The LA Chargers did not have the same headline-grabbing offseason that the team put together a year ago but it has still been a solid spring all things considered. The Chargers brought back the most important free agents and put together a solid draft that supplemented the talent already on the roster.
The team also fixed its biggest problem after falling short in the AFC Wild Card round last season. Former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi was fired and the team replaced him with Kellen Moore, who piloted several top offenses with the Dallas Cowboys.
All that has made the Chargers a top-10 team in the NFL according to many pundits. However, after the draft, the Chargers actually took a few steps back and were leapfrogged by two teams in ESPN's NFL power rankings. The Baltimore Ravens make sense as they have figured out their Lamar Jackson situation. The other team? Not so much.
Cowboys leapfrog Chargers in latest ESPN power rankings
The Chargers were ranked seventh in the NFL before the 2023 NFL Draft with the Cowboys ranking eighth. Now, the team that Kellen Moore left is ranked seventh while the Chargers have fallen down to ninth.
At the end of the day, these power rankings are subjective and are completely trivial and it does not matter in the grand scheme of things. But it still won't take very long in the 2023 season for the Chargers to prove that they are the better team and should rank higher.
If you really look at the two rosters, the Chargers are essentially a better version of the Cowboys. They have a better quarterback (who has similar traits without the same turnover flaw), better-receiving weapons and a better offensive line. Dallas has a better pass rush but overall, the defense is similar if not leaning slightly toward the Chargers.
Los Angeles also has better coaching, at least on the offensive side of things. Cowboys fans will convince themselves that Mike McCarthy is the better option but it won't take long for the same fans to miss when Moore was calling the shots on offense.
The Cowboys have always been one of the most overrated team in the league because, well, they are the Cowboys. By the time the 2023 season ends the Chargers will not only have surpassed the Cowboys in the power rankings but will have beaten them head-to-head to prove that they are superior.
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