Seattle Seahawks vs. San Diego Chargers: What Experts Are Saying About San Diego

This isn't the San Diego Chargers’ week.

After blowing an 11-point lead to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1, the Chargers lost starting center Nick Hardwick for the season. Now they need to defeat the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, on a short week to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole.

Most experts don't like San Diego’s chances.

Every member of NFL.com's Around the NFL team picked the Seahawks to take care of business versus the Chargers. All but one of the six experts featured in this slideshow agreed.

However, no pick is a good pick without solid reasoning—let's find out what some of the best writers, analysts and reporters are saying about Seahawks vs. Chargers, what the final score will be and if their arguments are sound.

Chris Simms, Bleacher Report

Chris Simms isn't down on San Diego—he considers them a contender, albeit a contender that will start the season 0-2.

Simms has three main reasons for a San Diego loss: Seattle is the best team in the NFL, the Chargers feel drained after a Monday night heartbreaker and the Seahawks have had much more time to rest and prepare than the Chargers have.

It's true—the Seahawks opened on Thursday night while the Chargers returned to San Diego Tuesday morning. That's more than three days of rest and rejuvenation the Chargers weren't able to get. After dealing with an NFC West-tested Arizona Cardinals team, San Diego now has to deal with the league’s most physical team on a short week.

The Seahawks are also healthier than the Chargers are, having only four players on their injury report while San Diego has nine. Facing the NFL's top team is tough—facing the Seahawks when they are at full health, with the exception of slot corner Jeremy Lane, is brutal. This especially holds true since the Chargers are moving on without Hardwick leading the offensive line.

David Steele, Sporting News

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

David Steele said the Chargers' collapse versus the Cardinals was disappointing, and the Seahawks will win this one going away, 33-13.

Interesting, but wrong.

When the Chargers aren't winning close games, they are losing close games—San Diego only lost one game by a margin of more than eight points in 2013, a 17-27 loss to the Raiders in Week 5.

The Chargers are certainly the underdogs in Week 2, but they never fail to make a game interesting. Their ball-control offense that frustrated the Broncos last season can make even the most dangerous teams antsy.

Despite the difference in talent and days of rest, San Diego won't be run out of their own building on Sunday. A loss wouldn't be surprising—a rout would be.

Pete Prisco and Pat Kirwan, CBS Sports

Pete Prisco is bold—he picked the Chargers to upset the Seahawks.

When fellow NFL analyst Pat Kirwan said Rivers will struggle due to Seattle's dominant defense, which has shut down the likes of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, Prisco said the Seahawks haven't been tested by a good quarterback on the road recently. It's a strong point—they dismantled Manning at a neutral site, and the Packers and Saints games were both at CenturyLink Field.

Prisco said the Chargers will find a way, being a tough and wounded team desperate for a win, and top Seattle 17-14.

Kirwan went in the other direction, saying the Seahawks have too many weapons for the Chargers to handle, and if San Diego wants to be competitive, they will need constant pressure from Corey Liuget. Kirwan stuck with the favorite, picking Seattle to win 24-17 on the road.

Both raise good points, but Seattle's struggles on the road have been greatly exaggerated. The Seahawks shouldn't experience any decline in play, especially in Qualcomm Stadium, which has a reputation for being laid-back.

Elliot Harrison, NFL.com

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

Elliot Harrison does not like the Chargers' chances in this matchup, primarily due to how both teams fare running the ball.

San Diego has the disadvantage in this department, as its three-headed monster at running back went nowhere against the talented-but-depleted Cardinals front seven.

Seattle's defensive line does not have Calais Campbell, but its linebacker unit contains two young stars in Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright—they are just as formidable as Arizona in run defense and kept Green Bay's Eddie Lacy in check in the season opener.

That does not bode well for a Chargers team that couldn't juggle snaps effectively between Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead and Donald Brown on Monday night.

San Diego probably wishes it had Marshawn Lynch, who ran for 110 yards and scored two touchdowns versus the Packers. His physicality could easily wear out this defense, which struggles stopping the run. Harrison said that the Chargers allowing 109 rushing yards to Carson Palmer, Jonathan Dwyer and a hobbled Andre Ellington does not help their chances against Beast Mode.

Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

Featured Columnist Gary Davenport said Seahawks vs. Chargers has the looks of a classic trap game, as the Seahawks could already be looking ahead to the Denver Broncos in Week 3. However, the Seahawks and Chargers played at completely different levels in Week 1, and he noted that San Diego could struggle keeping a lead, much like it did versus Arizona.

Bleacher Report's lead NFL writers also weighed in, and not a single one of them picked San Diego to pull off the upset.

These predictions pose the question: What if the Chargers had kept their lead versus the Cardinals? Would they be one of the hot upset picks of Week 2? The margin between victory and defeat is microscopic in the NFL, and San Diego might have simply been a victim to bad luck and fixable errors.

Weeks 1 and 2 could be a repeat of the first two games of last season—San Diego lost in overtime in its Monday night opener versus the Texans in 2013, but came back and beat an Eagles team in Week 2 that was riding a hype-filled Week 1 victory.

Although that Eagles team didn't win the Super Bowl the previous season.