LOS ANGELES HASN'T LOST ITS CHARGE

 CHARGERS HISTORY:

        Welcome to Los Angeles, the city big enough to carry two NFL franchises, the Rams and the Chargers.  The Chargers were initially established in the city of Los Angeles back in 1960.  Upon their entrance to the city of Angels, the franchise got off to a hot start in the AFL with the Chargers winning ten-plus games in both their first two seasons in the league while making it to back-to-back AFL Championship Games.  The outcome wasn’t what they had hoped for as they had lost both years to the same Houston Oilers team.  Originally the Chargers started their franchise in Los Angeles but the following year the Chargers were forced to move to San Diego due to the team’s competition in La La Land with the Los Angeles Rams who had already set up shop in L.A. fourteen years before the Chargers arrival.  The Chargers were a regularity in AFL Championship Games early in their franchise history, appearing in five within their first six seasons.  They ended up going 1-4 during that Championship run and wouldn’t appear in any others nor would they make the playoffs for the next fourteen seasons.

        Since the Chargers have been in the NFL, they haven’t yet tasted true success other than that one AFL Championship win in 1963.  The Chargers have only made it to the Super Bowl once in 1995, though they wound up losing to the San Francisco 49ers.  They also haven’t had a Head Coach that has lasted longer than six seasons since Don Coryell (San Diego HC 1978-1985).  In fact, the Chargers only ever had two Head Coaches last at least seven seasons in franchise history (Don Coryell & Sid Gillman 1960-1971).  Long-time Chargers coach Sid Gillman had a lengthy decorated tenure as he led them for 11 seasons.  Gillman is the winningest Head Coach the Chargers have ever had and possesses a record of 85-53-6.  Coach Gillman had left the team and his coaching duties nine games into the 1969 season because of a hiatal hernia before coming back to coach them for the first ten games of the 1971 season.

 

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS PART II:

        After such a long history of San Diego being the home of the Chargers, the team decided to give The Big Orange another go at hosting their NFL franchise.  In 2017 the Chargers decided to pack up and move the organization about two hours north (123 mi) up I-5 N to head back to where the team was originally founded.  Upon moving back to L.A. they haven’t been a great team, only registering two playoff appearances in the past seven years.  Before this season the Chargers have only had two head coaches since their move back.  Now with this year's new GM Joe Hortiz, along with first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh it sure appears that this team will be heading towards a brighter future.  Los Angeles came into this season seeking a playoff run as the Chargers are two years removed from their last one.  No doubt he has done a great job so far, giving life to their run game while also getting this defense back on track.  They currently are sitting in sixth place in the AFC, while having the best-scoring defense in the league.  

 

        The Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter, who also served as Head Coach Jim Harbaugh’s DC last season in Michigan has the Chargers defense ranking in the top ten for just about every defensive statistic.  The Charger’s General Manager did a good job in the offseason making some savvy moves, inking some very good veterans to deals.  They completely bolstered their running back room by signing both Ravens' previous running backs Gus Edwards and the explosive but often injured runner J.K Dobbins (who led the league in yards per carry for a handful of weeks early on this season).  That move came after Harbaugh decided to go out and hire Greg Roman who spent four years with Dobbins and Edwards in Baltimore under Jim’s brother John Harbaugh.  They also made sure they got one of the top backups at the quarterback position for insurance in case Herbert went down, which proved to be helpful as he was banged up in pre-season, dealing with foot/ankle injuries, he also had to leave the field in multiple games this year missing a few snaps here and there.  Another big move by the Chargers was signing the great veteran O-lineman guard Bradley Bozeman.  It’s almost as if John Harbaugh sent a gift basket of talent to celebrate Jim’s return to the NFL as Bozeman also played for Baltimore his first four years in the league before signing with Carolina for two years.

 

        Harbaugh was instantly given the keys to LA among inking his name on the dotted line when he took this Head Coaching job.  It should come as no surprise that he probably had a lot of say in who the team would be drafting.  The first thing the Chargers did was draft the overall best offensive lineman in the 2024 NFL Draft (LT Joe Alt).  Then they figured it only made sense to go out and try to address their lack of weapons on the outside after moving on from both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.  Now the Chargers got themselves two young studs to add to their receiver corps that will hopefully grow into stars soon.  Ladd McConkey (already their best offensive weapon) out of Georgia and Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s son Brenden Rice who was drafted to L.A by way of USC.  The Chargers also found themselves adding depth to their defensive backs as well as their front seven through the draft. 

 

        If the Chargers indeed make the playoffs this year, I will not be surprised.  Herbert needs to stay healthy and they need to get their ground-and-pound game back on track.  Early on they were ranked 11^th in rushing offense through the first four weeks of the season.  Dobbins is out with another injury and they've faltered to 19th on the ground.  Their air attack has looked better recently and they've also been putting more points on the board, but they do rank 25th in passing and 20th in scoring.  The Chargers' defense has kept them in a bunch of games this season they had almost no shot of winning like earlier this year against KC when they could’ve possibly upset the Chiefs at home, but to no avail as they fell to the Champs 17-10.  Then last week against the Falcons terrible defense that they only scored one touchdown by way of a pick-six.  However, I will not count Sunday Night against the Chargers for the fact their top receiver rookie Ladd McConkey along with Dobbins were hurt, plus Herbert had to leave the game for a few snaps.  The Chargers are still holding off the Broncos for the 6th seed, while also having a two-game lead over the likes of the Dolphins, Colts, plus they also own a tie-breaker over the Bengals.  They should be able to make it into the postseason with only two tough games ahead when they take on the Buccaneers and the Broncos in the next two weeks (at home), the last two games are both road matches against two weaker teams (Patriots & Raiders).