NFL Survivor Picks Week Eight: Chargers, Bears, and Cardinals

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

We got back on track in Week Seven with three picks and three easy wins. The Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and Indianapolis Colts combined to win 108-16 last week over the Cleveland Browns,Tampa Bay Bucs, and St. Louis Rams.

Other sharp picks noted in my survivor pool included the San Diego Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles, although really, the Eagles didn't look exceptionally well beyond two huge plays by wideout DeSean Jackson. That was more than enough, because the Washington Redskins, as expected, continued to look down right awful on offense.

All in all, that was one of the easier weeks you could ask for in terms of survivor pool picking, which reinforces the prevailing trend of the 2009 NFL season; there are a lot of bad teams. Terrible teams, in fact. What happened to good old NFL parity?

Well, this week could bring it back to the forefront. From the group of teams we typically like to "pick on" for survivor pools, the Bucs, Kansas City Chiefs, and Redskins are all on a bye and the Rams and Detroit Lions play each other. The Browns are facing a team that just got completely walloped last week. The Raiders are playing the Chargers, so we'll kick off Week Eight with that one.

San Diego Chargers over Oakland Raiders (notes, stats )

I admit I actually thought the Chargers-Chiefs game last week was going to be somewhat close. The Chargers have not overly impressed me this season with the combination of terrible run defense since losing NT Jamal Williams for the season and uncharacteristic poor running game of their own.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs had started to show some life, hanging with Dallas to the end and winning at Washington in recent weeks. This was a division game and one that, statistically, the Chiefs were not that far off the mark from the Chargers heading into it.

The end result: Chargers win 37-7.

Also going back to last week, the Raiders were a somewhat tempting pick to upset the Jets. They had just beat the Eagles at home, holding them to a measly nine points. Was it a sign the defense turned a corner? The Jets were coming off a bad loss to the Bills in which they could do nothing right. Quarterback Mark Sanchez was a turnover machine, the team committed over a dozen penalties, and they lost DT Kris Jenkins for the season. 

The end result? Jets win 38-0. Or shall I say for the purpose of this write-up, Raiders lose 0-38.

Let's not get too caught up in the lopsidedness of those respective scores, but in the grand scheme of things, we just know the Raiders are a bad team. We may not be able to entirely explain how they managed to beat the Eagles, but we do know they beat them badly.

As for the Chargers, they have some very good players, but I'm not ready to call them a very good team yet. Maybe just plain good and perhaps more aptly described as better than average. It is not like they aren't capable of throwing up some stinkers now and again, but when your run defense and running game are problem spots, it will happen.

Looking at their season, however, the Chargers have really only lost to good teams - the Baltimore Ravens in Week Two, the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week Four, and the Denver Broncos in Week Six. I think it is the every other week nature of their season that really gives the impression that the Chargers haven't gotten on track.

This is a rematch with the Raiders and the Chargers only narrowly escaped in Week One, 24-20, thanks to an efficient running game by the Raiders. Since that time, QB JaMarcus Russell appears to be regressing, getting benched last week after a 6-for-11, 61-yard, two interceptions, and a fumble performance.

The Raiders running game is now headed up by RB Justin Fargas with Darren McFadden still out and Michael Bush not living up to high (maybe that was just me) expectations. Fargas is a decent spot player, but the trickle down effect of having poor QB play and poor receiving options is limiting the running game for the Raiders.

Twenty is the most points the Raiders have scored all season, so to expect them to duplicate it or top it is a stretch.

Even when the running game does not do well, like most of the season, this Chargers offense is still finding the end zone. QB Philip Rivers has racked up over 250 yards every game and completed 60 percent of his passes each of the last two weeks, with no interceptions in four games.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?