The Chargers: the League's Unluckiest Team?

Good article. Hard schedule coming up means they should've beaten teams like Miami when they have the chance.

No kidding. But they've got good company (the Pats).

All teams go through adversity at different points during the season. The Chargers have just had their adversity compressed into the first few games of the season. The good teams overcome. The 1993 Cowboys started off the season 0-2. No team to that point had started with that record and won the Super Bowl. Emmitt Smith returned from his holdout and the Cowboys won 10 straight before hitting another bump in the road, punctuated by the infamous Thanksgiving Day loss to the Dolphins when Leon Lett touched the ball after a blocked field goal. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl that year. Several other teams have overcome adversity of larger magnitude than what is facing the Chargers. The season is long. Bad luck is like a prostitute: it screws somebody different each week, but sometimes it finds a return customer. The Chargers do not need to whine, because that will spell certain defeat. Chargers, suck it up and play ball. The Cowboys do not play the Chargers this year, and you have our old offensive coordinator over there in Norv Turner, so I wish you luck- unless we meet in the Super Bowl.

1. The Refs Hate 'Em - I know how you guys feel on this one, but there are certain teams that the refs prefer. This year it's not the cahrgers, but they've got to find a way to beat the refs. Other teams do it.
2. The Schdule Hates 'Em - Again, whoever makes up the schedules seems to prefer giving certain teams easier schedules to start off the season. There is suppose to be reasoning behind it, like who did well last year, but if you look at many schedules that's far from the case. Again, it happens to many teams. You have to overcome the odds.


3. The Injury Gods Hate 'Em - I think the injury Gods have it out for all teams. That's why you need good second stringers or back-ups

4. The Coins Hate 'Em - Can't say anything about this, except the odds say you'll lose 50% of the time, so hopefully your time will come.

The schedule is done by a formula. The schedules through 2009 were all determined in 2002 when the Texans joined the league, except for two flex games that are based on division standing. As for the ordering of the schedule, that's usually done with tv ratings in mind (i.e., they have the Colts-Patriots game in week nine or so every year to account for November sweeps).

As for the "injury gods" it's obviously mostly just random. But they don't hate on all teams equally every year. Last year the Rams were super-injured while the Patriots were mostly clean. This year, Miami has only reported one player the entire year as missing practice with injury time, while teams like the Chargers could fill a starting lineup with the guys they have out.

I'm not saying this to defend the Chargers or anything like that, and good teams do overcome these kinds of things. Still, it's a lot of bad luck for one season so far.

If the Chargers could play that NE Team I saw crumble the other night every game, SD would be "the Luckiest team in the league", man alive