The Los Angeles Chargers were written off and left for dead after their ugly 0-4 start to the 2017 season. Yet, after their blowout of the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, the Bolts have won five of their last seven games and are a serious threat to make the postseason.
Related: Rivers, Chargers beat fading Cowboys 28-6 on Thanksgiving
The Chargers currently sit at 5-6, half a game behind the Baltimore Ravens, the team that currently occupies the sixth and final AFC playoff spot.
It was an improbable prospect in October.
At the time of their winless start to the season, it was repeated ad nauseam that only one team since the AFL-NFL merger has made the playoffs after starting 0-4. One team out of 113. That team? The 1992 San Diego Chargers.
In that season, the Chargers reeled off four straight wins after their 0-4 start and won 11 of their last 12 games. They finished the year as AFC West champs and participants in the divisional round of the playoffs.
This year's iteration of the Chargers is on pace to make a similar run.
With weapon Keenan Allen finally healthy, Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler providing balance in the running game, and the defense ranking third in takeaways and turnover differential, the Chargers are firing on all cylinders.
They're also the hottest team in the AFC West. The division-leading Kansas City Chiefs have lost four of their last five and currently sit only a game and a half up on the Chargers. Los Angeles has leapfrogged the fading Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos, who both fired coordinators to begin the week.
Not only are the Chargers challenging in what was thought to be the toughest division in football, they're also in the mix for one of two wild-card spots. They're currently the eighth seed in the conference and own one of the easiest remaining schedules.
Of their final five games, only one has a winning record: the reeling Chiefs.
| Week | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | vs. Browns | 0-10 |
| 14 | vs. Redskins | 4-6 |
| 15 | at Chiefs | 6-4 |
| 16 | at Jets | 4-6 |
| 17 | vs. Raiders | 4-6 |
Now these are the Chargers, and they're known to suffer demoralizing losses. Even their matchup next week against the Cleveland Browns is no guarantee, as they were the lone team to allow the 1-15 Browns to record a win last season.
If the Bolts can avoid a similar letdown, they'll enter the final quarter of the season with a 6-6 record and a favorable schedule in a weak conference.
"Never in a million years did I think we'd be here at 0-4," head coach Anthony Lynn said after the Chargers' awful start. "I look at football in four quarters, just like a game. And we just stunk the first quarter of our season. We've got three quarters left to figure some things out and gets this thing turned around."
Now, it appears the Chargers have things moving in the right direction, and could be on course to repeat franchise history.
