Predicting every national TV game on the Chargers schedule in 2024

The LA Chargers were scheduled as many national TV games in the 2023 season as the team had wins. With Justin Herbert in a massive media market the Chargers have naturally become a team that the NFL has highlighted on the biggest stage.

The Chargers have some notable opponents on the 2024 schedule and that will naturally lend itself to the Bolts getting featured on national TV. Add in the fact that Jim Harbaugh is now in town and it is clear that the Chargers will get just as many national TV games.

With that in mind, let's dive into the games that could end up being featured on national TV before the NFL makes any official.

Predicting every national TV game on the Chargers schedule:

vs Baltimore Ravens

This is the most obvious non-divisional national TV game the Chargers could have. There is a massive underlining story in this game that all the major networks are going to want as Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh are squaring off for the first time since they faced each other in Super Bowl XLVII.

John Harbaugh is coming off a trip to the AFC Championship Game off the tails of an MVP season from Lamar Jackson. Jim Harbaugh is coming off doing the impossible and winning a National Championship with the University of Michigan.

Add in all the other ties between the two teams — GM Joe Hortiz, offensive coordinator Greg Roman, running backs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins, etc. — and this is one of the most compelling games the NFL has to offer in the 2024 season.

vs Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are going to be tied together in some capacity as long as they are in the league. Burrow, the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, has had much more team success and has become a more prominent name throughout the league as a result.

Herbert, on the other hand, has emerged as the analytical darling who unrefutably has better numbers than Burrow despite not always being in a great situation.

The last time these two teams played in December 2021 the league did not make it a national TV game. That was a mistake that should be rectified in 2024.

at Pittsburgh Steelers

There are not any pre-existing storylines in this game to write home about. There will naturally be comparisons between Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin but that is about it when it comes to a narrative standpoint.

That being said, the NFL loves to put this matchup on national TV. The last three times these teams have played each other it has been on national TV (and the Chargers have won two of the three). There are also great national TV games in the past between these two teams, with the Michael Vick Monday Night Football game coming to mind.

This matchup is the perfect example of a Peacock-exclusive game.

at Denver Broncos

The Chargers usually have two divisional primetime games and this year it might make more sense for that game to be against the Broncos. Denver is not going to be on national TV as often as the last two years and a divisional matchup against the Chargers is a good excuse to still get Denver on the big stage.

This has all the makings of being a Thursday Night Football game in the middle of October. It will be early enough in the season that Broncos fans won't be tuned out. If the NFL is smart about it, it would be Bo Nix's first national TV game of his career facing off against another big name coming from college football in Harbaugh.

at Kansas City Chiefs

This game could take place at either venue and it would not make a difference. This is a matchup that the NFL world is going to want to see on national TV between Harbaugh and Andy Reid. Herbert and Patrick Mahomes are a good enough combo to get this game on national TV almost every year and Harbaugh only adds to it.

There is also the Taylor Swift reality of the Chiefs. Not only are they the best team in the league but they have the most famous celebrity in the world attached to the team. The Chiefs will somehow get even more primetime games because of it.

One of them will be against the Chargers. It would not be surprising, either, if the inevitable late-season matchup between these two teams also ends up being flexed into primetime if there are playoff stakes.