History Is Against the Chargers Making the Playoffs After Week 1, Week 2 Home Losses

Sports admin September 22, 2026 0 Comments

History Is Against the Chargers Making the Playoffs After Week 1, Week 2 Home Losses

Just over a week ago, before the Los Angeles Chargers began their 2026 NFL regular-season schedule with a game against the Arizona Cardinals, many had high hopes for them. Most expected them to make the playoffs, and some even felt they had at least an outside chance to contend for the Super Bowl.

There was certainly a lot of optimism about new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel’s system. But now, after losses to the Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, all that is left is a high level of dread and doubt.

The game against the Cardinals was supposed to be almost a gimme win for the Bolts. They were also supposed to defeat a Raiders team that was without star tight end Brock Bowers and was starting a way-past-his-prime Kirk Cousins at quarterback. Instead, they’re 0-2 and will now face seven straight opponents that are widely considered to be contenders.

If L.A. is still going to reach the playoffs this winter, it faces a very steep uphill climb.

History is against the Chargers reaching the postseason

What makes L.A.’s two losses to start the season all the more concerning, other than how inept it looked on both sides of the football, is the fact that both games took place at home against beatable teams.

Historically, an NFL team’s chances of making the playoffs take a sizable hit when it starts the season 0-2. But as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk pointed out, it is extremely rare for a team to make the playoffs after losing the first two games of a season at home.

“Per NBC Sports research, only two teams (the 1987 Colts and the 2003 Eagles) rebounded from 0-2 starts with both losses at home to make the playoffs. (In all, teams have begun the year with two straight home games 209 times.)”

Los Angeles has finished 11-6 and lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs in both of the last two seasons under head coach Jim Harbaugh. This season was supposed to be another step toward winning that elusive Super Bowl championship, toward eradicating the supposed curse that some feel has afflicted the franchise for decades.

Instead, it feels as if that supposed curse has been emboldened.

L.A. likely only has two more “gimme” games the rest of this season: in Week 11 versus the New York Jets and Week 16 versus the Miami Dolphins. It will visit the Raiders in Week 14, but the Raiders are currently 2-0 and could be a little more competitive than initially expected.

At this point, some fans may be hoping for as many losses as possible so that the team can get a high draft pick next year. But Harbaugh isn’t a quitter, and if nothing else, he will look to power through his team’s situation and try to turn things around, however unlikely it may be.

This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM.