Los Angeles Chargers: Three reasons why Super Bowl LIII is obtainable
By Jason Reed
2. The Los Angeles Chargers are one of few teams with a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback
Speaking of quarterbacks and why it takes a great quarterback to win it all, the Los Angeles Chargers are one of few contending NFL teams that have a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback. The quarterback class is very weak next season and the recent shuffle of arms is in the Chargers’ favor.
Philip Rivers may not get the love he deserves outside of the Chargers fanbase but when it is all said and done he will go down as a top-ten quarterback all-time and one of the most durable, if not the most durable, all-time. Rivers is elite. As much as other fanbases would scoff at that comment, you earn that status when you eclipse 4,000 yards nine times over ten seasons.
The landscape of Super Bowl-caliber quarterbacks is barren. In the AFC, Rivers joins Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and maybe Derek Carr — which is only possible if he plays at his absolute best and it still may be a stretch — as the only Super Bowl-caliber quarterbacks.
The NFC side of things is better, but still not as big of a group as it would have been several years ago.
Aaron Rodgers obviously leads the pack in the NFC alongside Carson Wentz, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson. You could make the case for Matt Stafford, but he has been too inconsistent. Dak Prescott also seemed like a guy that was ready to join that list but relied too heavily on Ezekiel Elliot.
Kirk Cousins also is a borderline guy that we could probably bunch into that group since the Vikings defense is so good.
While the NFC has quite a few guys, the Chargers would only have to play one of them in the Super Bowl. Whereas in the AFC the quarterback core is fairly weak.