well, it won’t be easy. With Suh and Aaron Donald up front, it figures to be tough to run the ball against the Rams Talib and Peters should make it tough to throw the ball on the outside as well, so this is a game where having Hunter Henry would be quite beneficial.

The Chargers will give the Rams a tough game, but I see the Rams being a more complete team, at least in the early portion of the season when you expect teams to be relatively close to full strength.

Prediction: Rams 23, Chargers 17

Home/LA Chargers News