NFL Power Rankings: Big Moves for San Diego
One down, five to go. The San Diego Chargers have been up and down the power rankings throughout the course of the 2016 season, but should steadily increase as time winds down. With five winnable games remaining, a Chargers playoff berth is not out of the question entirely as the Bolts continue to rebound.
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Faced with a six game season following the bye week, San Diego accomplished the first task last Sunday. By traveling to Houston and handing the Texans their first home-loss of the season, the San Diego Chargers set a precedent for the next five games. Will it continue?
NFL.com – 16, Last Week – 20 (+4)
The outlier. The booger of a team that opponents just can’t pick. The weakest team in the loaded AFC West that can beat any team in the loaded AFC West. Peg the Chargers any way you want. Peg them as a 5-6 team if you’d like. Or peg them, more accurately, as having a roster beset by injuries that hasn’t gone down. San Diego is Balboa in “Rocky II,” absorbing blow after blow from flashier opponents, and then climbing up the ropes from what you thought was the final knockdown one more time. Perhaps there isn’t enough time to make it to the postseason. But with a scoring differential of 313-291 — and a fresh road win over a division leader — San Diego sure doesn’t feel like a losing team to me.
ESPN – 15, Last Week – 25 (+10)
The Chargers might be in the wrong division. They are 3-1 against the AFC South this season and 2-5 against all other divisions, including 1-3 against the rest of the AFC West. The Chargers get a nondivision foe this week in the Buccaneers.
CBS – 15, Last Week 20 (+5)
They aren’t done yet. This is a team nobody will want to see in the playoffs — if they can get there.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED – 14, Last Week 16 (+2)
The San Diego Chargers almost certainly will wind up among the Best Teams to Miss the Playoffs, an honor right up there with winning a T-shirt for eating a 72-ounce steak in 15 minutes. Still, with games against Tampa Bay, Oakland and Kansas City left, this is a potential spoiler no opponent will want to see.
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