The Chargers' 2023 schedule has been released and everyone has a prediction for how this team is going to finish the season. While the team's opponents were already public information, the order of the games and the travel that the team will undergo was not.
With this information Chargers fans can piece together what the outcomes in 2023 can be. As every fan should know by now, the Chargers are not going to win every game that they are favored in and they could win some games in which they are underdogs. Simply picking with the chalk for every game is silly.
One of the biggest things to watch out for are trap games. It is not uncommon for NFL teams to drop a disappointing game against an inferior opponent because they overlooked them and the Chargers need to be aware of the trap games that are on the team's schedule.
Trap games in 2023 the Chargers must be cautious of:
Week 3 at Minnesota Vikings
The Chargers open the season at home against the Miami Dolphins and then have to play back-to-back road games in the early slate against the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings. If the Chargers can beat the Dolphins in Week 1 then the team has a real chance of opening the season 3-0 with this start.
Tennessee is a mess and its quarterback is unclear at this point in time while the Vikings were one of the worst 13-win teams in NFL history that only got worse in the offseason. On paper, the Chargers should be able to win both of these games.
That is why Week 3 is a trap game. The Chargers are back at home in Week 4 for the team's first AFC West game of the year against the Las Vegas Raiders. If the team starts 2-0, there is a world in which they overlook the Vikings and are instead focusing on beating the Raiders in Week 4 to head into the early bye with a 4-0 record.