The Los Angeles Chargers entered the offseason following yet another letdown in the playoffs. Despite benefiting from one of the league’s softest schedules and ending the regular season with a strong 11-6 record, they still placed second in the AFC West behind the Kansas City Chiefs, clinching the AFC’s top Wild Card spot.
In the Wild Card game, the Chargers jumped out to a 6-0 lead against the Houston Texans midway through the second quarter but then unraveled, surrendering 23 unanswered points and ultimately losing 32-12. Looking ahead, ESPN’s Kris Rihm predicts the road to 10 wins in 2025 will be a steep climb for Los Angeles.
The Chargers Will Need to Finish Strong, Despite 3 of Their Final 4 Games Coming on the Road
From Weeks 14 through 17, the Los Angeles Chargers will encounter what ESPN’s Kris Rihm calls “perhaps the toughest stretch” of their schedule. During this span, they’ll face three teams that made the playoffs last season, along with the Dallas Cowboys, who are expected to have a fully healthy Dak Prescott under center.
If you expand that tough stretch to include Week 18, the Chargers will close out the season with the following opponents:
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Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning Super Bowl champions (Home)
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Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning AFC champions (Away)
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Dallas Cowboys with a healthy Dak Prescott (Away)
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Houston Texans, who finished 2024 on a high note (Home)
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Denver Broncos, potentially boasting the league’s top defense (Away)
Rihm emphasizes that this challenging end-of-season run could be critical for the Chargers as they battle for playoff positioning. It may determine whether they’re true contenders or fall short, much like they did last year.
In the bold predictions section of his article, Rihm points out that the Chargers largely capitalized on weaker competition in 2024. Despite their 11-win season, only three of those victories came against teams with winning records—two against the Broncos and one against the Bengals.
With a significantly tougher schedule in 2025 and a roster that hasn’t seen major upgrades, Rihm believes the Chargers will face an uphill climb to reach ten wins again.
Los Angeles is Only Team With This ‘Brutal’ Scheduling Quirk
As I mentioned earlier today, the Los Angeles Chargers have a particularly demanding start to their 2025 season due to a grueling early travel schedule. They’ll kick things off against the Kansas City Chiefs in São Paulo, Brazil, then head straight to Las Vegas for a Monday Night Football showdown with the Raiders.
After that, they’ll finally return home to host the Denver Broncos. That’s right—the Chargers will have played three of their six divisional games by the end of Week 3.
Michael Peterson of Bolts From The Blue (SB Nation) describes this start as potentially “brutal” for the Chargers.
“They’re the only team in the NFL opening the season with three straight divisional matchups,” Peterson writes. “Other teams may see two early division games, but no one else wraps up half their divisional slate before Week 4.”
This would be a tough stretch for any team, even in an average division. But the AFC West is shaping up to be one of the league’s toughest in 2025. The Chiefs remain the benchmark and are revamping their offensive line.
The Broncos boast a potentially elite defense and second-year QB Bo Nix appears primed for a breakout. Even the Raiders—who finished last in the division a year ago—are looking dangerous after acquiring veteran QB Geno Smith and drafting Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty to bolster their offense.
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