NFL Week 16 Picks: Chargers Will Edge Lions to Keep Pace in AFC West Race

It's another December to remember for the San Diego Chargers, though Philip Rivers certainly hopes there will be more in store for them than just a discount at their local Lexus dealer. For now, they should drive away from the Motor City with a win over the Detroit Lions and be happy with that.

Once losers of six in a row, the Bolts have since turned things around in rather dramatic fashion, earning victories in their last three outings to move to 21-2 in December with Rivers under center. Keeping that streak going against the Lions will be no easy task for the Chargers, though forces both within and beyond their control should allow Norv Turner's team to triumph at Ford Field.

San Diego's success begins with its offense. The Chargers' point-scoring juggernaut snoozed through the middle of the season but has awoken in the last three weeks, averaging 36.3 points per game this month.

Don't expect that to change against Detroit's defense, which hasn't surrendered fewer than 27 points in a game since Week 8. Along the way, the Lions have allowed opposing quarterbacks to light up their secondary, with Carson Palmer submitting the latest testimonial to the demise of Jim Schwartz's pride and joy.

And to think, pass prevention is the statistical strength of Detroit's D. The Lions' 27th-ranked run defense figures to have a tough time holding down running back Ryan Mathews, who's averaging better than 113 yards per game on the ground over his last four outings. As much as the Chargers trust Rivers to control the game from the pocket (no picks since November), they'd just as readily have him hand the ball off to Mathews, if for no other reason than to keep Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson on the sidelines.

That's not to say it'll be all easy sledding for the Bolts on Christmas Eve. Their banged-up offensive line will have a tough time contending with the pass-rushing duo of Ndamukong Suh and Cliff Avril, and their defense, though much improved of late, doesn't have anyone on staff who can so much as slow down Megatron.

Then again, nobody does.

Still, the Chargers are arguably the better team right now and will be playing for their postseason lives as they play catchup with Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. The Lions, on the other hand, have all but wrapped up a wild-card berth in the NFC.

In other words, cue up the Lexus jingle for the Bolts.

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