San Diego needs strong rushing performance to prevail in Baltimore after they got demolished the last time in the Eastern time zone
The San Diego Chargers travel back to the East Coast to play the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium Sunday with an ounce of redemption on their mind.
It’s not exactly the Ravens they want redemption from, it’s wanting redemption from the last time they played a “morning” game.
They haven’t played a 1 PM EST game out East since they had their cans handed to them by the Miami Dolphins in a 37-0 thrashing at Sun Life Stadium.
They’d better bring their best against the Ravens as this might be the last winnable game they play all year.
The Chargers (7-4) are skating on thin ice. After the Ravens, their next two games are against arguably the AFC favorites and perennial powerhouses named the New England Patriots (9-2) and Denver Broncos (8-3).
But before you simply put the Chargers in the NFL graveyard, the Bolts and their fans can take solace in the fact that both of those games are at Qualcomm Stadium.
They finish the season with back-to-back road contests against the playoff hopeful San Francisco 49ers (7-5) and Kansas City Chiefs (7-4).
Known for their strong finishes each year, the Chargers will really be up against it from here on in.
This matchup will come down to which team runs the ball better.
Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has shown his zone run blocking scheme is a perennial league best. RB Justin Forsett (left) is averaging 5.8 yards a carry and is third in the league with 903 yards.
It’s also worth mentioning that he wasn’t officially named the starter until week seven against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Chargers have relinquished 120.6 YPG on the ground since week seven. They rank 15th in the league giving up 108.8 YPG this year. If they can’t stop Forsett from breaking through the line of scrimmage, into the second tier of the defense, they stand zero chance of winning this game.
The Chargers meanwhile have been rather punchless running the ball, currently 27th in the league with 89.5 YPG. The return of Ryan Mathews on week 11, after missing seven games with a knee injury, was just the spark Philip Rivers and the offense needed to contend against the elite of the NFL.
Mathews rushed for 70 and 105 yards against the Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams respectively. His return will directly correlate with the Chargers’ ability to prevail in games where ball control is imperative.
The crowd at M&T Bank Stadium is known for their oppressive noise. If the Ravens start pounding the ball and control the clock, the sound will be deafening when San Diego heads onto the field.
Oh, and it’ll be about 55 degrees at kickoff – far from the 70 degrees and mostly sunny days they are used to in Southern California. 
Sunday afternoon will be a great test for a reemerging Chargers rushing attack to unveil a game plan to topple fellow playoff
contenders. The Patriots and Broncos are both beatable if you keep the ball out of the hands of their elite quarterbacks.
The 49ers are inconsistent. The Chiefs can’t seem to get their wide receivers in the end zone.
If the Chargers can be competitive against Joe Flacco, then it bodes well for them.
If not, it’ll be a long December.
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