San Diego Chargers

The perennial nearly-men are back and eyeballing the Division that should be theirs at a canter.

Last year’s AFC West Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, look to be going backwards as they attempt to deal with the sophomore slump that so often follows success too young.

With the Chiefs shooting themselves in their feet and the Broncos being, well… the Broncos (the Josh McDaniels ravaged team that was a yearly contender deep in the playoffs till the young, jumped-up former Patriots coordinator turned-up with the revolutionary notion that getting rid of your best players will immediately make you better), the Chargers should make the playoffs without breaking a sweat.

Should… They should… But there’s something Silver and Black in the rear view mirror and it’s coming up fast…

The Oakland Raiders are this year’s team to beat in the division of the NFL that has overtaken the NFC South as the most topsy-turvy and unpredictable. The Chargers are always contenders, but their main rivals seem to change on a year-to-year basis. This is good for football and kind of bad for the Chargers, which, I suppose, is kind of bad for football.

You see, the Chargers have never established the rivalry of, say, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, New York and New England, Dallas and Washington, because no team has managed more than a season or two of matching them blow-for-blow to be considered a stalwart. For that reason, it becomes harder for the Chargers coaching staff to know what to prepare for.

When the Jets play the Pats, Ryan and Belichick dust off their game notes before sighing resolutely, and tossing them in the bin – you know what’s coming, so just do the thing you’ve got to do to win, and make sure you do it better than the other team.

If it’s bad for the Chargers, it’s bad for football. Why? I am not a Chargers fan, but I do have, as I think many people do, a huge soft spot for them, and am constantly frustrated when their flair, aerial panache and boyish optimism is crushed by an unfeeling machine like New England or Pittsburgh.

I love the legend of Dan Fouts, of Kellen Winslow. I love the way that Coach Coryell changed the game of football into what we know and love today. I love the Powder Blue jerseys, the breathtaking plays, the style of a team that desperately needs the substance of a championship to solidify their elite status.

Phillip Rivers is already the Dan Fouts of his generation. Had Drew Brees of the Saints not won a title, he might have claimed the role, but Rivers will be the unlucky Hall of Famer unless his team can finally get back to the big game and win it this time.

Verdict: on paper, they have the easiest task of all AFC teams. In reality, the Chargers’ inconsistency and the Raiders sudden burst in productivity, could mean a very different outcome to the one expected by all in San Diego. Two tough divisional losses to the Raiders will account for a third of their defeats all season but see them miss out on the playoffs via tiebreakers. 10-6 and second in the AFC West.


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