Hold up, did you see Nick Shook’s first rendition of the 2026 NFL power rankings? The Los Angeles Chargers, a squad that just notched back-to-back 11-win seasons and made the postseason, are sitting at a head-scratching No. 16. After seeing that, my expectations for conflict were, somehow, still blown away by the reality of this list.
Six Teams with Sub-.500 Records Are Ahead of Chargers? Seriously?
Yeah, you saw that right. No. 16. It’s hard to believe, especially when you consider they battled through one heck of a storm up front offensively to get those 11 wins. Shook’s top 16 before the Chargers even show up? Rams, Broncos, our Seahawks (at least we are up there!), Bills, Eagles, Ravens, Bengals, Cowboys, Jaguars, Texans, Bears, Packers, Patriots, Chiefs, Lions. That’s a whole lot of teams. What’s wild is that six teams who won nine or fewer games in 2025 are ranked *ahead* of the Chargers. The Chiefs and Bengals both scraped by with only six wins a year ago. The Cowboys managed just seven, and the Ravens only eight. That means four of those teams finished the season with a sub-.500 record. Yet, here are the Chargers, an objectively better football team across the board based on the group that went 11-6, sitting behind all of them. It just does not make sense.
Shook’s Logic for the Bengals and Cowboys Doesn’t Even Hold Up
I get that a lot of teams are poised for a rebound, and that’s fine. But the Chargers, who have proven they can be consistent with 10+ wins for two years running, no longer get the benefit of the doubt? When you look at the list, the Bengals certainly didn’t do enough to earn that. Joe Burrow is crazy good when he stays healthy, absolutely, but he’s only played a single 17-game season. He missed nine games last year! History says he probably won’t be healthy all year, and the team will suffer for it. And the Cowboys? Top 10? Why? They’ve put up back-to-back seven-win seasons. Chances are they aren’t much better than that, especially sitting behind the Eagles in the NFC East. This industry has a habit of giving certain teams the benefit of the doubt over and over, while other teams who actually earned it are hard-pressed to get the same respect. That’s exactly what I’m seeing with the Chargers here.
Perhaps it will take Justin Herbert’s first playoff win to finally turn some heads. Maybe that’s truly the key. But for real, this Chargers team has done enough to warrant more respect out of the gate for the 2026 season. Get ready to see if they can prove everyone wrong when the season opener finally hits.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bolts from the Blue.
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