NFL Week 16 Picks: The 2 Road Teams with the Best Shots at Victory

It's getting down to the end of the 2011 NFL season and as we head toward the playoffs every game is critical, not just for teams on the bubble, but also for those already in the postseason who are jockeying for home field advantage.

This weekend two teams hoping to put together late-season runs are the two most likely to score road victories.

San Diego Chargers at Detroit Lions

The Chargers are doing what they seem to do every year and that is dig themselves a huge hole and attempt to climb out of it at the very end of the season. The 7-7 Bolts are currently riding a three-game win streak that includes a 34-14 thrashing of Baltimore on Sunday night. 

This weekend San Diego travels to Detroit to take on the 8-5 Lions, who started the season 5-0 but have gone 4-5 ever since. The Lions have won two straight, a 34-28 win over Minnesota and a 28-27 comeback win over Oakland in Week 15.

The Chargers showed what they can do offensively on Sunday night, posting 415 yards on an extremely good Ravens defense. Philip Rivers continued his late-season surge, and in San Diego's past three games he has completed 63 of 84 passes (75 percent) for 804 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. The Chargers have protected him during that stretch and that has made all the difference.

This Sunday against a Lions team that has struggled of late, I think the Chargers will keep rolling behind Rivers and a defense that has continued to improve. It will be a tight game but San Diego is hot right now, and I'm not sure any defense could stop the Bolts.

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts

The 10-4 Houston Texans caught a huge break when both the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers lost this week. Thanks to those defeats, Houston remains in the hunt for a first-round bye in the playoffs. This Thursday the Texans travel to Indianapolis to face the 1-13 Colts.

Indianapolis is coming off a 27-13 win over the Tennessee Titans, while Houston is recovering from a disappointing 28-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. 

While T.J. Yates hasn't been fantastic at quarterback, he should be able to do just enough through the air to keep the Colts honest while running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate go to work on Indianapolis' defensive line. 

Houston possesses the NFL's second-ranked defense (allowing just 277.9 yards per game) while the Colts have the league's 31st-ranked offense (averaging 283.6 yards per game). That spells bad news for Indianapolis as the Texans should leave town with an 11-4 record.