Week 13 Charger Power Rankings and Ratings

**Bolt-O** · 11-28-2017, 09:29 AM

Chris Simms, Bleacher Report/PFT 13 (LW 15 )

The Chargers are one of the hottest teams in football and are finally finding their way. The players, though, are going to want to kick themselves in their butts when they go back and look at early blown games or even recent blown games against the Patriots and Jaguars. L.A. could already be leading the AFC West if not for those.

The big thing with the Chargers is they can protect Philip Rivers, they run well enough that you have to respect the ground game and they have weapons in the pass game. With guys such as Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin and Hunter Henry on the roster, it's hard for defenses to match up with the L.A. passing attack.

The Chargers defense, meanwhile, has hit its stride. The cornerback play, the safety play and the play of the defensive line are all outstanding. Plus, everyone seems to now be comfortable with Gus Bradley's Seattle-style scheme.

The Chargers have a shot at earning the AFC's sixth seed. I also look at L.A. as a team that can be dangerous if it gets into the tournament because the Chargers match up well with anyone in the conference.
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Frank Schwab, Yahoo Sports 14 (LW 11 )

Since starting 0-4, the Chargers' only losses were an eight-point loss at New England and a crazy overtime loss at Jacksonville. After their destruction of the Cowboys, it's pretty clear this is the best team in the AFC West. The only problem is they're still digging out of an 0-4 hole
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Walter Football 10 (LW 9 )

It's crazy to think that if the Chargers didn't have kicking woes, or if they could simply run out the clock at Jacksonville, they could be 8-3 right now, with their only losses being to New England, Philadelphia and Kansas City. They have great talent, but they're so hard to trust. It looked like they were trying to give away the game in the early going, but the Cowboys wouldn't oblige.

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Elliot Harrison, NFL.com (LW 14 )

Happy for Philip Rivers, man. That dude has always been a baller, even when he hasn't been playing his best ball. He gives wicked savage looks, too. (I've noticed "savage" has become the new savage word to use. So lit.) Much respect to the defense, as well, which imposed its will against the Cowboys on Turkey Day. The pass rush, which has been the usual instigator, was not dominant -- this time, the secondary held the fort, made its stops and produced turnovers. The Chargers need nine wins to reach the postseason. The remaining slate: Browns, Redskins, at Chiefs, at Jets, Raiders. They can get to nine wins.
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**Bolt-O** · 11-28-2017, 09:36 AM

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports 10 (LW 16 )

The NFL is -- and always will be -- a passer-and-pass rusher league.

That's why the Los Angeles Chargers are one of the most-dangerous teams in the league right now.

They showed on Thanksgiving Day against the Dallas Cowboys on the road just how dangerous that formula can be. Philip Rivers carved up the Cowboys to the tune of 434 yards and three touchdowns, while the pass rush had two sacks and spent the day pressuring Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Edge rushers Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram didn't get any sacks against Dallas, but their presence was felt, and they have a combined 19 sacks between them on the season.

With Rivers playing at high level, and those two creating pass-rush havoc, it's a formula for success in the modern NFL. That's why the Chargers are a team that the AFC elite doesn't want to see in the playoffs.

The Chargers are 5-6 and one game out of first place in the AFC West, trailing the reeling Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers play the Browns this week and the Redskins next week at home before playing the Chiefs at Arrowhead in Week 15. They have a real shot now to win the division after opening the season 0-4, which would be an amazing turnaround.

They've won five out of seven to get in the mix, and that's put them in my top-10 of the Power Rankings this week in the 10th spot. That might seem high based on their record, but can anybody dispute they are one of the 10 best teams right now?

The Chargers still have problems stopping the run on defense and they are 25th in rushing on offense. Those two numbers have to improve down the stretch if they are to make the postseason and do damage once there.

But they have the right pieces working now. They can throw it with Rivers and they can knock down the opposition's thrower. That's what it takes to win come January.

Here come the Chargers. They are playing good football right now. That 0-4 start seems like a long time ago.

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Adam Stites, SB Nation 10 (LW 15)

Despite a losing record, the Chargers are in the top 10 after a 28-6 domination of the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

The offense is lighting up scoreboards, the defense is creating chaos, and the Chargers are just one game behind the Chiefs for the AFC West lead. They're also just a game behind the Ravens and Bills for a wild card berth.

The only team left on the Chargers' schedule with a winning record are the floundering Chiefs, so there's reason for hopes to be sky high for Los Angeles.

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Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk/NBC 13 (LW 15)

The Steelers and the Patriots should not want to face them in January.

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Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News 18 (LW 19)

The Chargers have gone 5-2 since their 0-4 start, and they have to be kicking themselves for those heartbreaking losses to Denver, Miami and Philadelphia in Anthony Lynn's first month as coach. The remaining schedule features only one team with a winning record: the free-falling Chiefs.

This week: vs. Browns, a home trap game

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Matt Verderame, Fansided.com 12 (LW 15 )

Los Angeles hasn't beat a single team with a winning record, but it may not have to.

**Bolt-O** · 11-28-2017, 09:40 AM

USA Today 11 (LW 14 )

Not only does Keenan Allen have 331 receiving yards over past two weeks, he's snagged 23 of 27 targets. Safe to say he's all the way back.
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ESPN 10 (LW 16)

The Chargers are tied for the second-best turnover differential this season, but no team has been better since their 0-4 start. Since the start of Week 5, the Chargers have committed a league-low five turnovers while forcing a league-best 17 turnovers.
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MMQB 11 (LW 15 )Reddit 12 (LW 17)

The Chargers delivered the goods in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving, their first time playing on Turkey Day since the AFL days. The defense rose to the occasion and let Philip Rivers and the offense carve the Cowboys up. Losing the kicker was a serious negative, but regardless the Chargers are rapidly making a playoff case.

