The LA Chargers schedule for the 2022 season has officially been released as fans can start booking their flight, plane tickets, or simply buying tickets for home games. There is a lot of anticipation around the 2022 season as the Chargers have a legitimate Super Bowl window with all of the talent on the roster.
We already knew who the Chargers were playing in 2022 and the order of the games absolutely does matter. Travel, stretches of back-to-back games as well as the time of year (in some cases) all matter.
As we do every season, we have to go game-by-game and predict all 17 outcomes for the Chargers in the 2022 season. Last year I had the Chargers go 11-6 and the team actually went 9-8. Let's hope my predictions this year are more on the money.
Predicting every game on the Chargers schedule in 2022:
Week 1 vs Las Vegas Raiders: 30-18 Win
The Las Vegas Raiders are the one team that still has a big visiting fanbase show up at SoFi Stadium when the Chargers play. While people still make jokes about the Chargers “not having any fans”, they showed up in 2021 and they are going to come out even more in 2022.
It will be a 50-50 split in this game but it will not matter. The Chargers easily defeated the Raiders at home last season and with such a bad secondary and offensive line, I am not sure how the Raiders will get this done on the road against the Bolts.
Week 2 at Kansas City Chiefs (TNF): 34-24 Win
While Chiefs fans will deny it, Kansas City definitely got worse this offseason. Don't get me wrong, the Chiefs are still a very dangerous team with Patrick Mahomes, especially after having such a solid showing in the 2022 NFL Draft.
That being said, it is going to take some time for the new weapons to really get accustomed to playing in Kansas City and the Chargers' defense will show up in this game to give the Chargers a 10-point win over their division rivals, sending a message that the AFC West might be theirs to lose in 2022.
Chargers schedule prediction, Week 3-5:
Week 3 vs Jacksonville Jaguars: 35-14 Win
The Jaguars cannot get much worse than they have been the last two seasons and they should undoubtedly be better in 2022 with Doug Pederson running the show instead of Urban Meyer. The Meyer experience was as big of a disaster as a head coach hire can be.
Trevor Lawrence should bounce back for a nice second season but the supporting cast around him still is not great. I do think the Jags are going to be several wins better than people expect in the really thin AFC South but they are not going to be able to beat teams like the Chargers, especially on the road.
Week 4 at Houston Texans: 28-10 Win
The Chargers get the added motivation of this being a revenge game from the extremely ugly loss late last season that ultimately kept the team out of the playoffs. Sure, the Chargers were dealing with COVID-19 issues in that game but there is still no reason why they should have lost. It was unacceptable.
The Houston Texans are a bad football team that will probably end up having the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That extra motivation of losing last year’s game against the Texans in the same building will keep this from being a trap game for the Chargers, who walk away with a huge win on the road.
Week 5 at Cleveland Browns: 24-12 Win
While there is no official word on whether or not Deshaun Watson will serve a suspension, if he does, there is a good chance that he will not be playing in this game. Could it be a four-game suspension? Sure. But if the league does levy a suspension it feels like it would be six games or more but that is mere speculation.
Cleveland is still a tough place to play so the Chargers won't go insane on the offensive side of the ball but they should be able to comfortably beat the Browns with Jacoby Brissett under center. The Chargers will be up 24-6 and the Browns will get a touchdown late, going for two and missing.
Chargers schedule prediction, Week 6-8:
Week 6 vs. Denver Broncos (MNF): 31-30 Win
Poor Russell Wilson has to play primetime Justin Herbert in his first matchup against him as a member of the Denver Broncos. Primetime Herbert is absolutely a real thing and he is going to lead the Chargers on his first game-winning drive of the season in this game.
The Broncos will take a 30-28 lead with around two minutes left in the game, giving Justin Herbert the chance to drive down the field. Joe Lombardi will piece together a methodical drive that doesn't score too quickly, allowing Dustin Hopkins to make the chip-shot field goal to win it.
Week 7 vs. Seattle Seahawks: 30-18 Win
It is still unclear if Drew Lock is going to be the starter in the 2022 season or if it is going to be someone like Baker Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppolo. But is there really a difference? All joking aside, while Baker and Jimmy G are better than Lock, the Seahawks still are not a very good football team.
The Bolts have had a lot of success historically against the Seahawks in Southern California and I do not expect that to change in 2022. Seattle is going to try and pound the rock and slow the game down but with a better run defense, I am not sure that plan with work and don’t see how Seattle can keep up offensively.
Week 8 BYE WEEK
Week 9 at Atlanta Falcons: 48-21, Win
The Atlanta Falcons are undoubtedly one of the 2-3 least-talented teams in the NFL and while this is a long way for the Chargers to travel, there is no reason why the Bolts should lose this game. Whether it is Marcus Mariota or Desmond Ridder, the Falcons are a bad football team and good football teams beat bad football teams.
As you can see by the final score prediction in this game, I predict that it will be the highest-scoring game of the year for the Chargers. The Falcons are so bad on both sides of the football that the Chargers will be able to strike on offense at will and shut down the Falcons on defense.
The Chargers will probably be 7.5-point favorites on the road in this one and I am going to hammer that line once it is possible. For those counting at home, that is an 8-0 start to the season that we are predicting. Anyone that knows me knows that I genuinely try and be as unbiased and objective as possible.
