What is the best-case scenario for the Chargers in 2025? Is it a Super Bowl? AFC Championship Game?
If you were to have shared your best- and worst-case scenarios for the Chargers a year ago, I think the consensus would have believed making the playoffs and/or finishing above .500 was on the high end of the spectrum and falling under .500 would be on the latter side.
The Chargers ended up pushing past those preconceived limits by the fan base to go and win 11 games en route to making the postseason. Now we know where that inevitably ended for the team, but I don’t think you can truly say they did anything but exceed expectations. Getting to 11 wins — the most since the 2018 season (12) — is a huge deal in Harbaugh’s first season at the helm.
In a new article by CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin, he takes this approach with each of the 32 NFL teams, highlighting what he believes are the best- and worst-case scenarios for all of them during this upcoming season.
Here’s what he had to say for the Chargers:
“Best-case scenario: Jim Harbaugh’s championship fortitude sinks deeper into the franchise, unlocking a more resilient Justin Herbert, whose balanced setup and punishing run support helps L.A. all the way to the AFC title game.”
“Worst-case scenario: Harbaugh gets physical but sluggish results from a run-heavy approach, Herbert still can’t quite translate his tools to do-or-die moments down the stretch, and the Bolts once again go one-and-done in the dance.”
Sheesh. It’s a long time until the season, but just hearing about what Benjamin believes to be the worst-case scenario makes my stomach churn a bit. It’s always tough to see your favorite team regress, of course. Since the Chargers won 11 games last season, anything less will feel like a letdown.
At the same time, the Bolts got to 11 partly due to one of the easier schedules in the league. Their 17-game slate is a lot tougher this time around and I think we all need to be prepared for them to have to fight and claw to make sure they end the year above .500. The AFC West will be a very, very tough division in 2025 and that means the room for error against non-division teams will be even more razor-thin.
But alas, what are all of your thoughts on these best- and worst-case scenarios? Let us know all of your thoughts below!