Will this be the year Chargers justify the hype?

The Los Angeles Chargers opened their 2025 season on Friday night with a big, 27-21 statement win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It was an impressive showing by quarterback Justin Herbert and the team as a whole, knocking off a divisional rival that has been the dominant franchise in the NFL over the past six years.

Expectations were already reasonably high for the Chargers this season, and they will only grow after that strong showing on Friday. But big expectations and early season hype are nothing new to the Chargers. It seems every season they get talked up as a potential contender in the AFC and that this season is going to be the year for them.

It never is.

The Chargers have made the playoffs just four times in the past 16 years, won only two playoff games in that stretch and none over the past six years. It always ends in underwhelming disappointment. 

Can this be the year they finally change the narrative around them?

There are two big things that could help them finally do that.

Justin Herbert has to take the next step

Herbert is an exceptional talent and has shown flashes of brilliance in the NFL. It just has not always been consistent. He has had issues protecting the football at times and he has not yet had a true big-moment situation where he won a big game.

At this point, his only two playoff games have resulted in his team blowing one of the biggest leads ever, and then, a year ago, him throwing four interceptions in another loss. 

Despite the talent and impressive film, he's never really finished as a highly rated passer in any major category. He's never finished higher than eighth in yards per attempt, has been in the top-10 in QBR twice in six full years and just once in the top-10 in passer rating. He hasn't been bad. He just hasn't consistently been among the league's elite.

That needs to change for the Chargers to take the next step. 

Friday's performance was a great start for that, as he made big play after big play and was incredibly efficient, finishing 25-of-34 passing for 318 yards and three touchdowns.

Jim Harbaugh might be the right coach

The other big issue that has plagued the Chargers for years is just having no credibility at head coach. It's been a revolving door of stop-gaps and underwhelming hires who brought no identity and no real culture to the organization. That changed in a big way when they hired Jim Harbaugh prior to the 2024 season.

Harbaugh has had a track record of success at all of his head coaching stops at both the NCAA and NFL levels and is the rare head coach who has won at both. He turned Stanford into a competitive program, took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl and won a National Championship at Michigan. 

He also helped lead the Chargers to an 11-win season in his debut with the team, immediately turning one of the worst defensive teams in football into one of the best. 

If it cannot win with Harbaugh, it is worth wondering who this team can win with. 

It might have the quarterback. It might have the coach. Now, it just needs to keep winning games to finally change the narrative around the franchise.