The LA Chargers are laying down a marker in AFC West
Adam Martin 
We're three weeks into the new NFL season which means we've had a decent look at all of the teams now, and it's the LA Chargers who are starting to catch the eye.
The Chargers are now 4/6 favourites with UK betting sites to win the AFC West, and are emerging as outside contenders for the Super Bowl.
NFL expert Adam Martin is one of those expecting big things from the Chargers this season.
The LA Chargers are looking like a force to be reckoned with in the AFC West this year. We shouldn’t be surprised given that they made the playoffs last season. However, a 3-0 start does come as a bit of a surprise.
Not only have they gone 3-0, but they have looked great doing it as well. In week one they took out the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil. The Chargers won 27-21 against the Chiefs but it felt like they always had the Chiefs in hand.
In week two they beat the LV Raiders 20-9 and then last Sunday they beat the Denver Broncos 23-20. None of the wins have been big blowouts, but to beat all three of your division opponents is seriously impressive.
A lot of people will just say they have been good in the first three weeks, but there is more to it than that. This is a different Chargers team to the one we have seen for a long time.
When you think of the Chargers with Phillip Rivers at quarterback, they were always in and around the playoffs but never Super Bowl contenders. It has felt similar ever since Justin Herbert has been in LA, but this season feels different.
Jim Harbaugh came in as head coach last season and he brought Jesse Minter with him from Michigan to be his defensive coordinator. They had a decent year last season, making them a playoff team, but now they want more.
Harbaugh has turned teams around throughout his career and he is doing it again with the Chargers. When he was at the 49ers, they were serious contenders, and he won the college championship with Michigan.
Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman have a reputation for having a run-first offence but things have changed this season. They are getting Justin Herbert to pass the ball much more and all his receivers are getting the benefit from it.
In three weeks, Herbert has passed for 860 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. That’s the most yards in the league and only Chicago’s Caleb Williams has thrown more touchdowns than Herbert.
On top of that, he has rushed for 69 yards. That’s the same number of yards as he rushed for in the whole of the 2024 season. This is clearly a different approach from Harbaugh and Roman.
Ladd McConkey, Keenen Allen and Quinten Johnson have all looked good over the first three weeks of the season. There is no reason to think this will change anytime soon.
The defence was a top 10 one last season and has looked solid again over the first three weeks. If they keep this up the defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter will be a head coach next season.
When you look at the Chargers schedule, they have a good chance of winning enough games to compete for the number one spot in the AFC. Not many people had predicted that.
Overall, the Chargers have just had a good start to the season. However, they have got the fundamentals to really kick on this season and we might not be dealing with the same old Chargers this time around.
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