Chargers viewed as unlikely to play spoiler to Chiefs in stacked AFC West

The Los Angeles Chargers feel like they could be a threat to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025. 

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has a reputation for turning programs around quickly and that was true enough last year, taking an entirely new coaching staff and massively overhauled roster to the playoffs in the stacked AFC. 

But not everyone believes those Chiefs are actually in danger. 

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently ranked the NFL’s most vulnerable division winners and put the Chiefs in eighth and last place:

“All three of their rivals should theoretically be better: the Denver Broncos have a promising gunslinger in Bo Nix, the Los Angeles Chargers are physical under Jim Harbaugh and the Las Vegas Raiders now have Pete Carroll and Geno Smith running the show. Are any of those clubs ready to unseat a Chiefs team that's been to five of the last six Super Bowls? Yes, Kansas City was steamrolled in its last big game, but Patrick Mahomes' weaponry should be healthier and sprier this time around. It's just hard to bet against a dynasty.”

There’s an interesting dynamic around this conversation. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs indeed went far last year during what many considered a “down” year for the team. And the brutal nature of a stacked division beating up on itself is fair enough, too. 

Then again, those Chargers were in “rebuild” mode last year and made the playoffs. The roster changes this offseason, which include finally upgrading the weapons around Justin Herbert, have the team primed to make another leap. 

Perhaps the second-year leap under Harbaugh doesn’t produce an AFC West crown. But continuity in the system and the continued roster overhaul should put the Chargers in the mix to play the spoiler.