Los Angeles Chargers: What is LA’s ceiling in 2019?

The Los Angeles Chargers shared the joint-best record in the AFC last season and are going to be one of the most entertaining teams to watch in 2019.

The Los Angeles Chargers certainly lived up to the dark horse moniker (although they were really never much of a dark horse, to begin with) in 2018. The Chargers made the NFL Playoffs for the first time in five years, posting a 12-4 record in the process.

That 12-4 record would be the joint-best in the AFC alongside the Kansas City Chiefs. However, since the Chiefs owned a better divisional record, the Chargers were forced to be a fifth-seeded wild card and did not get a first-round bye.

That could have changed things as the team would have ran into the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Divisional Round instead of the New England Patriots, who would have played the Kansas City Chiefs, assuming the Chiefs also got past the Baltimore Ravens.

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However, assuming that game went the same way, the Chargers would have had to eventually go through the Patriots. Maybe that game would have been different in the better weather of Los Angeles. Who knows.

Regardless, the Chargers have not lost too much talent-wise and did a fairly good job at adding talent this offseason. The team was able to retain some potentially big loses, with the only true big loss being Tyrell Williams.

The Chargers also brought in veteran linebacker Thomas Davis as well as drafting a fairly talented group of rookies. If anything, the Chargers are primed to be even better in 2019 with their experience.

Which raises the question: what exactly is the Chargers’ ceiling in 2019? The team won 12 games last year, and probably should have won 13 if it were not for a poor loss against the Denver Broncos, so what could they accomplish in 2019?

Quite frankly, the Chargers have a tougher schedule this season than last. They still have to play the Chiefs twice, have to play the Steelers again and play two playoff teams from the AFC South in the Colts and Texans.

Oh, and they also have to go into Chicago in October and play the Minnesota Vikings, who disappointed last season but are still talented, late in the year.

I predicted that the Los Angeles Chargers would go 11-5 in my rundown of the schedule on my personal podcast. That does not properly reflect the ceiling of this team, though.

Quite frankly, I think that the absolute best that the Chargers could do in 2019, assuming everything goes right and they win games like they did last season, would be a 13-3 record. That might not be as high as some fans had hoped with these additions, but the fact is the Chargers will land somewhere between 11 and 13 wins.

The Chargers should be able to split the series with Kansas City, so there is one loss. Los Angeles is also talented enough to win three of the four games between the Steelers, Texans, Colts and Vikings, especially considering all four of those games are at home.

And we will just assume that the Chargers cannot overcome the extremely tall order of beating the Chicago Bears on the road. While it could happen, it is not likely.

That is three losses right there, assuming the Chargers do not have any of their “should have won” losses as they did last season against the Broncos.

If the Los Angeles Chargers were to win 14 or more games then it certainly would be a massive surprise. With the season still months away, the realistic ceiling for the 2019 Chargers is 13 wins.