Who Should Chargers Fans Be Rooting for?

We're back in "rooting for the San Diego Chargers to lose" mode here at BFTB for one last week. At this point, with Norv Turner gone and the Bolts officially eliminated from the playoffs, the only reason I could see for rooting for a victory would be improving the job security of A.J. Smith.

The reasoning behind rooting for a loss is two-fold. Number one, a worse record equals a better draft position for the Chargers in the 2012 NFL Draft. Number two, there's a chance that San Diego could drop to last in the division and play an easier schedule next year for whatever new Head Coach is here. It would be the first time since 2005 that the Chargers finished lower than 2nd place in the division, which helped the 2006 Chargers to finished the season 14-2.

The Chargers currently sit at 7-8. Obviously, in rooting for a loss, we're hoping that they finish the season 7-9. In an effort to make this as easy as possible, I'm going to break down the teams we should be watching (besides the Bolts) into two groups.

6-win teams
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
Carolina Panthers

If you were wondering who to root for in the Kyle Orton vs. Tim Tebow game, the answer is Kyle Orton. A Chiefs win and a Chargers loss would catapult the Chiefs into 3rd place and hand the Bolts a better draft pick and an easier schedule.

A Bills win shouldn't change much, because they hold a tiebreaker against the Chargers (a worse conference record), and a Patriots loss wouldn't do much either. Carolina is in the same position up against the Saints this week. Still, the more 7-win teams the merrier, right?

7-win teams
Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears
Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals

An Eagles win paired with a Chargers loss means a higher pick for the Bolts, but a better chance of Philly possibly holding on to Andy Reid (a very good HC candidate for SD). Pick your poison with that one.

The Bears have the same overall, division and conference record as the Chargers. A win for them (against the Vikings) and San Diego is halfway home to better draft positioning.

It's odd to have both Seattle and Arizona on this list because they're playing each other. I suppose the team we'd want to be behind us in the draft is the team with the bigger QB need, which would be Seattle. They're also gamblers on draft day and like trading with the Chargers. Go Seahawks.

So there you have it Chargers fans. I'll write up this little cheat-sheet for you so you don't forget who you're rooting for on Sunday.

Teams We Want to Win:
Raiders
Chiefs
Eagles
Bears
Seahawks

Teams We Want to Lose:
Chargers
Broncos
Redskins
Vikings
Cardinals