A big component of how successful an NFL team is in a particular regular season has to do with the team's schedule. Sometimes a team gets lucky and has an easy path to double-digit wins and other times the schedule is extremely daunting. We won't know for certain just how tough a schedle is until the season starts but there is still a lot to break down about the 2023 Chargers schedule.
At the time of writing this, the Chargers schedule for the 2023 season has not yet been released. However, we know who the team is playing and also when fans can expect the schedule to be released to the masses.
With all that in mind, we wanted to compile one landing spot for fans to go to for all of the latest news and leaks about the 2023 Chargers schedule. Here is everything you need to know.
When does the 2023 Chargers schedule release?
Nothing has been set in stone, but reports from ESPN indicate that the NFL is targeting Thursday, May 11 as the day to release the 2023 NFL schedule. This goes in line with when the league typically releases the schedule in the second week of May.
Because it is the NFL, the schedule release is going to steal the entire news cycle for 48 hours and fans can be sure to expect in-depth coverage. And because the Chargers have such a great social media team, you can expect there to be a banging schedule release video.
Who do the Chargers play in 2023?
While the 2023 Chargers schedule is not yet released, we do already know who the Chargers are playing (just not in the order in which they are playing them).
The Chargers are playing each team in the AFC West twice with one game at home and one game on the road. The remaining home opponents for the Bolts are the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. The team's away opponents include the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans.
How are the Chargers opponents determined?
There is actually an NFL schedule equation that determines who every single team in the NFL plays. It is not a random assortment of opponents. There is a very specific way to get to 17 opponents and it follows this formula (with different variables) every single year.
Six of the games will be against divisional foes. That is the easy part. Then there will be eight games against one other division in the AFC and one other division in the NFC. These divisions rotate every single year and every single team in a division will play every other team in the other division.
For example, this year the AFC West is playing the NFC North and AFC East. That gets us to 14 games.
Two games will be determined by a team's placement in the division the year prior. As the second-place team in the AFC West last season, the Chargers play the other second-place teams from the AFC divisions that the AFC West isn't playing. This season, that is the AFC North and AFC South. Therefore, the Chargers play the second-place Ravens and Titans.
The 17th game follows this same formula but with a division from the NFC. Last year the Chargers played the 2021 third-place team from the NFC South (Atlanta Falcons). This year, they will play the second-place team from the NFC East, the Cowboys.