PRESNAP Week 6 cover, split down the middle: a close-up of a face in sunglasses in blue on the left, flat yellow on the right, with a zero reflected in one lens and a question mark opposite it. Cover lines read: Cover Story, Chiefs vs. Chargers Preview, Unpacking This Year’s Weirdest Mystery, What if Everyone is Wrong?
Cover Art by John Lytle

I Think the Chargers Will Win a Football Game

Week 6 By John Lytle

A lot can change in 5 weeks.

5 weeks ago, I would go to bed before midnight.

5 weeks later, fresh into this PRESNAP experiment, I’m up at 1:30 AM, scratching my head, wondering how I can pull together 700 words on Mike Tomlin’s minecraft addiction.

The Los Angeles Chargers probably feel the same right now.

5 weeks ago, the Chargers were a sexy Super Bowl pick, with a new Offensive Coordinator who many believed could finally unlock their once-in-a-generation quarterback. Their Head Coach set expectations high, predicting that Justin Herbert would retire as the greatest quarterback of all time. The biggest story to come out of Charger’s training camp was that Herbert’s fiancée, Madison Beer, visited practice and played with his hair on the sideline. This turned out to be part of a league-wide marketing strategy to increase female viewership. When the Shield is using your quarterback to drive viewership, things are looking up.

Until they’re not. 5 weeks later, the Los Angeles Chargers are winless. Mike McDaniel has overcomplicated the offense, effectively handicapping Herbert, who can’t seem to remember how to play football. They lead the league in turnovers with 13, and their Offensive EPA is the worst in the NFL.

A halftone black and white photo in a blue frame: the Hollywood sign on a hillside under heavy clouds, with the letters replaced by 0-5.

I could rattle off data until the cows come home, but the best portrait I can paint of where the Chargers are is through their social media engagement. The Chargers have a world-class marketing team, one that is consistently recognized as the best in the NFL for connecting the team to pop culture and producing beautiful, hilarious, engaging content. They’ve won Webby’s and Shorty’s and whatever other horribly branded content award is out there, but even their incredible work can’t get the fans to forget.

Week 1’s gameday post: 24K likes. Last week’s post: 6K.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the Chargers head to Arrowhead this week and face a 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs team fresh off of a bye. In his career, Andy Reid is 35-6 when coming off a bye week.

This is the most interesting game this week. A true sliding doors moment with the potential to become the comeback story of the year. If the Chargers lose, the season is done. Justin Herbert and Madison Beer likely separate since their relationship no longer satisfies the NFL’s growth plans for ‘27. Jim Harbaugh returns to college football in 2036 (look it up), and Mike McDaniel opens a dispensary.

If the Chargers win, their season is immediately revitalized. They’ve beaten arguably the best team in football on the road, and would get a bye in week 7, buying time for Joe Alt, Quentin Johnston, and Ladd McConkey to return and get healthy. A comeback from 0-5 has never happened in NFL history, but god dammit, I want to believe.

Someone has come back from 1-5 though, the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs, led by Head Coach Andy Reid. They won their first game, unlike this year’s Chargers, then lost 5 in a row, very much like this year’s Chargers. The 2015 Chiefs responded by rattling off 10 wins in a row, finishing the season 11-5, making the playoffs. Maybe this Sunday, Andy Reid will gift the Chargers some of his magic and we’ll see something we’ve never seen before.

Either way, stay for the incredible uniform color combo.