After a full week off following their disastrous 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Los Angeles Chargers are back to work preparing for the homestretch of this 2025 regular season, which begins this Sunday with a Week 13 date at SoFi Stadium with the Las Vegas Raiders.
During their bye, the Bolts watched a wild Week 12 unfold across the league, one that featured several overtime games and a plethora of crazy comebacks. And when all was said and done, they'd actually bumped up a spot in the overall AFC standings, moving up from No. 6 into the top wild-card slot at No. 5.
While the Chargers own the same 7-4 record as the sixth-seeded Jags, who survived one of those OT battles with a 27-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and the seventh-seeded Buffalo Bills, who took a 23-19 loss to the Houston Texans, Los Angeles wins the three-way tiebreaker due to having the best record of the trio in games within the conference.
But it wasn't all good news for the Chargers in Week 12, as their remaining schedule now looks a bit more daunting than it did before their bye, as a few of their upcoming opponents, including those pesky Kansas City Chiefs, look like far more challenging foes than they did even a week ago.
The Chargers have the third-toughest remaining strength of schedule in the AFC
Here's a look at the Bolts' remaining schedule, including the records of each team heading into Week 13.
- Week 13: vs. Las Vegas Raiders (2-9)
- Week 14: vs. Philadelphia Eagles (8-3)
- Week 15: at Kansas City Chiefs (6-5)
- Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys (5-5-1)
- Week 17: vs. Houston Texans (6-5)
- Week 18: at Denver Broncos (9-2)
As you can see, the only remaining game Los Angeles has on its schedule against a team currently below .500 is this Sunday's matchup with the Raiders, who are coming off an embarrassing 24-10 home loss to the Cleveland Browns, a defeat that cost Chip Kelly his job.
Even with that matchup with the Raiders on the docket, the Bolts have the ninth-toughest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL, as their final six opponents currently own a combined winning percentage of .553. Among AFC teams, Los Angeles has the third-toughest slate, trailing only the Indianapolis Colts (.627) and, hilariously enough, the Las Vegas Raiders (.567). Take the Raiders' abysmal 2-9 record away, and the Chargers' number would match the Colts at .627.
Following their matchup with the Raiders, the Chargers have a Week 14 date on Monday Night Football with the Philadelphia Eagles, who are coming off a loss but are still the defending Super Bowl champs and remain one of the favorites to win the NFC.
And we can't talk about the Eagles without mentioning the Dallas Cowboys, who will host the Bolts in Week 16. The Cowboys, of course, handed Philly that Week 12 loss, staging a historic comeback after falling behind 21-0 to take a 24-21 victory.
The Dallas defense has been one of the worst in the NFL for the vast majority of this season, but the additions of Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson at the trade deadline, combined with some other players finally getting healthy, have changed the narrative. And let's not forget that the Cowboys have one of the most potent offensive attacks in the league.
In between these two battles with NFC East opponents is the Chargers' second matchup with the Chiefs, who have struggled at times this year but proved this past week that they're still a force to be reckoned with, as they staged a comeback of their own in handing the Colts just their third loss of the season.
In Week 17, Los Angeles gets a Texans team that has now won three in a row after getting off to a 3-5 start, a stretch that includes a Week 10 win over the same Jags that obviously just blistered the Bolts, as well as a win last Thursday against the Bills. And these were all wins with Davis Mills at quarterback, which just goes to show how dominant the Houston defense has been.
And then there's the regular-season finale with the division-leading Denver Broncos, who were also on a bye last week. The Chargers took the first matchup between the two clubs back in Week 3, but the Broncos haven't lost since.
A split of these six remaining games might be good enough to get Los Angeles into the postseason at 10-7, but that's obviously not guaranteed. One thing is for certain, however, that being that it would be in the Bolts' best interest to take care of business against the Raiders before things get much more difficult.