Theoretically, the Los Angeles Chargers' inactivity at the trade deadline should make it easier for the team to come by its first win. After all, they didn't trade off any talent and didn't strip back any of their depth on either side of the ball.
The problem is that we've seen this product for eight games now, and things honestly haven't felt worse than they did the past two weeks against the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Texans. Although there have been brief moments where the offense has looked viable, the product as a whole has been abysmal. The Chargers are still 32nd in the NFL in EPA/play, and although they finally scored a touchdown in Week 9, drops and miscues still plagued the unit as a whole. The defense also took a concerning step back against Houston, although that may simply have been a result of CJ Stroud's lights-out performance.
It also helps that their schedule, at least on paper, eases up now that the deadline has passed. The Chargers will face the 4-5 Baltimore Ravens, the New York Jets, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in three of the next four weeks.
But although the Chargers didn't get substantially worse at the deadline, neither did any of these teams—and it's getting tougher and tougher to chart Los Angeles' path to a win as a result.
The Chargers simply aren't better than any of the teams on their upcoming slate, even with the schedule getting easier
We'll start with the Monday Night Football matchup against Baltimore this week. Of course, the Ravens offense has been struggling in the absence of Lamar Jackson, and a surprisingly middling defense under Jesse Minter leaves the door open for the Chargers to at least make this game competitive. But even so, Baltimore added Jacoby Brissett ahead of the trade deadline as a stopgap solution for their quarterback room, and that instantly makes them a more competitive team than they were before, even if not a true playoff contender.
The Chargers already got diced up once by Brissett this year—in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. Even if things look different for the defense this time, it's hard to see a path to outscoring an offense that still has Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers.
The New York Jets should also theoretically present a path to a win, especially because they were sellers at the deadline. But much of their selling took place last season, and the only trade they pulled off this time around was to send safety Andre Cisco to the Detroit Lions. Even at 2-5, the Jets are 18th in passing yards and 13th in rushing, which means this offense is still leagues ahead of where Los Angeles is at currently. Perhaps there would be a more feasible path if New York had moved on from Geno Smith in the past week..
After that are the New England Patriots. Even with that squad having a 5-4 record, we can essentially gloss over this one.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also didn't sell at the deadline—which was likely a result of how wide-open the NFC South is currently—and they had a major rebound against the Chicago Bears in Week 9. Although they lost, their defense had five takeaways, and their offense managed to total 352 yards on the day: their most by far against a truly solid defense this season.
The Las Vegas Raiders, meanwhile, moved on from Kirk Cousins at the deadline, capitalizing on the desperation of the Minnesota Vikings. While first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza likely won't be as effective as Cousins early on, he'll have three games to acclimate, plus a bye week, before he matches up against Los Angeles. If Mendoza has spent his time on the bench getting a real grasp on Klint Kubiak's offense, this likely won't be any easier than the Week 2 matchup was.
Then come the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Denver Broncos. Three of those four teams got better at the deadline, and Malik Willis will likely be off of injured reserve by the time the Chargers head to Miami for that Week 15 matchup.
I'm not going to say it's impossible for the Chargers to get their first win in this slate, especially in that early matchup against the Jets. But Los Angeles simply doesn't have a truly easy matchup on the schedule now that the trade deadline has passed.
And it's hard to say 0-17 doesn't look like a real possibility given how this team has played so far.
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