Bolts Drop Precipitously Down Expert Power Rankings

Through 12 weeks of the NFL season, your Los Angeles Chargers are not the football team fans expected them to be. By fans, I'm speaking of Charger fans, well, at least most of them. 

The 2023 season has turned upside down for the Bolts, and the hope for a turnaround looks bleak week by week with only six games left. Mathematically speaking, they still have a shot at joining the top seven in the AFC playoff picture, but they continue not to do themselves any favors. 

Because of their poor play that has resulted in their three-game winning streak, they continue to drop in multiple weekly power rankings, like ESPN, CBS Sports, The Athletic, and NFL.com. 

ESPN has them at 24 entering Week 13, down three spots from the previous week. Team insider Kris Rhim cites their defense as their Achilles heel, and it's astonishing to this day, considering their talent on that side of the ball. 

CBS Sports put them one spot above from the previous week but still are in the bottom half, ranking them at 25th. The biggest drop comes from The Atheltic, dropping them six spots from 18 to 24 heading into Week 13. 

The interesting thing about this one though, is that staff writer for the Atlanta Falcons who wrote the rankings, Josh Kendall, listed the Chargers "best case" being current Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Johnson will be a hot commodity for many teams to become their next head coach. Will the Chargers be in on Johnson by season's end? We shall see. 

And NFL.com listed the Bolts at 21 in Week 13. They dropped two spots on this list, while the blame on this one isn't solely on head coach Brandon Staley; the Bolts have an array of issues that might not be fixed with six games remaining. 

LA has a great shot to start a winning streak this weekend as they face the 2-9 New England Patriots. 

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