The Los Angeles Chargers don't have any action this week—they're in a much needed bye as multiple key players return from injury and the team gets a chance to reset.
It seems, right now, like we'll be coming into the Week 8 matchup with everyone's jobs still intact. Whether you find that frustrating or not, the Chargers will have a chance to make some major adjustments and try to work themselves back to semi-competitiveness before the end of the season. The path won't be easy, sure, but it's the only task—on top of managing the trade deadline well—that's left for a team in the position that Los Angeles is in.
But just because the Chargers aren't playing doesn't mean there aren't some storylines to monitor this week. Here are three things I'm keeping an eye on as the NFL world moves forward without Los Angeles in it.
3 league-wide storylines to monitor as Chargers go through their bye week
1. Can the Titans or Dolphins get a win?
As of now, the Chargers are in sole possession of the first overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. We've had plenty of time to let that sink in since the Week 6 loss, so I'll brush past the implications of that fact for now.
The Tennessee Titans and the Miami Dolphins, who both have objectively worse rosters at their disposal, seem to be the true competition if the Chargers are entering a full-on tank job.
The Titans, who earned their first win of the season last week against the Indianapolis Colts, will play the Cleveland Browns at home. That's a tougher matchup than the names of those two teams might indicate at first glance. The Browns are currently 4-2 and in first place in the AFC North, and their offense has actually looked somewhat viable with Deshaun Watson under center the past couple of weeks. The Titans found their own groove against the Colts, so this could be a somewhat interesting matchup in Week 7.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, look just as abysmal as almost everyone expected. The only reason they're not tied with the Chargers is because they had their bye last week—they currently possess an 0-5 record. But they're set to face off on the road against a sub-par New York Jets team, and there's a chance for the Dolphins to sneak out of there with a win if things break the right way.
It might not mean much for the Chargers by the end of the season, but we're definitely at the point where we need to start monitoring the bottom of the league's standings.
2. Rams offense may continue to spiral against the Las Vegas Raiders.
When the schedule for 2026 released this summer, that matchup at So-Fi against the Rams seemed like it would easily be the toughest on the Chargers' slate. Entering Week 7, it doesn't seem that way anymore.
That doesn't mean the Chargers will be favorites by any stretch of the imagination. But the Rams have struggled to reach the Super Bowl potential many projected for them this offseason—they're currently 10th in the league in EPA/play (which is far below their expected mark at this point in the season), and they just lost a game against the Arizona Cardinals at home as their offense failed to find any true momentum.
When the Chargers (hopefully) earns their first win this season, it's likely going to be on the shoulders of its defense. And the Raiders, who looked relatively strong on that side of the ball prior to taking a step back the past couple of weeks, could present at least a tough a matchup as Arizona did in Week 6, staving off a rebound for this Rams team at least until the Chargers face off against them in Week 8.
3. Are the Chiefs a true Super Bowl contender?
Almost nothing would be more painful, in a Chargers season that's already been lost, to see the Kansas City Chiefs work their way back up to the summit. Through six weeks of this campaign, that feels like a real possibility.
Kenneth Walker III and the full return of Patrick Mahomes have revolutionized the Chiefs offense. As of now, they're just 19th in the league in total passing yards, but they're first in rushing efficiency and fourth in EPA/play, trailing only the Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, and San Francisco 49ers. On the defensive side of the ball, they're essentially locked in as a top-10 unit—which we got a glimpse of in last week's rout. Much of their success has come against relatively weak offenses, but it seems as though their offseason gambles on pieces like Khyiris Tonga, Mansoor Delane, and L'Jarius Sneed have already paid major dividends.
They'll play the Seattle Seahawks on the road this week. Although Seattle has struggled to find its offensive momentum under new coordinator Brian Fleury, that's still a tough matchup for any team. If Kansas City can come away with another resounding win, it'll be time to place them among the upper echelon of Super Bowl contenders—at least at this point in the season.
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