The Los Angeles Chargers play in Jacksonville against the Jaguars on Sunday and there is at least one reason to worry.
A few weeks ago, I pointed out that the Los Angeles Chargers have a penchant for playing down to lesser teams. That's a trait that has followed them around for year, if not decades.
Going off my very personal ranking of teams, it has happened three times this season. Let's go through them and then I'll explain why I'm worried about it happening again on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Week 4 at New York Giants (Giants win 21-18)
Jaxson Dart's NFL debut came down like thunder. The kid threw for 111 yards and a touchdown, adding in 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground, as well. Most importantly, the Giants avoided turning the ball over while forcing Justin Herbert into two interceptions.
The Giants were 0-3 heading into this game and are 1-5 since. They just fired head coach Brian Daboll this week.
Week 6 at Miami Dolphins (Chargers win 29-27)
I still think about this game a lot. The Miami Dolphins scored a TD to take a 27-26 lead with 46 seconds left to go in the game. Or, to put it another way, the Chargers were supposed to lose this game. Instead, they were lucky enough to take advantage of a defensive miscue and it led to a 42-yard Ladd McConkey catch-and-run to set up the game-winning field goal.
The Dolphins were 1-4 heading into this game and are 2-2 since. They are expected to fire head coach Mike McDaniel during or after this season.
Week 9 at Tennessee Titans (Chargers win 27-20)
The Titans were a goal-line stop from taking a 24-20 lead over the Chargers halfway through the third quarter. How different would the rest of the game have gone had the Titans scored that touchdown? I don't know, but I don't like how close it got in a game where the Chargers should've been easily cruising to victory.
The Titans were 1-7 heading into this game and have not played since. They fired head coach Brian Callahan weeks ago, before they faced the Chargers.
So, what's the through line?
What do these three NFL games have in common? Is it that the Chargers' opponents were bad teams that were either considering firing their head coach or had just fired their head coach? Well, yes, but you already knew that.
The above three games were the only three games that the Los Angeles Chargers have played in the Eastern Time zone this season. They're also, not coincidentally, the only three games the Chargers have played this season with a 10:00am PT kickoff time.
This Sunday, the Chargers play their fourth. It will be played in Jacksonville, against a not terrible 5-4 Jaguars team that hired a new head coach less than a year ago.
I'm not concerned about the Chargers "playing down" to the Jaguars, mostly because I think that Jaguars are actually good. I'm concerned about how L.A.'s process and preparation has led them to play some of their worst football in the early window this season and how that might look on the field in Week 11.