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Next three weeks will define San Diego Chargers season
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Philip Rivers will face Eli Manning for the first time Sunday since both were
traded for each other in the 2004 NFL Draft. (AP/Denis Poroy)
The toughest stretch of the regular season schedule is about to begin for the San Diego Chargers—and it can make or break their season.
In the next three weeks, San Diego travels to the east coast to play the New York Giants, hosts the Philadelphia Eagles, and visits the Denver Broncos in what should be a must win divisional game.
Each game is against a potential playoff team. Each game is against an opponent with a better record. Each game is against potential Super Bowl contenders.
The three teams have a combined record of 16-6.
The Chargers currently sit at 4-3, two games behind the Broncos for the division lead and barely staying afloat for one of the two Wild Card berths in the AFC.
Survive the gauntlet with two wins and San Diego positions itself for at least a playoff berth.
Sweep the trio, and the Chargers are back in the discussion for the AFC West title—a crown they have held the last three seasons—with a 7-3 record.
But lose all three games and San Diego’s playoff hopes—not just the team’s chances at the division title—will be on life support with a 4-6 record.
“Every week is a treat playing in the NFL and playing an NFL game, but these are the kind of games, the reason why you play,” quarterback Philip Rivers told the Union-Tribune.
It won’t be easy, especially against three of the NFL’s best teams.
The Giants, earlier in the year, showed flashes of brilliance and were considered among the NFL’s elite. New York was considered a heavy favorite to win the NFC East, especially after started the season 5-0.
But setbacks against the Saints, Cardinals, and Eagles, and an injury to quarterback Eli Manning, have put the Giants out of sync.
But West Coast teams have a history of mediocrity when they travel to the eastern seaboard and the Chargers are no different. San Diego is 8-15 since 2004 when traveling beyond the Rocky Mountains—and all eight of those wins came before 2007.
The Eagles are finally showing why some NFL experts picked them to be Super Bowl favorites. Their offense is lightning quick averaging 29 points per game and Donovan McNabb is showing flashes of his Pro Bowl. And the defense—ranked seventh in the NFL—is again as tenacious as it’s ever been.
The gauntlet ends in Denver, in what could be a pivotal bout for divisional supremacy. The Broncos are no joke (and San Diego definitely knows that), with en efficient an effective offense and a defense ranked in the top 10. And traveling to Invesco Field—though the Chargers have been successful there in recent history—is still no cake walk.
San Diego still controls its destiny, despite poor showing in the first half of the season.
The amount of time the Chargers have is the question and the answer is that they don’t have much time to figure things out.
In three weeks, we should know whether San Diego is still a contender or if it’s gearing up for an early exit this season.
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