Posted on November 2, 2018, by Travis Pulver
The Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks will enter Sunday’s game in Seattle in a similar position. Both find themselves in second place in their respective division. Neither has a very good chance of catching the first-place team (Chiefs and Rams) without the first-place team getting hit with a bevy of injuries.
For them, it is the wild card or bust which means every single win is of utmost importance to them.
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Of course, at this time of the season, no one is out of the playoffs (yet). One loss will not knock either out of the running. But, when the final whistle blows in Seattle Sunday, the road for one is going to be a little bit tougher.
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But who?
The Debate
This game has the potential to be one of those classic matchups pitting one good team against another. Both have good defenses this season as well as good offenses.
For the Chargers, it has been business as usual. They still have one of the better passing attacks in the NFL, led by Phillip Rivers. Melvin Gordon is getting better with each season and has given them a nice run game to go with it this year.
In Seattle, there are a lot of new faces, but the blueprint is a familiar one. The defense cleaned house during the offseason, but the new staff and players have been more than living up to the standard the former Legion of Boom set (4th in points allowed; 3rd in total yards allowed).
Neither team is winning based off their respective strength alone, of course. Russell Wilson is leading an offense that could be one of the better ones he has had in years. Why? He finally has a decent run game taking some of the pressure off him!
Chris Carson has been the primary running back in Seattle for the last four games. In that time, he has three 100+ yard games and a pair of touchdowns. The team went 3-1 in those game with the loss coming at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, 33-31.
With Joey Bosa sidelined with an injury all year long, the Chargers defense hasn’t been as good as it was last year. But they have been good enough to help keep the team in it during close games. They had hoped Bosa might play this week, but it doesn’t look like he will be available.
The Prediction
This is a tough one. On the one hand, it has been fun to watch the Seahawks defy the odds and show that you can rebuild on the fly and still win. At the same time, Phillip Rivers has been at it a long time now. It would be great to see him get a shot at some playoff glory this season.
He could still get it, of course, whether the Chargers lose Sunday or not—which is good because they probably will.
But this will be a very entertaining, hard-fought close football game between two closely matched teams. When push comes to shove, something is going to have to break. Don’t look for that something to necessarily be either QB or RB. All four will have good, but not great, games.
Look for it to be the turnover battle.
To be fair, both are among the league’s best in that category this season. But the Seahawks are a little better at forcing turnovers than the Chargers. There may only be one between the two, but the short field that one gives their offense can be the difference in the game.
Take the Seahawks to win over the Chargers.