The NFL season is officially underway, and the Los Angeles Chargers already have their work cut out for them in terms of remaining in the playoff picture.
They should be able to come away with a pair of relatively easy wins in their Week 1 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals and their Week 2 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders. But after that, a string of matchups against some of the league's most formidable defenses straddling their bye in Week 7 will prove to be their toughest stretch of the year. They'll need to face off against the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Texans before the season even reaches its true half-way point.
If they're able to survive that stretch intact and remain consistent where they need across the rest of their schedule, they should be in excellent shape. But if they drop even one or two of their 'should-win' games, the picture could suddenly get a lot dicier.
Here, then, are three of those games—ones that the Chargers should certainly be considered the favorites in, but ones that will pose challenges nonetheless. 'Upset' may be too strong a term here, but it would certainly be upsetting if Los Angeles doesn't take care of business in these matchups.
3 potentially difficult matchups outside of the Chargers' brutal early-season gauntlet
1. Chargers @ Chiefs, Week 6
These are listed in the order in which they appear on the schedule, not in order of difficulty. That being said though, there's a real chance this Chiefs matchup is the most tense of the three. There's also a chance that it's already essentially been decided by the time Los Angeles arrives on the field.
It all hinges on the performance of the newly-rehabbed Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City offense. With a new lead running back in Kenneth Walker III, the Chiefs' ground game should take on a much more explosive complexion in 2026. But there's still ample uncertainty around their pass catchers—both in terms of availability and consistency. When you combine some of the room for regression on the defensive side of the ball with an overhauled secondary, the potential range of outcomes for this Chiefs team is almost dauntingly wide.
If everything comes together, though, it's hard to count out a Mahomes-led team from being truly competitive, and they'll be looking to get revenge for their essentially season-ending defeat at the hands of the Chargers in Week 15 of last season.
2. Chargers @ Buccaneers, Week 13
This Buccaneers matchup is an interesting one, and it's one I'll definitely be looking forward to as the season unfolds. We saw how Tampa Bay's offense fell apart towards the end of last year as Baker Mayfield reverted to some of his old habits and the Buccaneers' run game died on the vine.
With Mike Evans gone this offseason, the onus will now fall upon playmakers like Chris Godwin and Emeka Egbuka to revive the Buccaneers' offense, and it will take a major season from Mayfield (who just got his long-sought after contract extension) to help them reclaim any sense of dominance in the NFC South. Kenneth Gainwell gives them a boost in the backfield, but they're also going to need to see more consistent production out of Bucky Irving as he enters his third NFL season.
This, out of the three matchups on this list, is the one the Chargers should be the heaviest favorites in. But it also comes as the first of two separate road trips to the East Coast after wrapping up their Week 3-10 gauntlet, and it could easily prove to be a more difficult matchup than anticipated when compared to the rest of the late-season slate.
3. Chargers vs. 49ers, Week 15
The 49ers' range of outcomes is also ridiculously wide this season. We've seen them essentially alternate years of Super Bowl contention with injury-riddled campaigns over the course of the last few seasons. If they're healthy, though, it's hard not to project a playoff finish in SF.
What Robert Saleh was able to accomplish with this defense last season in the absence of its stars was majorly impressive, and Raheem Morris has the schematic background to continue to build on that momentum with Fred Warner and Nick Bosa back in the fold. Brock Purdy has established himself as a more-than-capable game manager, and their ability to avoid any major Trent Williams contract drama was a major victory for the organization this offseason. Toss in a healthy Christian McCaffrey, Evans, Deebo Samuel, and rookie wideout De'Zhaun Stribling, and there's enough kindling here for there to be a real blaze burning by the time they clash with the Chargers in Week 15.
We're also going to see a Kyle Shanahan-Mike McDaniel battle of the wits here, which should be one of the more exciting schematic moments of the Chargers' season.
We'll see if Los Angeles is still regarded as the favorites in this matchup by the time it rolls around, but expect this to be one of the tighter games of the Chargers' late-season slate.
Add us as a preferred source on Google