Chargers schedule: 3 games where week number matters the most
By Jason Reed
We know who the LA Chargers are playing and where they will play them during the 2022 season; we also know that the team will be on the road on Thursday Night Football in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Outside of that, we do not know anything concrete about the Chargers' schedule in 2022 until the official schedule release on Thursday.
Some games may not matter much when it comes to the time of the year that they take place. Things such as travel and stretches of tough consecutive games do matter, but for the most part, it might not matter if the Chargers play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 or in Week 10 (although Kyler Murray does tend to get worse as the year goes on).
However, there are 3 games on the Chargers schedule in 2022 where the Week number absolutely does matter.
1. Cleveland Browns
This is something that we have touched on before but the Chargers take on the Cleveland Browns on the road in 2022 and there is no guarantee that Deshaun Watson plays. While a suspension is not guaranteed, there is a chance that the NFL could levy a suspension to Watson once it finishes its investigation.
If so, that suspension will obviously come at the beginning of the season, regardless of the length. We really do not have any idea of what kind of punishment the NFL may dole out, so it is hard to pinpoint a range that would help the Chargers, but the earlier the team plays the Browns the better.
It goes without saying that it is going to be much easier to beat the Browns on the road if Jacoby Brissett is under center instead of Deshaun Watson.