Monday night is a must-win game for the Baltimore Ravens if they want any chance to pretend to be a playoff team.

A win over the winless Chargers isn’t going to provide some huge boost, mind you, and reaching the postseason will remain a stretch given the realities of this roster (it’s just not very good) and this coaching staff (overmatched thus far, by and large). But a loss would be nothing short of damning, it would beg real questions about the present and future of this failing franchise and could perhaps further grease the path for two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson to decide to ply his trade elsewhere in 2027.

The Chargers have absolutely been the worst team in the NFL, they have earned that 0-8 record and they seem to have absolutely nothing going for them in any aspect of play, and particularly on offense. Traveling across the country on Monday night is probably not their preference right about now. But don’t think for one minute they can’t win this football game, and, believe it or not, they have several things working in their favor above and beyond the fact that Jacoby Brissett will become the fourth quarterback to start a game for the Ravens this season when he takes over in the huddle in Week 9.

Here are the top reasons why the Chargers could pull this off:

They Know Minter Inside Out

Minter looks horribly out of his depth so far, even messaging information about Jackson’s injuries has been a struggle and having his notes out on Monday to hint at lineup changes isn’t much of a bad cop routine. His veteran roster has walked all over him and his young assistants and he’s facing his mentor, in Jim Harbaugh, who knows his psyche and basically created him. The Chargers have nothing to lose and years of practicing against Minter’s defense in college and the NFL means Harbaugh knows a lot of buttons to push.

No one on Minter's staff exudes any real confidence – defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver has become exceptional at suggesting false confidence – they lack leaders and playmakers on both sides of the ball and expecting them to emerge now under extreme duress in a “can’t-lose game,” strikes me as problematic. Minter has been unable to inspire them to this point and they are incredibly weak, mentally, coming off four straight losses.

Minter was asked about trying to coach and call plays at the same time this week, as he should have been. But he seems shaken, and I don't fancy him against his mentor (major coaching changes should be on the table now, as longtime Raiders exec Amy Trask suggested to us on "The Daily Flock").

Ravens Can’t Handle Pressure

This team is 3-9 in its last 12 at home and their choke gene is even more active at home than on the road. They are incredibly adept at getting DeCosta-ed – (blowing a 10-point lead in the second half to lose) at home, and no lead is safe … Oh and they also aren’t built to play from behind having to turn to yet another QB with a 30-year-old offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle, who has struggled to concoct anything that woks in the second half of games.

The front office is acting in a desperate and panicky mode and general manager Eric DeCosta really only builds choking rosters without many players who show up in the clutch. All of this bleeds into the locker room and the bloated payroll and it's an ugly concoction. And then instead of actual introspection, they throw around hollow words like "culture" and mythologize their past. Yuck.

It's like they are built to self-destruct by executives who really only know how to self -destruct from an Ozzie Newsome personnel family tree that has yet to product a single success as a GM.

Baltimore has lost four straight home prime time games, and the Ravens are going to be expected to discard with the worst team in football. Says here that won’t exactly bring out the best in them by a long shot. Collectively, they have a knack for coming up small, and all the weight is on them. Chargers season is already over.

Herbert Can't Get Worse

Justin Herbert is not the worst QB in the NFL. He isn’t.

But that's how he's played this far.

Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner laid out why he believes the star is struggling so mightily and much of it is how he is being asked to read the field with “pure progressions.” At some point Herbert is going to start ignoring his charlatan coordinator, Mike McDaniel, and do what he wants, how he wants. And Harbaugh is going to start getting on the headset and overruling things or taking over play calling himself.

Wouldn’t be surprised at all if that starts Monday night, whether it gets out publicly or not. Something has to change, sitting in Week 10 with 6 touchdown passes and 11 picks is probably rock bottom (QB rating of 75, and after that there is nowhere to go but up. Herbert knows Minter’s tendencies and defaults as well as anyone – certainly better than McDaniel – and I suspect he exhibits more autonomy against his old coach.

Chargers Defense Still Solid Enough

The Chargers got a look at Brissett in Week 1,  when the Cardinals pulled off an upset that no longer looks like an upset. Moving to a new team midseason is brutal – and doing it with a team fighting for its season at 4-5, is even tougher. The Chargers don’t miss Minter as much as they miss having a remotely competent offense that can run or pass the football.

Defensively, the Chargers are better than the Ravens.

They are far superior in the redzone (11th) and on third-down (8th) and have allowed a lower opposing passer rating for the season, too. The Chargers are also superior to the Ravens in points allowed per drive. Given just how pathetic both of these offensive lines are, there is the potential for big plays to be made on defense, but the relative lack of mobility from Brissett, in comparison to Herbert, could end up being a considerable factor in this game and we expect Herbert’s legs to be a big part of the game plan.

Sad as it is to say, given Minter’s pedigree and how highly the Ravens touted him, the Chargers have the edge on defense and a considerable edge at kicker and that might be enough to win a tight game. They are certainly overdue.