The AFC West hopes to live up to what was promised last year, but can the Los Angeles Chargers hold up their end of the bargain, or are there too many pitfalls on their 2023 schedule? With Justin Herbert hopefully showing the unbelievable talent which wowed many as a rookie, can this version of the Chargers help get them back into the playoffs — hopefully with a different and less gut-wrenching result?
Los Angeles Chargers Schedule and Opponents
While we won’t find out the Chargers’ schedule for 2023 until the official NFL release in May, we already know their opponents for the upcoming season.
Home Games
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Denver Broncos
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Buffalo Bills
- Miami Dolphins
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Dallas Cowboys
- Baltimore Ravens
Away Games
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Denver Broncos
- Kansas City Chiefs
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Tennessee Titans
As always, the Chargers will face their division opponents both at home and on the road. As part of the rotational schedule, the Chargers and the AFC West will take on the entirety of the NFC North and AFC East.
The remaining three games on their schedule will come against the remaining two AFC teams that finished second in their division (Ravens and Titans), as well as their “17th game crossover” against the Dallas Cowboys on the road, who finished second in the NFC East in 2022.
Los Angeles Chargers Strength of Schedule
The Chargers and the AFC West, in general, have a rather difficult schedule in 2023. Based on projected win totals, Los Angeles has the sixth-hardest strength schedule in the league. Their respective opponents combined to go 149-136-0 for a .517 record.
Of the four AFC West teams, Las Vegas has the fourth hardest, Denver is 11th, and Kansas City holds the third-toughest schedule in the league in 2023.
Los Angeles Chargers Record Prediction
Los Angeles was one of the darlings of the last offseason. Many of the issues with the roster were fixed, including the offensive line and the addition of J.C. Jackson. With Kansas City trading away Tyreek Hill and the Broncos and Raiders loading up, it looked like we were primed for the best division we had ever seen.
As we know now, that was not the case. Kansas City walked away with it and eventually won the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Chargers finished with a 10-7 record to secure the No. 5 seed in the playoffs but lost to Jacksonville after giving up a 27-7 halftime lead.
With seven of their opponents being playoff teams in 2022 and 10 of their games against teams with projected win totals between seven and nine wins, the majority of games for Los Angeles, even early in the season, will have playoff implications.
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Unfortunately for the Chargers, they also avoid some of the NFL’s awful teams, as only five of their 14 different opponents have Super Bowl odds outside the top half of the league. While I expect improvement from Herbert, it’s likely more of the same for the Chargers, and they’ll hover around nine to 10 wins in 2023.
At least, that would be the case as long as Austin Ekeler is on the roster. If traded, the Chargers’ offense becomes far less potent, especially when considering the injury risks and age of Mike Williams and Keenan Allen.