**vinabolt** · 11-28-2017, 10:08 AM

Chargers must remain 'hunters' for playoff race

With Philip Rivers, Keenan Allen, Melvin Gordon, Joey Bosa, and Melvin Ingram, the Chargers boast the best talent on both sides of the ball of any AFC playoff contender south of New England and Pittsburgh. If the L.A. can avoid more "what-if" games, they could be playoff bound for the first time since 2013.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000884599/article/lynn-chargers-must-remain-hunters-for-playoff-race

**Bolt-O** · 11-28-2017, 05:23 PM

Updated the OP with the summary.

Here is the Football Outsiders DVOA ratings for the League:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvo...2-dvoa-ratings

	TEAM	TOTAL DVOA	LAST WEEK	WEI. DVOA	RANK	W-L	OFFENSE DVOA	OFF. RANK	DEFENSE DVOA	DEF. RANK	S.T. DVOA	S.T. RANK
1	LARM	35.7%	4	38.2%	2	8-3	14.2%	7	-13.4%	5	8.1%	2
2	PHI	35.6%	1	39.4%	1	10-1	15.8%	3	-16.7%	3	3.1%	10
3	NO	32.3%	2	33.9%	3	8-3	27.5%	1	-6.4%	10	-1.7%	21
4	PIT	29.3%	3	29.0%	4	9-2	15.0%	5	-13.7%	4	0.6%	14
5	MIN	23.8%	5	24.7%	5	9-2	15.6%	4	-8.9%	6	-0.7%	18
6	BAL	19.0%	8	21.1%	6	6-5	-14.7%	26	-24.4%	1	9.3%	1
7	NE	17.4%	6	19.5%	7	9-2	26.0%	2	13.9%	29	5.2%	7
8	JAC	12.5%	7	11.9%	8	7-4	-4.0%	20	-21.6%	2	-5.1%	26
9	CAR	11.3%	9	11.5%	9	8-3	-2.6%	18	-7.8%	7	6.1%	4
10	KC	9.3%	10	3.6%	16	6-5	12.2%	8	8.6%	24	5.7%	6
11	SEA	8.7%	12	10.0%	10	7-4	1.0%	16	-7.7%	8	0.1%	16
12	DET	8.3%	11	6.0%	11	6-5	1.9%	14	0.5%	19	6.9%	3
13	WAS	7.7%	13	5.2%	13	5-6	5.7%	12	-4.2%	13	-2.2%	23
14	GB	4.9%	14	4.6%	14	5-6	5.3%	13	-0.1%	17	-0.5%	17
15	ATL	3.4%	17	3.6%	15	7-4	14.2%	6	9.9%	26	-0.9%	19
16	LACH	3.3%	16	6.0%	12	5-6	8.3%	10	-4.6%	12	-9.7%	32
	TEAM	TOTAL DVOA	LAST WEEK	WEI. DVOA	RANK	W-L	OFFENSE DVOA	OFF. RANK	DEFENSE DVOA	DEF. RANK	S.T. DVOA	S.T. RANK
17	DAL	-0.3%	15	-0.2%	17	5-6	7.5%	11	13.6%	28	5.8%	5
18	HOU	-2.6%	18	-5.6%	18	4-7	-2.6%	19	-2.1%	15	-2.1%	22
19	OAK	-6.7%	21	-6.0%	19	5-6	11.7%	9	19.8%	32	1.4%	13
20	CIN	-7.6%	20	-8.3%	20	5-6	-6.9%	21	-0.2%	16	-0.9%	20
21	BUF	-8.8%	23	-12.2%	23	6-5	-13.3%	24	0.4%	18	4.9%	8
22	TEN	-9.9%	19	-11.7%	22	7-4	-2.0%	17	9.4%	25	1.4%	12
23	ARI	-12.7%	26	-10.1%	21	5-6	-13.8%	25	-6.9%	9	-5.8%	27
24	TB	-16.4%	25	-18.3%	26	4-7	1.7%	15	14.7%	30	-3.4%	25
25	NYJ	-16.4%	27	-15.4%	24	4-7	-9.7%	23	4.5%	21	-2.2%	24
26	CHI	-19.1%	22	-17.4%	25	3-8	-15.6%	27	-2.4%	14	-5.9%	28
27	DEN	-19.2%	24	-22.4%	27	3-8	-16.8%	29	-5.9%	11	-8.3%	31
28	NYG	-23.0%	28	-22.7%	28	2-9	-7.2%	22	8.4%	22	-7.5%	30
29	SF	-25.7%	29	-25.7%	30	1-10	-16.0%	28	12.6%	27	3.0%	11
30	IND	-28.1%	31	-25.1%	29	3-8	-23.5%	32	8.6%	23	4.0%	9
31	CLE	-29.9%	30	-27.1%	31	0-11	-23.0%	31	0.9%	20	-6.0%	29
32	MIA	-35.5%	32	-36.2%	32	4-7	-20.9%	30	15.2%	31	0.5%	15

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16	LACH	3.3%	5-6	10.8%	5.0	22	-3.4%	24	-7.2%	25	9.0%	9
	TEAM	TOTAL DVOA	W-L	NON-ADJ TOT VOA	ESTIM. WINS	RANK	PAST SCHED	RANK	FUTURE SCHED	RANK	VAR.	RANK

Still on the bottom for Special Teams, with a pretty large gap to 31.

Week 13 Charger Power Rankings and Ratings

Week 13 Charger Power Rankings and Ratings

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