Predicting every Chargers game (with final record) after Chiefs loss
By Jason Reed
Week 16 at Indianapolis Colts: 31-27, WIN
Remember how we said the game against the Titans should be a coin-flip? Well you can probably say the same for the Week 16 game against the Indianapolis Colts. With the Chargers losing against the Titans, they will respond and beat the Colts in a similar game.
Indy has a rushing attack that they can throw at the Chargers with Jonathan Taylor but they do not have the coaching nor defense to get the job done like the Titans did. It will be a very similar game that the Chargers emerge victoriously in.
Week 17 vs LA Rams: 28-13, WIN
I think this is the Chargers' biggest win of the season. The LA Rams have also been having the season from hell this year and by the time this game rolls around, it would not be shocking if the veteran players are not even playing.
The team likely won't bring Cooper Kupp back this season with the year slipping away and if that is the case then this should be an easy win for the Bolts. As bad as the Chargers defense has been, the Rams' offense has been even worse.
A Rams offense without Kupp simply cannot score and they do not have the rushing attack to make the Chargers pay. Defensively, we might not even see the Rams play their marquee players. It will take 17 weeks but the Chargers will finally get a definitive win.
That puts the Bolts at 9-7 heading into Week 18. With the Cincinnati Bengals having a gauntlet of a schedule remaining and the Jets and Patriots not being for real, 10 wins should all but guarantee a playoff spot. This means that the Week 18 Denver game will decide the fate of the season.
Week 18 at Denver Broncos: 23-20 WIN (OT)
Call me optimistic, but with the playoffs on the line playing a Broncos team that has nothing to play for, I think the Chargers will get the job done in overtime. They will right the wrong from last season's Week 18 loss and get into the playoffs for the first time in Justin Herbert's career.
However, I would not be shocked at a loss, because it is the Chargers. This is the least confident prediction that I have for the Bolts to end the season as this game truly could go either way.
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Regardless, I do think that the Chargers will be able to rally to a 9-7 record to ensure that they control their own destiny in Week 18. What they do with that is up in the air. By this prediction, though, they finish 10-7 and likely make the playoffs.