Chargers have opportunity to turn season around with schedule ahead

The Chargers have experience with rebounding from poor starts and 2020 could be setup perfectly for another turnaround. In Anthony Lynn’s first season, LA started 0-4 with two losses via missed field goal. A third loss was just as close.

Lynn’s 1-4 start this year has been at least painful, but some encouragement has to be inspired by the play of Justin Herbert to give the Chargers chances to win all four of those games. The opponents ahead after the Week 6 bye do not appear to be as formidable as the Chiefs, Panthers, Bucs and Saints.

Their first five opponents have a combined record of 14-10-1. Their next five have a combined record of 7-17.

LA next hosts the 1-4 Jaguars in Week 7, then travel to Denver to play the 1-3 Broncos in Week 8. The Broncos may be better than their record indicates, but Jacksonville has earned their start.

The Chargers then host the 3-2 Las Vegas Raiders, a team coming off of a strong win against Kansas City. Then it’s a road trip to face the 2-3 Miami Dolphins, followed by a return to LA to play the 0-5 New York Jets.

Per FootballOutsiders, the Chargers have had the fourth hardest schedule in the NFL so far by DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) and they have the easiest remaining slate of any team in the league.

In 2017, Lynn improved his first year coaching record from that 0-4 start to 3-4 with a three-game winning streak, then lost close road games to the two best teams in the AFC. The Chargers rebounded to win the next four to get to 7-6, eventually finishing 9-7.

Of course, this is a pattern the organization has seen prior to Lynn but he might as well carry the tradition on and see if they can’t be the perfect team to secure the first seven-seed in AFC history. If the Chargers win four of the next five, they could improve their record to 5-5 heading into the final six games. It could be a difficult remaining schedule, but December is too far away to know what to expect.

We don’t even know what to expect the next time the Chargers play, but I’m optimistic about Herbert’s chances to get his first win.