Philip Rivers and Los Angeles Chargers will lose to Ryan Tannehill and Tennessee Titans

The Los Angeles Chargers are desperate as they get ready to play the Tennessee Titans.

After getting their collective rear ends kicked on national television, this team appears to have no grit. The effort that this team has displayed has been lacking, to say the least.

Taking a look at this game, it would actually be quite easy to point to many reasons that the Chargers should and could win this game. Unfortunately, something took place this week that will affect this game.

First, Russell Okung will not be playing in this game. Player transactions must be filed by Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Okung was not activated to the active roster, so he will not be playing.

This means that Trent Scott will once again be manning the left tackle position. With Scott on the field, the Chargers offense is slow and predictable. Let me take a moment and explain why this is a big deal.

When a team has inefficiencies along the offensive line, it is common practice to use an extra blocker. Without going into the X’s and O’s of it all, using an extra blocker takes away options and slows the offense down – by having players unsure of exactly what to do until the ball is snapped.

Want to slow down Philip Rivers? Simply show pressure.  If the defense shows pressure then Rivers has to adjust and deploy extra blockers. So even if the defense does not bring said pressure, they have already taken away at least one option from Rivers. That has been an effective tactic against the Chargers this season.

The Titans announced that Ryan Tannehill will be making his first start of the season against our beloved Chargers. That is the determining factor in why I believe that the Titans will win this game.

On November 17, 2013, Tannehill made his first start against the then-San Diego Chargers. Not to say that Tannehill has feasted on the Chargers since he has only played them four times while with the Miami Dolphins. It is that the Chargers have not fared well against Tannehill-led teams. The Chargers are 1-3 against the quarterback.

Last season was all about exorcising demons. This season seems to be the “Re-Introduction to Chargering,” and that is why I cannot believe that the Chargers will win this game.

Luck is a funny thing. It comes and goes as it pleases. Lady luck has been turning a deaf ear to the Chargers’ fortunes this season. Some seasons go better than others. This one is not going well. That is a fact that a 2-4 record will attest to.

The Tennessee Titans are also 2-4. They have an advantage that will feel foreign to this Chargers team. The Titans will be playing at home and will have fans rooting for them. That is a concept that the Chargers have, sadly, become unfamiliar with.

Fear not Chargers fans, since I am going on record, predicting the Chargers coming home 2-5; the Chargers will very likely go into Tennessee and blow the Titans out of the water, 42-13. Predictions are not and never have been my strong suit.

Anthony Lynn may very well do an excellent job and get this team playing even beyond its potential. Maybe 2-4 is just what this team needed to wake up and start playing up to their own lofty expectations.

I am a believer in coach Lynn. If I am right about him then that is exactly what he will do.

Up to this point, I have just not seen enough out of this team, and that is why I expect the Chargers to break my heart again. Every Chargers loss stings worse than the one before, and I expect this one to be no different.

Titans 24, Chargers 20