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The San Diego Chargers will lose to the St. Louis Rams

Each week, John Gennaro gives San Diego Chargers fans three reasons to be pessimistic about the team's chances of winning their upcoming game. This week, they welcome the 4-6 St. Louis Rams to Qualcomm Stadium.

By John Gennaro

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Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Pass Rush

The early-season St. Louis Rams were not very good. They were 1-4 and seemingly headed for another lost season, their vaunted defensive line woefully underperforming.

Then, like magic, they woke up. Look at this split:

First 5 Games: 1-4 (1 sack)

Last 5 Games: 3-2 (18 sacks)

So, while it may be easy to look at the Rams' 4-6 record and think "bad team", this has been a tale of two teams for Jeff Fisher's team this season. The Chargers, unfortunately, will be going up against the "good" Rams team on Sunday. Oh, and San Diego's offensive line isn't very good at protecting Philip Rivers...

Run Defense

In their last three games, the Rams defense is allowing an average of 45.3 rushing yards per game. Those are total team yards allowed against three very good running teams in the Broncos, Cardinals, and 49ers.

According to Football Outsiders, St. Louis has the 6th best run defense in the league this season. They also figure that San Diego has the 27th best rushing offense in the league.

Don't expect that Chargers offensive line or rushing game to suddenly come to life against the Rams. This, actually, might be their worst game of the season on the ground.

"Bad" Philip Rivers

I don't mind ESPN's QBR stat. Here's how Rivers' season splits up with it.

Philip Rivers' first 6 games: 85.0 average QBR

Philip Rivers' last 4 games: 57.3 average QBR

To give you an idea of the difference between the two, 85.0 as an average QBR would make Philip Rivers the 2nd-best QB in the league behind only Aaron Rodgers (85.9). 57.3 as an average QBR would make Rivers the 15th-best QB in the league behind Jay Cutler (59.0).

To put it simply, whether it's due to a "chest" injury or not, Philip Rivers is not playing very well right now. The Chargers need him to play fantastic to beat the Rams, who easily handled Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

To buy tickets, visit the NFL Ticket Exchange.

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