No. 5: A Favorable Schedule
The Chargers’ 2018 schedule is noticeably easier than the one they had to go through last season. First off, they enter this year with opponents boasting a 2017 winning percentage of .480 — ninth easiest on the year.
True, this isn’t exactly the best thing to bank an argument on, as so many factors change between years. But there are some key factors in seeing why L.A. has it better this season than last.
A year ago, the Chargers had three trips to the East Coast:
- Week 8 @ New England Patriots
- Week 10 @ Jacksonville Jaguars
- Week 16 @ New York Jets
L.A. lost two of those games (Weeks 8 and 10), but both contests were lost by one possession. And through Weeks 5 and 10 (including the Chargers’ Week 9 bye), four of those five games were on the road.
That won’t be the case in 2018:
Week | Day | Date | Opp | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular Season | ||||||
1 | September 9 | 4:05PM ET | Kansas City Chiefs | preview | ||
2 | September 16 | 1:00PM ET | @ | Buffalo Bills | preview | |
3 | September 23 | 4:05PM ET | @ | Los Angeles Rams | preview | |
4 | September 30 | 4:25PM ET | San Francisco 49ers | preview | ||
5 | October 7 | 4:05PM ET | Oakland Raiders | preview | ||
6 | October 14 | 1:00PM ET | @ | Cleveland Browns | preview | |
7 | October 21 | 9:30AM ET | Tennessee Titans | preview | ||
8 | Bye Week | |||||
9 | November 4 | 4:05PM ET | @ | Seattle Seahawks | preview | |
10 | November 11 | 4:05PM ET | @ | Oakland Raiders | preview | |
11 | November 18 | 4:05PM ET | Denver Broncos | preview | ||
12 | November 25 | 4:05PM ET | Arizona Cardinals | preview | ||
13 | December 2 | 1:00PM ET | @ | Pittsburgh Steelers | preview | |
14 | December 9 | 4:05PM ET | Cincinnati Bengals | preview | ||
15 | December 13 | 8:20PM ET | @ | Kansas City Chiefs | preview | |
16 | December 23 | 4:05PM ET | Baltimore Ravens | preview | ||
17 | December 30 | 4:25PM ET | @ | Denver Broncos | preview |
The Chargers have three trips to the eastern time zone this year, and they aren’t in back-to-back games. And the first of these contest, Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, should be a winnable contest. So Should Week 6 at the Cleveland Browns
Especially with Buffalo and Cleveland projected to have just six wins this season — tied for worst in the NFL.
Favorable schedules matter, and there’s no point in L.A.’s upcoming season that indicates a tough stretch, geographically.
Next Page: No. 4