Don’t Count Out The Los Angeles Chargers Just Yet
By Keith Rivas
After a terrible 0-4 start to the season, it appears that the Los Angeles Chargers might not be a lost cause after all.
Moving from San Diego to Los Angeles in the off-season was probably one of the more awkward moves in sports over the summer. The Chargers left behind a fan base that wanted them for one of the biggest markets in the world — but they weren’t necessarily wanted.
As the attendance for the Los Angeles Rams will show, they already had a hard enough time getting fans to come to the games. Having to settle for a smaller soccer stadium as their home office for the time being, the Chargers haven’t fared well with their own fans.
More often than not, cheers for the visitors can be heard echoing across the bleachers. That’s not usually a good sign for any team, let alone a franchise that just made a drastic move to another city.
Location has also been an issue for the Chargers in the AFC West. As the standings will show over the last few weeks, they’ve remained at the bottom of the barrel. However, after the Chiefs lost to the Steelers and the Broncos somehow got stunned by the Giants in Week 6, a head-to-head win over Oakland has them at 2-4.
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It’s the same mark as the Raiders, who were expected to be much better than they have been. Denver, with the loss to New York, drops to 3-2 on the year and just a game and a half ahead of Los Angeles.
Kansas City is still well in front of the division with a league-best 5-1 record, but now the Chargers have an advantage over the Raiders that keeps them out of last place in the division. What’s even better is that LA will host Denver next Sunday in a game that will have major implications on the second half of the season.
A win there would put the Chargers right in the thick of things. While it wouldn’t get them to .500 or give them a winning record, it’d be a 3-4 mark capped by a three game winning streak with success against the two teams they have to beat in order to stay behind the Chiefs.
You have to remember as well that the Chargers are a couple missed kicks away from a few more wins. To start the season, they lost to Denver after missing what would’ve been a game-tying field goal.
They nearly did that with the game in Denver, so a win back in Los Angeles would help their cause moving forward in the division. That’s their last divisional game until Week 15 when they have a date with the Chiefs.
If all goes well for the Chargers from here on out, don’t be too surprised if they have their name in the mix for the AFC Wild Card.