Thursday Night NFL Preview: Niners Coming off Big Win a Plus for Chargers

Okay, so the title of this piece sounds a bit odd. 

How could the San Francisco 49ers' 40-21 win over Seattle be a good thing for the San Diego Chargers? I'm glad you asked. 

The San Diego Chargers can often be described as a bunch of mental midgets. I love that team, but they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed sometimes. 

Whenever the Chargers get something good going, they get full of themselves and start thinking that the other team is going to lie down for them. Just look at their Week 13 game against the Raiders for proof of that. 

I remember back when the Chargers were about to face the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, a player was asked about the upcoming game. "Who? The Patriots?", he answered. "Believe me, they know what's up." 

In all fairness, the Chargers had that game in the palm of their hand, but a misguided attempt to be a hero caused them to go down in flames.

Then there was last year, when the Bolts pulled their usual slow start and then ran off 11 wins in a row. In their first playoff game, they got to host the New York Jets—a team that had squeaked into the playoffs and were given little chance by most against the Chargers.

Three missed field goals, a kicked challenge flag and a headbutt later, the Chargers were the ones planning their vacations for the offseason, once again.

Look at San Diego's losses this year. In Week 1, they lost to the Chiefs, a team that nobody at that point expected to be contenders. The Chargers went in to Kansas City, played sloppy ball and got handed their first loss of the year.

Two weeks later, after a big win against Jacksonville, the Chargers swaggered into Seattle and expected the Seahawks to bow down and pay them homage. A few kick and punt returns later, the Chargers were 1-2.

The Chargers rolled into Oakland in Week 5, feeling good again after dismantling the Cardinals the week before, and looked to continue their recent dominance over the Raiders.

A funny thing happened on their way to their 14th consecutive win versus Oakland. The Raiders blocked a couple punts, ran the ball down the Chargers' throats and had a long scoop and score. Do I hear 2-3?

By Week 6, there was the fear that this was another slow start, and that they needed to snap out of it. However, a trip to St. Louis to face the lowly Rams should have been the remedy. After all, the Bolts had not lost two in a row all season! 

Strike that—St. Louis came up huge and knocked the Chargers back to 2-4.

The Patriots were up next. This was not a good time to play one of the best teams in the league. 

The Chargers knew this would be a tough game, but they played hard and gave the Patriots all they could handle. The Patriots won, but only by a field goal. This did not appear to be the same Chargers team that played so poorly in the previous weeks.

2-5 seemed like a bad enough start to start discussing the possibility of firing head coach Norv Turner and GM AJ Smith—making it the perfect time to do what everyone had expected the Chargers to do: go on a run and win the AFC West.

It seemed like the plan was working well, as the Chargers took down the Titans, Texans, Broncos and Colts in succession. They made it to December, when they're unbeatable.

Enter Oakland in Week 13. 

Surely, the Chargers couldn't get swept by the Raiders, a team that hadn't won more than four games in a season since 2002.

252 rushing yards later, the Raiders left the Chargers standing in their own stadium wondering why Oakland didn't get the memo. 

Now, the Chargers will need some help to make it; in all likelihood, they themselves would have to win out from here on.

The division leading Chiefs then came into San Diego, minus their starting quarterback. The two arch enemies had played each other 101 times before. The series was tied 50-50-1.

Who would break the tie?

The Chargers, that's who. The Chargers put a beat down on the Chiefs that had to leave them wondering if their whole season was just a fluke. The only thing that gave their fans hope was that Matt Cassel didn't play and should be returning soon to save the day and the season. 

After that game, most fans felt good about the Chargers' chances to pull ahead of KC, but I got worried. After all, the Chargers have shown too many times that they have a propensity to look past teams, and now they have what is considered the easiest schedule remaining in the NFL. 

That is a scary proposition. Where most would see easy wins, I see trap games.

Then something good happened. The San Francisco 49ers took on the Seattle Seahawks and pummeled them soundly about the head and shoulders. 40-21 was the final score, and it kept the Niners officially in the race for the NFC West crown.

The Niners' big win should make the Chargers sit up and take notice of the franchise that destroyed them in their sole appearance in the Super Bowl. After losses to so many seemingly inferior teams, there is no way the Chargers should look past the Niners in this matchup. 

Not even the biggest divas on the team should be cocky enough to think they can phone this one in.

With all of that in mind, I need to come up with my pick for this game and a guess at a score. Honestly, I am a self-proclaimed homer, so the pick is easy; the score, though, is a little tougher.

The way I see it is that the Chargers haven't won too many close games. They either come to play and spank the other team, or they come in unprepared, fall behind early and just fall short of a comeback most weeks. 

Therefore, if I am going to pick my Bolts to win, I have to have them winning big. After all, if the stats mean anything, this game should be a fairly comfortable win. Perhaps not as easy as the KC game, but a comfortable win just the same.

Now, before the Niners fans jump all over me, remember that I am not saying that your team doesn't have a shot. I'm just saying that I believe that my Bolts will win and the odds makers have it right. 

I will certainly be watching to find out what happens. No assumptions here.

Niners 17, Chargers 34

Enjoy the game!