Chargers schedule prediction, Week 10-12:
Week 10 at San Francisco 49ers (SNF): 26-24 Loss
Every year there is at least one game that a team should have won that they lose. The better you are as a team, the fewer of these games that happen. However, for the most part, every team has at least one of these really ugly loses. While it won’t be against a bottom-feeder team in the league, I do believe this is the one ugly loss for the Chargers.
While the quarterback situation is up in the air in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in football and has experience against Brandon Staley’s defensive scheme from the 2020 season.
This will be a shootout where the 49ers pull tricks out of the bag and really utilize the athletes on the offensive side of the ball to grind the Chargers and make them strike fast. I know it is unpopular to predict losses like this, but if this is the only one the Chargers have, fans can be happy.
Week 11 vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 30-27, Loss
While it would be amazing to see the Chargers beat the Chiefs twice in a season, there is an old saying that I do live by when it comes to NFL games: you cannot beat a good team twice. While that may contradict some other predictions on this article, the Chiefs are still a good team and will battle their way to beat the Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
That being said, like they have every single time they have played the Chiefs with Justin Herbert, the Chargers are going to put up a fight. The first game was a smooth 10-point win while this game will come down to a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation.
Week 12 at Arizona Cardinals: 37-30, Win
The Chargers get to play Kyler Murray later in the season, which is a good thing. Each of the last two seasons Murray and the Cardinals have started out red-hot and have wavered as the year has gone on. Coming off of back-to-back losses, the Chargers are going to be very urgent in this game.
It is going to be a shootout but at the end of the day, I trust Justin Herbert and Brandon Staley a lot more than I trust Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury, especially late in the season. That is the main difference in this game.
Chargers schedule prediction, Week 13-15
Week 13 at Las Vegas Raiders: 23-20 Win
The Chargers lost last time they played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and that undoubtedly is going to give the team extra motivation to beat the Raiders in this game. Plus, I think we are going to see a decent showing of Charger fans in this one, more so than people may expect.
This game will ultimately be closer than the game at SoFi Stadium with the Raiders feeling more comfortable in their home stadium. That being said, I still do not buy the Raiders in this division and the Chargers should be able to get it done on the road against Vegas.
Week 14 vs. Miami Dolphins: 26-21, Win
If Brian Flores was still the head coach of the Miami Dolphins then I think I would consider this to be a tougher game. While Mike McDaniel is a great offensive mind, it was the defensive side of the football that really staggered Justin Herbert the last time these two teams played and that was Flores’ doing.
Miami is still undoubtedly talented on the defensive end but Herbert has grown a lot as a quarterback. While Tua has a new no. 1 to throw to, the Chargers have done pretty well historically in shutting out Tyreek Hill in the past.
Miami’s offense plays well into what the Chargers want to accomplish defensively and without an elite quarterback to beat the Chargers, it is hard to see Miami winning this game, although they will keep it close.
Week 15 vs. Tennessee Titans: 21-10, Win
This game being this late in the season is excellent for the Chargers. This will give the Bolts plenty of time to figure out the new-look run defense and by then, the wheels might be falling off for the Titans.
I am not sure we can be comfortable in Derrick Henry staying healthy, especially this late in the season. Ryan Tannehill is going to be looking over his shoulder at Malik Willis as his weapons in Tennessee are horrible. They will still grind the clock and the defense will keep the Chargers from exploding, but offensively, they won't be able to do anything.
Chargers schedule prediction, Week 16-18:
Week 16 at Indianapolis Colts (MNF): 28-24, Win
The Colts seemed to have improved at the quarterback position by trading for Matt Ryan this offseason… but did they? Yes, Carson Wentz made some horrible mistakes at the worst times that cost them their season, but overall, played okay for the Colts last season. Ryan is getting old and any bit of pressure is going to falter him.
Jonathan Taylor is a legitimate concern in this game and he will ultimately be the reason why it is close. However, if we are buying this reformed Chargers’ run defense then we can expect them to at least keep Taylor bay.
With poor weapons and one of the worst quarterbacks in the league when under pressure, Matt Ryan will crumble in the biggest spot late in the game as the Chargers’ defense will get a stop to close Indy out.
Week 17 vs. LA Rams (SNF): 30-24, Loss
The Rams are the defending Super Bowl Champions for a reason and they should be just as good this season, if not even better, than they were last year. A win over the Rams would be massive for the Chargers and would cement themselves as true Super Bowl contenders.
That being said, we cannot predict the Chargers to win every single game against a tough opponent as that is simply unrealistic. Sean McVay gets it done against his former defensive coordinator and the Chargers put this game in their back pocket for a potential Super Bowl matchup.
If the Chargers and Rams do meet in the Super Bowl I would like the Chargers’ chances more after losing this game as you cannot beat a good team twice.
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Week 18 at Denver Broncos: 24-21, Loss
Heading into the playoffs with two straight losses is less than ideal but this is how I see the games shaking out. Beating the Broncos in Denver is a really hard thing to do, especially when the game is in January and could be flexed into primetime if their are playoff stakes.
Heading into this game the Chargers will be 13-3. I do think that it will be enough to win the division as I do not see any other team in the AFC West finishing with three or fewer losses. There is a chance that losing this game could make it come down to a tiebreaker but there is also the chance that the Chargers have the division locked up (and hopefully a first-round bye) and can play their backups.
Final record prediction: 13-4