It was a long and winding road, but the Chargers overcame a slow start to clinch a playoff berth this week. Los Angeles was 1-2 through three games and 5-5 past the midway point. Since then, however, they’ve won four of their past five games to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
The Chargers entered the season with high expectations and some thought they could compete with the Chiefs in the AFC West. While they didn’t quite do that, they did only lose their two games to Kansas City by three points each.
Now, with the regular season mostly in the rearview mirror, Chargers fans are celebrating a playoff berth. But should that be what they’re happy with this season?
Josh Palet, Dave Palet, and Mario Herron of the Audacy Original Podcast “Bolt City” talked about how Chargers fans should feel heading into the postseason.
“They’re a postseason team and everyone’s making a big deal out of it,” Dave said (0:40 in player above). “For me, though, I have higher goals. I almost feel like am I not enjoying this experience as much as I’m supposed to or am I maybe setting the goals a little too high expecting more than just a first-round position to get into the postseason… Is that enough for you to say this was a successful year or do you feel like I’m expecting more? For me, playoffs are what I expected as a minimum but I’m expecting more. This isn’t enough for me as a sports fan.”
Since the offseason, the Chargers have been favored to make the playoffs rather than miss them. Their chances did dip below 50% earlier this month with a loss in Las Vegas, but a three-game win streak got them into the dance.
“Well, the Chargers’ expectations were so high going into the season you thought it’d be kind of a cakewalk going into the playoffs. It wasn’t that way at all,” Josh said. “The fact that the Chargers are in the playoffs with two games left, to me, is shocking. The way I felt during the season was this team is not very good and they turned it on when it mattered most… I’m happy where they’re at. If they don’t win the first round of the playoffs I will look at this season as a disappointment overall.”
All three hosts were in lockstep on this one. Herron completely echoed those sentiments.
“Just look at what we expected of them to start the year vs. where we’re at now. It’s like congratulations you’re in the playoffs, but there should be more,” he said. “You had the most players in the top 100 and we preached that all year. You have a tier-one quarterback. You have two top-level receivers. You have two edge rushers that most people would say are some of the best in the NFL. The expectation was higher.
“So yeah, should we be pumped about the playoffs? Absolutely. But we shouldn’t be acting like the Jets that are happy if they just make it in… The expectation was to be here. The expectation now is to win here and to be a top team and to be a threatening championship team.”
The Chargers currently sit behind the Bills, Chiefs, Bengals, and Ravens in the AFC. They’re not quite on the level of those top two teams yet, but they’ll have a chance to prove themselves this postseason.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
