The San Diego Chargers were finally able to end their three-game losing streak by defeating their very subpar division rivals, the Oakland Rivers, last Sunday. It was not a pretty day for the Chargers offense that has seemed very stagnant the last few weeks.

Although coming off a bye week, the Chargers were still unable to get into a rhythm against the winless Raiders. Regardless they still came out victorious with a 13-6 win a game that was supposed to be a “cake walk.”

Next week when they play a confident St. Louis Rams team coming off a surprise victory over the Denver Broncos, the Chargers offense will need to be much sharper in order to win and get back in the race for the AFC West. The Rams are 4-6 but the Chargers cannot take this lightly as they have knocked off three true contenders so far this season including the Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, and the Seattle Seahawks.  If the Chargers can fix up some offensive issues this week and Rivers can stay healthy, the Chargers should be able to at least give themselves a chance to pick up their second straight victory this upcoming Sunday.

Against the Raiders, Chargers fans were given quite a scare on the day when quarterback Philip Rivers came up hobbling multiple times after repeatedly being knocked down by the Raiders defense. At one point, Rivers appeared to hurt his leg while also having the wind knocked out of him later on, but he was able to stay in the game and help his team escape with a vital win. After the game, it also came out from tight end Antonio Gates that Rivers has been playing with a severe rib injury the past few weeks which has surely impacted his play.

Against the Raiders, the Chargers were able to get off to a fast start which they had been lacking in past three losses. On only the third play from scrimmage, Rivers found receiver Malcolm Floyd for a 22-yard touchdown to get an early lead.  However, after that no more touchdowns were scored by either team as both defenses held each other in a stale mate. The teams only exchanged field goals as the game finished 13-6 as the Chargers were able to snap their losing streak while handing the Raiders their 16^th straight loss (including last season).

Rivers finished the game with 193 yards while completing 22 out of 34 passes. Rivers was clearly not at his best, but the most important thing is that the Chargers found a way to win thanks to their defensive effort.