Are the Chargers the third best team in the AFC?

Even though they are 2-2 on the year, are the Los Angeles Chargers the third-best team in the AFC after the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs?

While the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots find themselves at a perfect 4-0 through the first quarter of the 2019 NFL season, the Los Angeles Chargers are one of many teams that sit at .500 at 2-2. We know who the two best teams in the AFC are, but do the Chargers have a case at being the third-best squad in the conference entering Week 5?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Josh Hill, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, analyze the massive gap between No. 2 and No. 3 in the AFC and see if a team like the Chargers stands out above the rest (12:14).

“The Chargers are the only team I’m moderately intrigued by,” said Verderame about who the third-best team in the AFC might be. “They have the talent if they get healthy, so you know what? I’ll toss them in.”

Through four games, the Chargers have wins over the Indianapolis Colts and the Miami Dolphins, but losses to the Detroit Lions and the Houston Texans. We all know that Miami is a bottom-feeder in the NFL. The Colts aren’t anything special without Andrew Luck at quarterback. However, losing games to what looks to be strong teams in Detroit and Houston aren’t exactly bad things.

Los Angeles was a Wild Card team in the AFC a year ago. Though the Chargers didn’t win the AFC West last year, they looked at times every bit as good as their division rival Kansas City. The talent is surely there, but the Chargers have to find ways to get out of their own way, which almost always seems to be the case, for them to have a shot a being an elite AFC team.

Fortunately for the Bolts, their next two games are very winnable ones at home versus the winless division rival Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose only win came on Monday Night Football in Week 4 to the winless Cincinnati Bengals. There will surely be a lot of Broncos and Steelers fans in Carson, but the Chargers have a great chance to be 4-2.

Here are a few other topics that were discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Good Morning, Football‘s and The NFL Today‘s Nate Burleson says he hopes Jalen Ramsey “gets over it” and stays with the Jacksonville Jaguars (25:40).
• The Buffalo Bills earned respect in loss to the New England Patriots (46:22).
• Will more than one first-year head coach be fired (48:03)?
• Was Vontaze Burfict’s suspension overkill (50:35)?

All this and more!

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