Week 15 at Las Vegas Raiders: Win
Once again, call me an optimist all you want but the Chargers should still be able to beat the Las Vegas Raiders. To be fair to Vegas, the team has played far better since firing Josh McDaniels but the Chargers still have a fairly big talent advantage in this game.
As long as the receiving corps is healthy then the Chargers should be able to do enough to win this game. The Raiders secondary has been exposed at times this season and this feels like the kind of game where Herbert just spams the ball to Keenan Allen and Palmer. This might very well be like the Minnesota Vikings game from Week 3.
Aidan O'Connell really struggled the first time he faced the Chargers. As bad as the defense has been, the pass rush has still been able to get home. The Chargers win a close one on the road to bring the record back up to .500 and give fans some hope.
Week 16 vs Buffalo Bills: Chargers loss
And then the hope will instantly be dashed with a loss that will probably put them out of the playoff picture. The Buffalo Bills have had their struggles this season and they are not as unbeatable as they looked before the season. But this Chargers team is worse.
Josh Allen is going to absolutely tear this Chargers defense apart. The pass rush won't impact him like it will impact O'Connell and he will use both his legs and his rocket arm to pick apart this defense. This is going to be an ugly loss and one that will emphatically end the Chargers' playoff hopes once and for all.
After losing this game, the Chargers will be 7-8 on the season.