LA Chargers: Pros and cons of the bye week moving to Week 6

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn watches the game against the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter during a Week 1 NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals lost 16-13.
Los Angeles Chargers At Cincinnati Bengals Sept 13
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn watches the game against the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter during a Week 1 NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals lost 16-13. Los Angeles Chargers At Cincinnati Bengals Sept 13 /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) – LA Chargers
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) – LA Chargers /

The cons:

The LA Chargers now have to finish the season with 11 straight games

Barring the NFL stepping in and implementing a league-wide bye week to help re-arrange some of these lost games, the LA Chargers are going to have to play 11 straight games without a break to end the season.

If they were 4-1 or 5-0 then this would not be a huge problem as those later games would not matter. They are 1-4. They have the talent to be a playoff team and those late-season games will matter. By then, they might be running on fumes.

The Chargers are going to have to get to 8-8 to even have a chance at the NFL Playoffs. However, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots all playing better than expected, the Chargers might have to get to nine wins. That is a 8-3 record in 11 straight games. That is not easy.

That is really the only con of moving the bye week up this early but it is a massive one. Yes, the LA Chargers are banged up right now, but one bye week now is not going to keep the team from getting hurt later in the season.

Instaed, having to play 11 games in a row is going to increase the odds of the Chargers getting banged up even more, which isn’t ideal.

Next. The checklist for signing Le'Veon Bell

Having a bye week sandwiched right in the middle of the season is optimal for every NFL team. The LA Chargers lost out on that advantage.